Sentinel launcher

Sentinel Launchers, are small armor-covered devices built into the walls of some Forerunner facilities. They have appeared in Halo 2 and Halo 3. When hostile entities, such as Flood, are detected in the immediate area, they open their cover and dispense Sentinels. When a Sentinel is about to be dispensed, the Launcher will make a noise that increases in pitch until the Sentinel is dispensed.

Most Sentinels seen being dispensed are the normal silver ones, though a few dispense the gold, shielded Majors. One way to destroy a launcher is to attack it when the armored cover opens to release a Sentinel (an over charged Plasma Pistol shot is a one shot kill and also creates an EMP style effect on nearby shields.) It is also possible to destroy a closed dispenser by sticking a Plasma Grenade on its cover or by hitting it with a melee attack; however, the melee attack will drop your shields, so it's most useful to melee the Launchers when there are no other enemies around.

These launchers can only be found on the level Sacred Icon in Halo 2 and only briefly in Halo 3. This has confused a lot of Halo 2 players as on the levels The Arbiter and Oracle there are Sentinels but no Sentinel Launchers. Although some Sentinels could have escaped the destruction of the first Halo, few would have been able to. There are an extremely large number of Sentinels on the two levels and too many for the amount that could have escaped Halo's destruction. This would probably mean that they came from a production facility of some sort or are produced on site and are in fact Sentinels that originated from the Gas Mine.

The launchers in Halo 3 release Sentinels at a quicker rate than those in Halo 2. Also, the hatch closes right after the Sentinel is released to prevent weapon fire from getting into the launcher. To get around this, just stick it with a grenade or blow it up with heavier weapon such as a Rocket Launcher.

Trivia

 * They can be jammed in Halo 3 by sticking a Spike or Plasma Grenade on the inside just before it launches a sentinel.
 * The Halo 2 launcher is noticeably weaker than the Halo 3 launcher. The Halo 2 launcher can only take 1 grenade, while the Halo 3 can take many.
 * The Scorpion Main Battle Tank can destroy a Launcher with one shot in Halo 3.