HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon

This article is about a nuclear weapon. For the software, see Havok.

The HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon is a UNSC nuclear weapon produced by the Misriah Armory. It is classified as part of the Medium Fusion Destructive Device category.

Description
The HAVOK tactical nuke is one of the most powerful ground-based nuclear ordnance in the UNSC arsenal, and has a thermonuclear yield of 30 megatons. The standard HAVOK mine is described as looking like a small black half sphere, and does not contain any external indicators; the device only contains a thin slot on the unit's face to allow the detonation key to be inserted. The bottom of the unit contains bonding strips that allows the HAVOK to be attached to any type of surface. The HAVOK can only be detonated by a remote signal, and if the device is placed underneath thick concrete and steel, or other objects that may cause interference, a ground-return receiver must be set up to allow the signal to reach the device.

The HAVOK mine is used in situations where the UNSC must eliminate Covenant forces in an area already claimed by them, or to prevent an area from falling into their hands. However, there are situations where the UNSC will use a HAVOK to eliminate Covenant ships deploying infantry and equipment. Nuclear weapons like the HAVOK are employed often but not always, and are only used when all civilian and military populations have been either evacuated, or compromised in a target area.

Variants
Several variants of the HAVOK nuclear device have been developed for use in different tactical situations.

Variant V
The Variant V HAVOK is designed to maximize the thermonuclear yield in the vacuum of space. The Variant V HAVOK is a warhead that is attached to a missile and can be launched from either the ground or from a ship.

Mark 2556 MFDD
The Mark 2556 Medium Fusion Destructive Device is an excavation-grade variant of the weapon that is presumably less powerful, but can still be used in a missile and to destroy ships and other targets.

Tactical uses
HAVOK Variant V nuclear missiles were carried on the in 2531.

On February 12, 2535 during the Battle of Jericho VII, UNSC NavSpecWep deployed three teams of SPARTAN-IIs on Jericho VII to combat Covenant forces invading the colony. At one point during the engagement Red Team was successfully able to plant a HAVOK nuke near a Covenant rally point where a cruiser was to deploy ground forces while Blue Team was to clear out the rear guard of the Covenant forces so they could slip in. The plan was for the nuke to be detonated when the cruiser lowered its shields and landed to drop troops in order to take it out. Red Team succeeded in this mission.

In May, 2545, the 53rd Armored Division of the UNSC Army detonated two HAVOKs to demolish three Covenant staging grounds during the Battle of Actium. The blasts wiped out much of the Covenant ground forces, but at the cost of no less than 12,000 Army personnel. The battle ultimately ended in a Covenant victory, as Actium was glassed.

On July 18, 2552, during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, Blue Team detonated a HAVOK nuclear mine in the city of Côte d'Azur, during the battle taking place on the planet, destroying the city and all the Covenant in it.

In October-November 2552, HAVOK nuclear weapons were used during the Battle of Earth. One notable use was when Blue Team was deployed to Mount Erebus in the Antarctic to destroy a Covenant excavation force using a HAVOK.

Seven excavation-grade HAVOK warheads were stored on Ivanoff Station. During the Raid on Ivanoff Station by the Didact, the Master Chief had all of the warheads prepared in order to destroy the Composer and prevent the Didact from getting it. After the Didact digitized everyone in the station, the Master Chief took one of these nukes in the form of a missile attached to an F-41 Broadsword fighter and chased the Didact. During the Didact's subsequent attack on Earth, the Master Chief boarded the Didact's ship, Mantle's Approach with the nuke and detonated it, destroying the ship and the Composer.

In the aftermath of the ship's destruction, a Sangheili terrorist attempted to destroy the city of Rio de Janeiro with a smuggled HAVOK warhead; he was ultimately stopped by UNSC special forces operatives.

During the Second Battle of Requiem, Jul 'Mdama's Covenant stole at least seven HAVOK-class warheads from the UNSC. During a raid on the, the Covenant planted one HAVOK in the ship's Server Room, and six more throughout the Engine Room. The HAVOKs were equipped with active camouflage to hide them from the ship's sensors. However, Fireteam Crimson was able to locate and disarm all the HAVOKs before they could be detonated.

During the Mission to Alpha Shard, Randall Aiken manually set off a HAVOK nuke destroying the Alpha Shard. The nuke's fuel cell was used to power the Condor in order to let Jameson Locke and Talitha Macer have a chance to get off of the Shard.

Trivia

 * In the Spartan Ops chapter Engine of Destruction, if the player looks closely at the displays for the nukes, it will read "HAVOK Missle Controls Disarmed". The spelling error is presumably an oversight.
 * The effects of the HAVOK nuclear weapon vary significantly between works of Halo media. In the weapon's first appearance in Halo: The Fall of Reach, the HAVOK tactical nuke is said to have a yield of 30 megatons, and descriptions of detonations in The Fall of Reach and Halo: First Strike produce damage on a local scale. When the weapon is shown going off on Sigma Octanus IV in Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant, it produces a continental-scale fireball that extends out into space and appears to break off pieces of the planet's crust, effects magnitudes more powerful than described in the novels. Conversely, in Issue 12 of Halo: Escalation, two HAVOKs dropped into a volcano-based pirate hideout cause significant damage to the base, yet do not critically endanger the Spartans inside. In Halo: Nightfall, Jameson Locke implies that the HAVOK has a blast radius of 100 kilometers. The screen on the device later specifies that the weapon causes complete destruction within seven kilometers, and light damage for 44 kilometers. However, when the nuke's detonation is shown, the fireball completely overwhelms Alpha Shard's width of 318 kilometers. While some the more egregious incongruities are no doubt the result of mistakes or artistic license, it is possible that variants of the HAVOK have differing yields.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo Wars: Genesis
 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops
 * Halo: Nightfall
 * Halo: Escalation