Plasma cannon (starship)

Plasma cannons are starship-mounted weapon systems used by the Covenant and its remnants. They serve aboard Covenant starships as a form of naval artillery, filling a role similar to the naval autocannons of humanity. They have rapid-fire capabilities, though in return fire their plasma bolts at at much slower velocities than other weapons as to conserve energy. In battle, they are fired in massed barrages to form suppressive screens, creating walls of fire. There is some overlap between the heavy and ultra-heavy classifications of ground plasma cannon, with the Hesduron artillery piece retrieved from the hulls of aging Vestige warships to bolster the ground forces of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant.

Plasma lances serve as a form of ultra-heavy plasma cannon, firing tightly-focused streams of high-velocity plasma at targets. Unlike plasma torpedo turrets, plasma cannons appear to be able to fire only in a straight line and are less powerful than plasma torpedoes. The bolts fired by plasma cannons are typically blue or blue-purple.

Heavy plasma cannons
The Melusean is a widely-used pattern of heavy plasma cannon used across the Covenant fleet.
 * Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannon
 * - 6x Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannons
 * - 4x Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannons
 * - 12x Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannon arrays
 * - 24x Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannons
 * - 24x Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannons
 * - 24x Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannons
 * - 48x Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannons

Plasma cannons

 * Gaff Naran-pattern plasma cannon
 * - 24x Gaff Naran-pattern plasma cannons
 * - 8x Gaff Naran-pattern plasma cannons


 * Morfen-pattern plasma cannon
 * - 7x Morfen-pattern plasma cannons
 * - 22x Morfen-pattern plasma cannons


 * Sey-pattern plasma cannon
 * - 30x Sey-pattern plasma cannons


 * Sono-pattern plasma cannon
 * - 42x Sono-pattern plasma cannons

Halo: Fleet Battles
In Halo: Fleet Battles, plasma cannons can be used aboard several Covenant ships. They generally have a range of 10/20" and Forward/Port/Starboard firing arcs. Ships that use plasma cannons include:
 * Blockade runner
 * CCS-class battlecruiser
 * DSC-class support ship
 * ORS-class heavy cruiser
 * RCS-class armored cruiser
 * SDV-class heavy corvette

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo 2
 * Halo 3
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Halo: Hunters in the Dark
 * Halo: Fleet Battles
 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Halo: Smoke and Shadow
 * Halo: Silent Storm