Spike cannon

Spike cannons, also known as spiker autocannons, are a class of heavy mounted weapon typically used by the Covenant and its remnants. As their name suggests, spike cannons employ the use of spike projectiles as their primary munitions.

Design details
While there are multiple variants of spike cannons, they generally fire spike projectiles larger than those loaded in handheld spike weaponry. Spike cannons are mounted on ground vehicles as well as aircraft and controlled by either the vehicle's operator or additional gunners. When the Jiralhanae first repurposed Lighter Than Some's invention into the Choppers, they were equipped with spike rifles, but later—more refined—models of the Chopper employed forward-firing and self-loading twin-paired heavy spike cannons, which fire large 35mm caliber spike projectiles. Despite the weapons being self-loading cannons that fire large calibre projectiles, in his publication Machines, Materiel and Munitions from the Human-Covenant Conflict, 2525 - Present, Dr Robert McLees suggested "autocannon" may be a misnomer for the spike cannons. Regardless, the weapon displays a degree of modularity: while the cannon can be upgraded with stabilizers for increased damage and accuracy, the spike projectiles themselves can also be upgraded to explosive shrapnel rounds, converting the cannon to its "shrapnel cannon” variant. Although spike cannons tend to fire at a lower rate of fire when compared to plasma cannons and needle cannons, their spike projectiles remain very effective against infantry and light armored vehicles.

Usage

 * Light spike cannons
 * Dovotaa Workshop Reaver - 2x light spike cannon


 * Spike cannons
 * Dovotaa Workshop Griever - 2x spike cannon
 * Qavardu Workshop Gravemaker - 4x spike cannon


 * Heavy spike cannons
 * Spike turret - 2x heavy spike cannon
 * Barug'qel Workshop Chopper - 2x heavy spike cannon
 * Barukaza Workshop Chopper - 4x heavy spike cannon
 * Bolroci Workshop Chopper - 2x heavy spike cannon


 * Shrapnel cannons
 * Barug'qel Workshop Chopper - 2x shrapnel cannon
 * Terror Chopper - 2x shrapnel cannon

List of appearances

 * Halo 3
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo Wars 2
 * Halo Infinite