Moncton-class orbital weapon platform

"That MAC gun could put a hole clean through a Covenant capital ship. Coordinated fire from the Athens and the Malta, nothing's getting through this battle cluster in one piece."

- Avery J. Johnson

The Moncton-class orbital weapon platform (hull classification symbol: OWP) is a line of orbital defense platforms utilized by the UNSC towards the end of the Human-Covenant War and in the years beyond.

Powerplant
The Moncton-class, unlike other models of defense platforms, was built with an on-board power source. As well as a fusion reactor, the lower stalk of the station was composed of stacked liquid-metal capacitors, which allowed for the rapid firing of its MAC so long as there is charge in their cells. If the reactor is damaged, the docking umbilicals could parasitically leach charge off a docked UNSC warship to power its weapon.

Armament
Moncton-class platforms are equipped with a 14D4A1 Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, a power-hungry 802.2 metre (2,632 ft) long coilgun that fires a ferric-tungsten round traveling at several thousand kilometers per second, which carries enough energy to punch clean through a Covenant capital ship. The shell is accelerated by hundreds of asynchronous linear induction motors which all line the barrel of the weapon. They were also equipped with seven M606 Goalkeeper point defense guns to protect them from enemy fighters, bombers and boarding craft.

Crew and Complement
152 UNSC Air Force and Navy personnel manned the Moncton-class platforms, who all lived in cramped crew quarters on the station's ring section. This can include a number of senior officers who resided in an exposed command center, which can be modified with the equipment and facilities needed to coordinate entire defensive efforts around the planet they were stationed at. For security, 136 UNSC Marines were assigned aboard them within security wings. They could be overwhelmed by Covenant boarding teams, provided enough of them were able to reach the station. For emergency evacuation, at least sixteen SKT-9 Bumblebees were stowed away in launch bays around the docking section.

To temporarily supplement their on-board complement, two purpose-built docking ports were fitted on each side of the station, both of which could accept a UNSC frigate. Eight horizontally-articulated could connect to airlocks to allow for the exchange of personnel.

In addition, multiple hangar bays were fitted. During the Human-Covenant War, each individual station in a given battle cluster was optimized to accept a specific type of aircraft. One would be equipped to service light space fighters and utility craft, carrying up to ten F-41D Broadswords and D77-TC Pelicans. Another would carry interceptors such as GA-TL1 Longswords. The third is specialized towards D82-EST Darters and maintenance drones.

History
Introduced by at least 2550, the Moncton-class orbital weapon platform formed part of Earth's orbital defense grid under the authority of Unified Ground Command by the UNSC Air Force. It was a key part of Earth's Orbital Defense Grid, an ambitious plan that combined ground-based aerospace fighters, low-orbit satellites, and warship squadrons into a multi-layered integrated system. When the Prophet of Regret's forces stumbled into Earth's defenses, Moncton-class platforms engaged the Covenant fleet at range, with Cairo serving as Lord Hood's command center to coordinate the defense of Earth, devastating the unusually small force despite the Covenant being able to board and destroy the Athens and Malta stations and slipping a single through the defense grid to deploy forces throughout Mombasa. The Moncton platforms would continue to defend Earth even as the Prophet of Truth's own fleet began arriving, with Nassau Station tracking the Tykos 30 in Ruwan Ackerson's bloodstream to identify Harbinger of Piety as a priority target and destroy it, killing the Minister of Inquisition. An unknown number of platforms survived the end of the war, and continued to serve in Earth's defence grid as late as March 22nd, 2558.

Known stations

 * Athens Station
 * Cairo Station
 * Malta Station
 * Nassau Station
 * Oaxaca Station

List of appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo: Uprising
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Issue 7
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Halo Mythos
 * Halo: Lone Wolf