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| [[File:POA-Destruction.jpg|thumb|The ''Pillar of Autumn's'' reactors detonating.]] | | [[File:POA-Destruction.jpg|thumb|The ''Pillar of Autumn's'' reactors detonating.]] |
| Fusion drives can also be used as improvised weapons of mass destruction. A ship's captain possesses the codes necessary to initiate fusion core overload in their [[command neural interface]], but reactor destabilization can also be initiated manually. Though the fusion reactors are protected by magnetic containment fields which surround the fusion cells, they can be destabilized by explosive ordnance once the exhaust couplings protecting the reactor vents have been retracted. Significant amount of damage to the engines will trigger a "wildcat destabilization". The reactor will then detonate within minutes, generating a temperature of nearly 100,000,000 degrees. The most notable instance of this was when [[John-117]] destroyed [[Installation 04]] by overloading the fusion reactors of the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}.<ref name="maw"/> The explosion was later revealed to be similar to a [[supernova]] to the point that it created a new element on [[Alpha Shard|a surviving shard]] of the ring.<ref>'''[[Halo: Nightfall]]'''</ref> | | Fusion drives can also be used as improvised weapons of mass destruction. A ship's captain possesses the codes necessary to initiate fusion core overload in their [[command neural interface]], but reactor destabilization can also be initiated manually. Though the fusion reactors are protected by magnetic containment fields which surround the fusion cells, they can be destabilized by explosive ordnance once the exhaust couplings protecting the reactor vents have been retracted. Significant amount of damage to the engines will trigger a "wildcat destabilization". The reactor will then detonate within minutes, generating a temperature of nearly 100,000,000 degrees. The most notable instance of this was when [[John-117]] destroyed [[Installation 04]] by overloading the fusion reactors of the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}.<ref name="maw"/> The explosion was later revealed to be similar to a [[supernova]] to the point that it created a new element on [[Alpha Shard|a surviving shard]] of the ring.<ref>'''[[Halo: Nightfall]]'''</ref> |
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| == Trivia ==
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| * There are inconsistencies in the potency of the UNSC's fusion drives between a few visual scenes and other sources:
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| ** ''The Fall of Reach'' states quite clearly that a UNSC destroyer with its engines at 66% power is incapable of accelerating out of Sigma Octanus IV's ~0.5 g gravity well, and that fighting near a gravity well in general is considered crippling for UNSC vessels.<ref>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', chapter 21.</ref> ''First Strike'' also states that a UNSC frigate's reactors, and thus the drives they power, have power output in the gigawatt range, consistent with fairly low accelerations.<ref>''[[Halo: First Strike]]'', page 285.</ref> Several other scenes in the novels allude to this being the case, such as when the UNSC ''Iroquois'' accelerates at full speed for at least several seconds and still ends up below the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervelocity hypervelocity] floor (about 3 km/s), given the lack of explosive vaporization of the hull when it collides with a small Covenant ship.<ref>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', chapter 21.</ref> Additionally, most visual depictions of space battles, such as the opening of ''[[Halo 2]]'', ''[[Halo Legends|The Package]]'', and ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]'' depict UNSC ships as either static or slowly drifting in combat, rather than being able to casually clear their lengths in a few seconds in order to dodge projectiles that consistently take at least that long to reach them. These are all consistent with the repeated mentions that the UNSC's reactors utilize [[deuterium]] fusion.
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| ** However, when the 478-meter UNSC ''[[UNSC In Amber Clad|In Amber Clad]]'' pursues the ''[[Solemn Penance]]'', it's shown to clear its own length in less than a second starting from a velocity of zero, putting its acceleration at over a hundred gees.<ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Metropolis]]''</ref> Despite using a fusion torch for propulsion, the ship also notably does not display any back-blast, which would be extremely hazardous to the city of [[New Mombasa]] below.
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| ** [[Kenneth Peters]] commented on the inconsistencies during a behind-the-scenes video for the development of ''[[Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo|Halo: Warfleet]]''. He noted that, given that UNSC ships don't burn up the atmospheres of planets when engaged in them, their accelerations could not possibly be stupendously high. He also talked about the unintended consequence of unpublished figures giving UNSC ships sustained accelerations of 30 g, namely that such speeds would allow them to be used for "vaporizing planets" if they simply accelerated for an appreciable time in the direction of one. He went on to say that for these reasons, 343i decided not to give official acceleration figures for warships.<Ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE_O_it1Q5k&t=63m08s An Inside Look at Halo: Warfleet – A Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo] (starts 63 minutes and 8 seconds).</ref>
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| ==List of appearances== | | ==List of appearances== |
