M121 Jackrabbit

"Hunting and gathering."

- A Jackrabbit pilot.

The M121 "Jackrabbit" Light Strike Vehicle is a light scouting vehicle manufactured by Misriah Armory and employed by the United Nations Space Command.

Design details
The Jackrabbit is a fast and manoeuvrable scouting vehicle that resembles a bike in normal operations, with a semi-enclosed cockpit in the middle to seat a single driver. When decelerating, however, the front vehicle can split into two, turning the vehicle into a tripod for increased stability. When needing to accelerate, the wheels once again combine into one, allowing the vehicle bursts of speed up to a maximum of 110 mph on open terrain.

Armaments
The rear of the Jackrabbit contains a single swivel-mount capable of equipping a variety of munitions. This is most commonly equipped with an automatic rapid-fire grenade launcher firing dual-purpose fragmentation grenades, though is also compatible with other weapons such as machine guns, the M68 Gauss cannon - and presumably other weaponry commonly mounted on Warthogs.

Variants

 * Veteran Jackrabbit - a Jackrabbit variant capable of detecting Cloaked enemies. As with other "Veteran" units, it is fully upgraded.
 * Wild Jackrabbit - a Jackrabbit variant that explodes on death.
 * Arctic Jackrabbit - Arctic variant of the Jackrabbit.

Usage
The Jackrabbit is generally used as a scouting and raiding vehicle. They are often coupled with a support drone such as an MQ-96 Support Drone, allowing it to assess enemy defenses for vulnerabilities even when removed from the UNSC battle network. With the reconnaissance data gathered, a Jackrabbit pilot can use the vehicle to make rapid strikes against enemy materiel or coordinate with a larger force to engage in hit-and-run or diversionary tactics. They may sometimes be used by commanders for exploration or capturing regional control points.

Operational history
On December 12, 2553, the Spartan-IIs Frederic-104 and Kelly-087 drove a pair of Jackrabbits through the front window of Trattoria Georgi, a restaurant in New Tyne, Venezia, that catered to those involved in black market purchases and smuggling during Operation: RETRIBUTION.

Jackrabbits were used by the Surakan Militia Volunteers during the Carrow Conflict in September 2558. When plotting an attack on Hekabe in the Sharquoi hive, Michael-120 of Gray Team suggested that a Jackrabbit would be the best choice of vehicle to carry an improvised EMP cannon. The new governor of Suraka reluctantly agreed to part with a single Jackrabbit while the rest were used as part of the city's evacuation. Along with the makeshift attack force that was formed, the Jackrabbit was dropped from a Pelican dropship and was driven by Mike. By hanging on to the vehicle, Governor Ellis Gass, Jai-006, Adriana-111 and Rojka 'Kasaan were able to ride a distance into the hive before a Sharquoi attack directed by Hekabe stopped them. As everyone struggled to hold off the Sharquoi, the Jackrabbit was used to move the weapon closer until a Sharquoi fell on it from above and crushed the front end of the vehicle. The cannon survived and Jai at first physically carried the Jackrabbit before removing the cannon in favor of carrying that alone. The wrecked Jackrabbit was vaporized when Ellis detonated a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon to destroy the Sharquoi and their hive.

Prior to the defense of Onyx in October 2558, Spartan-IIIs Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 used Jackrabbits armed with machine guns to destroy a group of Sentinels.

Cheap and easy to manufacture, the Jackrabbit's design blueprint was one of the first to be integrated by the after Isabel's rescue on March 28, 2559 for use against the Banished on Installation 00.

Halo Wars 2
Jackrabbit upgrade: Mini-frag launcher Jackrabbit upgrade: Support drone
 * Campaign
 * Info: Scout, Very fast moving, Can de-capture
 * Tier: 0
 * Cost:, ,
 * Info: Unit Upgrade, Weaponizes Jackrabbit
 * Tier: 1
 * Cost: ,
 * Info: Unit Upgrade, Equips drone, Increased Line of Sight, Drone heals Jackrabbit, Detects cloaked units
 * Tier: 2
 * Cost: ,

Jackrabbit upgrade: Support drone
 * Multiplayer
 * Info: Scout, Very fast moving, Can de-capture
 * Tier: 0
 * Cost:, ,
 * Info: Unit Upgrade, Equips drone, Increased Line of Sight, Drone heals Jackrabbit, Drone attacks units, Detects cloaked units
 * Tier: 1
 * Cost: ,

The Jackrabbit can be built at the Firebase by all UNSC leaders. As a scout unit, they can gather resources. They perform moderately against infantry and vehicles, but do poorly against aircraft and structures. At the original launch of Halo Wars 2, Jackrabbits in multiplayer worked similarly to their campaign counterparts and spawned with no weapons, requiring an upgrade to get their grenade launcher. This was changed in the Season 4 June 2017 balance patch.

In Blitz, the Jackrabbit costs energy, while the Wild Jackrabbit costs  energy, and the Veteran Jackrabbit costs  energy. Wild Jackrabbits explode upon being destroyed, destroying enemy units caught in the blast radius.

Production notes
In the Halo Wars 2 Open Beta when upgraded with the mini-frag launcher, James Cutter called the upgraded Jackrabbit a "Gunrabbit".

Trivia
Following the UNSC tradition of naming vehicles after animals, the M121 is named after the Jackrabbit.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Ground Command
 * Halo Wars 2
 * Halo: Envoy
 * Halo: Retribution
 * Halo: Legacy of Onyx