Barukaza Workshop Chopper
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Barukaza Workshop Assault Bike | |
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| Technical specifications | |
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Length: |
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2.8 metres (9.2 ft)[3] |
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Maximum speed: |
74 kilometres per hour (46 mph) (Regular)[4][2] |
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One driver[2] |
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Rapid assault, reconnaissance |
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Covenant |
- "I never thought I'd see somethin' that could tear up a Warthog so completely short of an eight-oh-eight just by runnin' into it—are Choppers put together out of old battleships or something?"
- — Anonymous UNSC serviceman[4]
The Barukaza Workshop Assault Bike[3] (UNSC Type classification: Type-25 Rapid Assault Vehicle, T-25 RAV),[1][4] commonly known as the Brute Chopper or simply Chopper by UNSC personnel, is a Covenant ground assault vehicle used exclusively by the Jiralhanae.
Overview[edit]
Design details[edit]
The Chopper serves as a rapid attack and scout vehicle for the Covenant's Jiralhanae troops. The vehicle is characterised most notably by its shape; the front has a pair of extremely large wheels, with the driver located at the back. The driver's seat hovers off the ground when the vehicle is active and is shielded from the front angles by the wheels, though is completely exposed to hostile fire from the sides and back. The front of the vehicle is equipped with a large ramming targe, capable of allowing the Chopper to cut through obstacles in its path at high speeds. The vehicles also come equipped with weapons on either side of the vehicle; early models simply bearing Spikers as improvised weapons, with late production models employing larger quad-mounted 35mm heavy spike cannons firing high-explosive spike projectiles.
Choppers weigh around 1.1 tons (1 tonne), and can reach a maximum speed of 74 kph (46 mph),[2] with a maximum range of 272 kilometres (169 miles).[4][5] While driving, the vehicle can conduct short bursts of speed to briefly double its top speed to 120 kph (75 mph)[4] thanks to two boosters on either side of the vehicle, capable of allowing the vehicle to plow through armoured barricades and light vehicles.
Choppers are often hand-painted by their riders.[4]
Development history[edit]
The first Choppers were, somewhat ironically, originally constructed for peaceful intentions by the Huragok Lighter Than Some. Intended as a peace offering to humanity, the engineer built the vehicles from parts of a damaged Spirit dropship as farming tools - echoing the design of the JOTUN agricultural vehicles widely employed by the humans on Harvest.[7] However, these vehicles were co-opted by Maccabeus' clan - who believed the vehicles to be weapons of war - and pressed into service during the First Battle of Harvest as cavalry. These early Choppers were jury-rigged with the Brutes' Spikers as weapons. Following the battle on Harvest, the Brutes made improvements to the design, affixing the vehicles with twin pairs of heavy spike cannons and other modifications to suit the vehicle to its role better.[8][6][2] By 2531, ramming targes and 35mm autocannons were common weapons employed by the Choppers of the Fleet of Glorious Interdiction, with such autocannons sometimes fitted with stabilizers.[9] The models that followed were constructed using cast-off components in an effort to mimic the raider-outriders that were a common feature of life back on Doisac.[3]
Throughout the Human-Covenant War, the Chopper was primarily manufactured by the Jiralhanae often using scavenged battlefield remains of human and Covenant vehicles. Such Frankenstein-esque vehicles made use of the damaged gravity drives of the Ghost and the armor plating of humanity. Choppers were additionally capable of being manufactured by the factories attached to Covenant citadels. In