Drop pod
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Drop pods are a kind of vehicle utilised for the purpose of deploying troops and materiel from an orbiting warship to the surface of a planet in a short amount of time. They are less commonly used than dropships due to their unconventional (and frequently disposable) nature.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Human drop pods[edit]
Drop pods are common fixtures of the two primary human militaries of the galaxy; the United Nations Space Command and the Colonial Military Authority. Of these, the UNSC are particularly reliant on the use of drop pods thanks to the aptly-named Orbital Drop Shock Troopers; specialised shock troops who specialise in the use of drop pods to insert behind enemy lines and conduct special missions.[7][8] Although the ODSTs are the primary users of drop pod insertions in the UNSC, both Spartans and regular Marine forces may also use them.[9] The deployment and doctrine of drop pods is governed by UNSC Insertion Protocols.[7] Orbital drop pods were first developed by humanity during the early 22nd century, intended as a solution for "transorbital support interdiction". The first ODSTs were deployed onto Mars against Koslovic forces in the Interplanetary War of the 2160s, and drop pods have been a staple of the UNSC ever since - seeing use in both the Insurrection and the Human-Covenant War.[10][11]
Drop pod deployments have a lower overall attrition rate than a standard dropship insertion; this is due to each soldier being deployed individually rather than multiple in one craft. As such, even if anti-aircraft fire takes out several drop pods, it is still overall fewer casualties than dozens of soldiers being killed when a Pelican (or similar craft) is downed.[7][4][5][6] A typical ODST drop consists of dozens or hundreds of individual pods launched from an orbiting starship that is conducting evasive maneuvers, with an artificial intelligence (formally termed an expert system) controlling the vehicle's descent through the atmosphere to multiple predetermined landing zones on preset routes designed to maximise the pod's ability to evade enemy fire.[1][10] When launching, the pods have a thirty-second countdown that begins on the commanding officer's mark, before being ejected.[7] Depending on the vessel (such as the Halcyon-class and Marathon-class cruisers), this can take the form of a simple free drop,[12][13] while on others (such as the Stalwart-class light frigate) the pods are launched via magazine-fed coilgun launcher mounted in the ventral portion of the ship.[14] The pods spend the majority of their descent - generally only a few minutes - in free fall, before the pod's braking systems activate and guide the pod into its landing site.[8] The pods have a limited maneuvering ability, intended for adjusting the landing site and avoiding AA defences.[7] In some cases, ODSTs may deploy during a meteor shower over a planet, to help the pods disguise themselves among the naturally-falling rock burning up in the atmosphere.[15]
Once nearing the ground, drop pods activate a drag chute (more formally termed a "Drogue Panel"[10]) formed from the upper-most panels. The chute deploys and begins to slow down the pod's descent. Once about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the ground, a series of computer-controlled retrothrusters engage and rapidly decelerate the pod such that it can impact safely.[10][Note 1] Once the pod hits the ground in a "controlled crash", the pods interior is pressurized and the entrance hatch is blown off by a series of detonation charges, allowing the occupant to immediately exit the vehicle and enter combat.[16][1][8] A landed pod generally retains a small amount of rocket fuel internally; this is intended such that should the pod land in an unsuitable location, a soldier can reactivate the rockets and "hop" the pod to a better landing site.[17]
The drop pod's interior contains a single crash seat facing the exterior hatch, which has hardened and shielded communications equipment built into it. This equipment is used to feed information to the occupant during the drop and links the members of the ODST's combat team together. As such, while inside the pod, an ODST's helmet communications gear is redundant - and only necessary should the pod's own communications equipment fail.[7] The crash web has minimal inertial dampening and comfort features,[10] though more recent models have improved in this regard.[1] The exterior is an armoured carapace of Titanium-A armor;[10] if the exterior shell is damaged prior to, or during, the atmospheric entry phase of the operation, it can cause the entire pod to be destroyed. [7]
Variants[edit]
The design and manufacturing of drop pods has two major delineations; Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicles/Vessels (SOEIVs) and Human Entry Vehicles (HEVs).[1]
- M7650 Human Entry Vehicle - an obsolete and unreliable drop pod still in service closer to the start of the Human-Covenant War.[1]
- M8823 Human Entry Vehicle - an older model entering service in 2461 and used by both the UNSC and CMA. Used in large numbers throughout the Insurrection and Human-Covenant War especially on vessels that do not carry dedicated ODST complements.[1]
- M8900 Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle - a high-speed drop pod preferred by ODST units through the later years of the Human-Covenant War.[1]
- M9407 Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle - a modern drop pod introduced in the post-war era outfitted with advanced technologies, and utilised by both ODSTs and Spartans.[1]
The UNSC also makes use of other, more unique kinds of drop pod. These include stealth-capa