UNSC cross-branch armor

This article is based on canon information, but the article's title is conjectural and/or uses descriptions as the title, as there is currently no official name for the subject.

A suit of UNSC Marine cross-branch armor.

The cross-branch body armor is a kind of modular personal armor system used by multiple service branches of the United Nations Space Command. It is fielded by infantry personnel in the UNSC Air Force. Army, Marine Corps, and Navy. The system consists of hard armor plating with various equipment-mounting points that can be worn over an individual's fatigues, service uniform, or even a vacuum suit.

The main components of the armor include an armored vest, hard plates protecting the front and back of the torso, a CH252 combat helmet, shoulder pauldrons, thigh armor, and in some cases, shin guards. The chest armor has an extension to provide protection to the groin. The thighs are protected by plates of UA/NxRA non-explosive reactive armor with attachment rigs for equipment. The shoulder pauldrons are secured into rigs covering the upper arms and attached to the armor vest. Different types of pauldrons may be worn with the armor, the most common ones being a SAP/GUNGNIR shoulder pad and a larger pauldron of a different model; some troopers wear a different pauldron on each shoulder, while others wear two of the same type. Radio operators wear no pauldron on the left shoulder.

On the waist is a utility belt used for storing equipment. Wearers commonly wear different types of backpacks, including radios and combat webbing. Personnel often wear various helmet attachments, including tactical goggles, heads-up display eyepieces, flashlights, HU/RS modules Command Network Modules, and O/I optics devices. Troopers typically wear a Tactical/LRP chest rig with three ammo pouches. Some troopers are also equipped with a tactical "soft case" attached to the left thigh plate.

Variants

Various kinds of UNSC infantry use different variations on the cross-branch armor schema, often alongside a variety of supplemental equipment such as pauldrons, bucklers, knee and shin guards, helmets, and others.

Hospital corpsmen/ medics

Medical personnel and Hospital corpsmen are typically outfitted with white-coloured armour and helmets bearing medical symbols for easy identification.

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  An Army Medic using his specialised armor variant.

A/X variant

The Atmospheric/Exoatmospheric (A/X) variant of the system is used by personnel expected to operate in outer space, such as in naval boarding missions. It is worn atop a vacuum suit and features an enclosed ECH252 helmet. Operators typically use a UA/GUNGNIR left pauldron with a UA/Base Security right pauldron, alongside an additional collar similar to the pilot variant.

Marines who wear the pressurized Atmospheric/Exoatmospheric (A/X) version of this BDU, such as to mitigate the atmospheric hazards caused by nearby glassing, wear an enclosed ECH252 helmet derived from the Beta-5 Division MP helmet, as well additional collar armor similar to that worn by Air Force pilots. Wearers often use heavily armored knee guards distinct from those worn by the Army. Some Marines wear heavier shin armor along with GUNGNIR knee guards.

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  Marines using the A/X variant during the Battle of Asźod.

Gallery

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  A drawing of Franklin Mendez, a UNSC Naval Special Warfare operator, using a cross-branch BDU.

List of appearances

• Deliver Hope (First appearance)
• Halo: Reach
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
• Halo: Spartan Assault
• Halo: Escalation
• Halo Infinite
• Halo: Campaign Evolved
• Halo: Flashpoint