M510 Mammoth

"Well. Someone's overcompensating."

- Cortana commenting on the size of the Mammoth.

The Mobile Anti-Aircraft Weapons Platform M510 Siegework/Ultra-Heavy, commonly known as the Mammoth, is a heavy wheeled vehicle used by the United Nations Space Command in the wake of the Human-Covenant War. This weapon platform is currently the largest known terrestrial armored fighting vehicle employed by the UNSC, dwarfing even the similar "Elephant" HRVs in size.

Design details
Nearly seventy meters in length, the Mammoth is a six-wheeled siegeworks ultra-heavy vehicle that fulfills the dual roles of anti-aircraft and anti-warship weapons platform; it is designed for the elimination of hostile vessels, weapons, and fortifications in terrestrial and orbital positions. As with the Elephant, the Mammoth possesses an internal storage bay for smaller vehicles such as the M12 Warthog and the M274 Mongoose and their variants, which are normally stored via magnetic grapples running along the roof of the bay and can exit through the vehicle's front or back ramp. The Mammoth sports a single Mark 2457/35cm HRG "Mini-MAC" turret on the topside, two large openings towards the back, as well as two smaller ones near the vehicle's cockpit. Two M79 MLRS emplacements are mounted on both the port and starboard side for close-in defense. It is generally painted in a camel brown scheme.

Despite its powerful weaponry, Mammoths generally require an infantry and vehicle escort for localised defence.

Usage
Mammoths were originally adapted from expeditionary machines used by Unified Earth Government civilian sectors on colony worlds. The vehicle's sheer size allows it to fulfill a number of varied roles for the UNSC. These include the aforementioned anti-starship platform, alongside roles as a mobile forward operating base, convoy support, heavy recovery vehicle, direct assault, and blockading.

Operational history
10 Mammoths were used by the 's Marine contingent on Requiem in July 2557. During the vessel's turbulent approach into the shield world, at least two of these vehicles crushed the surrounding areas of their hangar bay. The Mammoth proved to be an effective weapon against both Covenant remnant and Forerunner armor forces during the Battle of Requiem. Its heavy plating proved almost impervious to Banshee and Wraith shelling, while its MAC and point defense weapons laid waste to ground and air units with equal efficiency. However, the Mammoth's heavy guns were of little use against direct boarding action by enemy infantry. During the battle in the shield world, a Mammoth was used to assault the control center of the Forerunner particle cannons to shut them down so the Infinity could take out Requiem's gravity well. With the Master Chief guiding the MAC cannon with a handheld target designator, the Mammoth destroyed two of the four cannons and helped clear the way, but was badly damaged by a Lich and, while still able to move on its own, had to stay behind as the Master Chief finished the mission alone due to impassible terrain around the command center.

In early 2558, Blue Team stopped a Mammoth from crashing into a human colony's fusion reactor. By October 2558, the Infinity continued to have a supply of Mammoths.

Trivia

 * Following the UNSC tradition of naming ground vehicles after animals, the M510 is named after the Mammoth, an extinct relative to the Elephant.
 * In the Halo 4 campaign level Reclaimer, the "Prime" emblem can be found in the interior of the Mammoth.
 * Early in development, the Mammoth (then named the Tortoise) was conceived as a more literal base on wheels. This version is capable of deploying into siege mode with bracing pistons, a retractable sniper nest, and a deployable landing pad that could accommodate VTOL craft.

List of appearances

 * ''The Commissioning
 * Halo 4
 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Halo: Tales from Slipspace
 * On the Brink
 * Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual