Archer missile

The Archer missile is a ship-to-ship missile used by the UNSC Navy.

Overview
Warships usually carry large numbers of Archer missiles to complement their Magnetic Accelerator Cannons. Archer pods usually carry around two dozen missiles each; frigates and destroyers carry thirty pods, though larger ships carry more pods, sometimes hundreds. While individual Archers are vulnerable to point-defense weapons and have limited destructive potential, their sheer numbers make up for their lack of individual effectiveness. Covenant shield technology can withstand large numbers of Archers, though unprotected ships can be destroyed by Archer missile strikes to the hull and superstructure.

M42 Archer
The is armed with 350 pods of twenty-four M42 Archers. These are supplemented by 250 pods of thirty M75 Rapier missiles and 500 pods of twenty M96 Howlers.

M58 Archer
The was armed with 300 pods of twenty-six M58 Archers after being refit for Operation: RED FLAG. The post-war, partially based on the design architecture of the Pillar of Autumn, is likewise armed with an M58 Archer delivery system.

Service history
Prior to the Human-Covenant War, the UNSC found the missiles to be effective against Insurrectionist combatant ships. Against the Covenant, however, they realized that the defensive measures employed by the enemy ships such as energy shields and point defense lasers suddenly rendered Archer missiles near-obsolete - lasers were able to pick off up to half of the missiles launched, and those that hit were rarely enough to penetrate the shields. At least one Covenant ship class, the, possesses jamming measures that interfere with the guidance systems. Tactics were developed to counter this, using the more devastating but slower-firing Magnetic Accelerator Cannons to break through the shields, rendering the hulls vulnerable, but on the whole Archers proved to be ineffective weapons against the Covenant. Smaller ships, such as boarding craft or fighters, are much easier targets, and Archers may be used in support of ground forces, launched from orbit to strike a ground-based target.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: First Strike
 * Halo 2
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo 3
 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Covenant
 * Invasion
 * Halo 4