M9 fragmentation grenade

"Well it’s a grenade innit? It blows up."

- Anonymous E2-BAG/1/7 serviceman

The M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenade (abbreviated M9 HE-DP Grenade), also known as the Fragmentation Grenade, Frag Grenade, or simply Frag, is a UNSC-issued grenade that functions in a manner very similar to contemporary hand grenades.

Description
HE-DP stands for High-Explosive Dual-Purpose. This designation means that it is designed to be effective against infantry and lightly armored vehicles.

The grenade has a hard metal casing that is smooth in Halo: Combat Evolved, but gridded in Halo 2 and Halo 3. This surface creates consistent, reliable fragmentation patterns for the grenade, rather than randomly rupturing along metallurgical faults. The grid-shaped casing houses a charge of high-explosive fitted with a mechanical primer. When the charge detonates, it shatters the grenade's casing, sending shrapnel flying away at high velocity.

AP FRAG can be viewed on the Halo: Combat Evolved M9's olive casing. AP designates "anti-personnel", indicating the weapon's intended use.

In all Halo games, the grenade must first hit the ground before exploding. In Halo CE, the grenade would not detonate mid-air. In Halo 2 and Halo 3, it would bounce and explode mid-air a moment after bouncing. But in Halo 3, if the grenade was thrown up, and hit a surface going up, it would not explode until it hit the ground. This presumed to be a safety feature, ensuring the grenade would only explode after striking a surface after being thrown, and not in the user's hand.

This may explain the lack of a "spoon", or handle, on the Halo 2 and 3 M9 HE-DP grenades. The spoon is a device that is gripped while the grenade is being primed. It ensures the grenade will not explode until after the spoon is released, as it starts the fuse of a grenade as it flies through the air after it is thrown. In Halo: Combat Evolved, the spoon would have negated the need for this Halo 2 safety feature. In Halo 3 if viewed in theater mode you can see the grenade is actually launched from the shoulder, but this may be because of graphical limitations, as one can see bullets are fired from somebody's head rather than their gun. These are simply glitches.

It is unknown how the M9 is primed, but references to pulling a pin on the grenade is mentioned in the Halo novels several times, even though no pin is visible in game play. However, pulling a pin would require two hands, but each version of the grenade has a button on its body. This would most likely be pushed to prime the M9 before tossing it. The pin reference is most likely an inaccuracy on the author's part in the novels, or perhaps just a turn of phrase that has lingered from more primitive grenade types.

In Halo: Combat Evolved the fragmentation grenade left a white smoke trail behind it when thrown and would create sparks when it landed after being hurled, indicating that the grenades fuse could be a gas-release system. The grenade would be primed with pressing a button, release gas when in mid-air and then detonate when landing in a static position. This would make the grenade's detonation system depend on placement rather than timed detonation.

In Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, four of these grenades may be carried at a time. This was reduced to two in Halo 3 due to the presence of four grenade types, but increased to three in Halo 3: ODST.

Advantages
This grenade can be effectively hurled and bounced around corners and travels farther than the Plasma Grenade; this can be used to quickly and aptly damage an attacker before he can move away from it, giving you an instant advantage in the close combat situation. It is also harder to see and has a shorter fuse, therefore making it harder to avoid and more useful for killing enemies on foot. In Halo: Combat Evolved, it also seems to have a larger blast radius than a Plasma Grenade. It has a larger casualty radius than the other grenade types in Halo 3. Also, since it is harder to see, having an enemy run over one by accident can happen more easily than with a bright blue plasma grenade. Also, they are extremely common, as all health packs in Halo: Combat Evolved have fragmentation grenades beside them and all Marines carry them.

Disadvantages

 * Unlike the Plasma and Spike Grenades, this grenade doesn't stick to objects, making it harder to hit vehicles although it can get stuck on objects through a glitch. In Halo 3, it deals slightly less damage than the Covenant Plasma Grenade and Spike Grenade. In addition, if too close, you will be hurt just as much as your opponent. It cannot kill a fully shielded Elite, Spartan, or Brute, no matter the range. It can, however, kill a partially shielded opponent in a single hit. In stark contrast, the Plasma Grenade is a one-hit kill if stuck or lands nearby so you have to be careful when throwing. Also when you throw the grenade the enemy might run to you making the Frag Grenade throw a useless move.
 * In the Halo: Combat Evolved campaign, if one grenade is caught in the blast of another, it will be set off; this can lead to massive chain reactions if large numbers of grenades are scattered around the battlefield. However, grenades that were originally spawned on the map will not detonate, only the ones that are dropped by enemies and allies that are killed. A similar effect is found in the Halo 2 campaign, however since the grenades are less powerful these chain reaction explosions are less dangerous and less likely to occur.
 * The grenade bounces unpredictably making grenade jumping harder though it is still possible in corners.

Campaign
The M9 HE-DP Grenade is best used when enemies gather together in tight groups. A well thrown grenade placed in the middle of a squad of Elites and Grunts will kill most of the Grunts and damage the Elite's Shields; however, a single grenade cannot kill even a Minor Elite, but just damage its shields. The only Elites that can be killed with one detonation is a Stealth Elite, with its downgraded shields. Grunts may also panic and flee making them easy targets for follow up attacks. Frag grenades may be used against Jackals, as their Shields will not protect them from the blast. The M9 HE-DP Grenade is also commonly used to disable most land vehicles with the exception of tanks.

There is a useful tactic that can be used to take down a group of Grunts and Elites. It requires a frag grenade and a Plasma Pistol. Throw the frag grenade into a middle of the clump, and then build up an overcharged blast with your Plasma Pistol. Hit the lead Elite with the overcharged blast. The overcharge will knock out the Elite's shield just before the grenade detonates, which should kill the Elite as well as most of the Grunts. Any grenade can work for this tactic, but a Frag is optimal.

One of the best tactics to use is to first throw a Frag, and then simply cut the shieldless opponent down with a weapon of your choice, preferably human, like a Battle Rifle, due to its effectiveness in taking out flesh (rather than shields).

Multiplayer
A multipurpose weapon, the fragmentation grenade can be used in corridors, to flush out occupants. The blast will severely damage player's Energy Shields allowing for easy follow up attacks. If lobbed under a vehicle, the explosion will either kill or severely injure the occupants, and damage or destroy the vehicle. If timed correctly, grenades can be planted in the path of an oncoming vehicle. Most drivers will not be able to react quickly enough, and will most likely be caught in the blast. If you place the grenade under an enemy it will kill them. Note: This is very hard to do and it only works in Halo 2. Another good Multiplayer tactic is to throw one at your feet while back-pedaling when an enemy is charging at you. When the grenade detonates, the other person should be in the blast radius of the grenade and be killed; if not, use a headshot on them, as their shields should be down. It can be done with other grenades, but as the frag grenade is the hardest to see, it is unlikely that the other person will dodge it. It also has a bigger blast radius. This is easiest done in Halo: Combat Evolved. In some maps like Snowbound and Sandtrap, if a frag is thrown it will stay where it lands given the soft ground on both maps. This is useful to fight oncoming vehicles, preferably lighter vehicles like Ghosts and Mongooses or even heavier vehicles like Warthogs. One frag grenade is considered as either aid in combat for quick damage before the fight starts, or as a tool to finish off an unshielded opponent. A grenade can be bounced off of a wall to ambush an enemy or kill your ambushers. Two frags is where this grenade becomes a killer all on its own. Frags are also very handy to kill opponents when used in conjunction with explosive objects. Destroying Fusion Coils or Plasma Batteries with a grenade means the grenade's damage plus the explosive's damage would hurt or kill the target more effectively than a single frag grenade. On Narrows, one useful tactic is at the beginning of the battle, go off the man cannon and throw a grenade onto the middle of the bridge. Usually, people have already advanced on the bridge and have their shields severely disabled or taken out completely. The grenade will then kill them. This is great for getting an easy kill at the beginning of a match. When outside on Snowbound, the grenades don't bounce in the snow; they embed into it. This is semi-useless, but it's something that most people wouldn't know. A tactic done by most players is to clear areas by throwing frags and bouncing them off walls. This is effective in games like King of the Hill where you can throw grenades into the hill, to force the enemy out or to weaken them for a quick kill. It's best to know the map for bouncing the grenade off walls and objects. One can even use the frag grenade to force an enemy into an area or a corner and finish them off easily.

UNSC Remarks

 * "Grenades are not something you throw just because you see bad guys. Make sure you know where your squad is at, make sure it’s only the bad guys you’re gonna blow up, then chuck the damage."


 * "This is my third tour and I’ve seen action on a half dozen planets—I’ve also seen about five different versions of the M9. Not like em nine eh through em nine ee, but totally different fragmentation grenades called em nine. I guess that’s one of the consequences of being part of a galactic empire [laughter] I said galactic empire!"


 * "The grenade detonated directly beneath the Ghost and sent it and the driver tumbling through the air; the remainder of 1st squad dispatched the Brute and secured the enemy vehicle."


 * "There ain’t a magical wall at fifteen meters—had a hole punched in my cheek at about ninety meters over a year ago back on Ballast. Could’a lost an eye or even been killed. Remember when you hear that call or a thump to keep your head down.”


 * "...bounced off of the loading ramp and exploded above head level (2.4 meters) killing the Brute SL and disrupting the remaining Grunts."


 * "Well it’s a grenade innit? It blows up."

Trivia

 * Despite being an older design, The Halo 1 frag resembles the US Military M67 frag grenade, which is actually more of an HE grenade, while the frag from Halo 2 and 3 resembles the WWII-era frag used by US forces.
 * The frag grenade seems to leave a trail of smoke behind it in midair when it is thrown, and in Halo 2, it glows yellow.
 * In Halo 3, according to the game manual, the frag grenade has the highest kill radius (5m), and the highest casualty radius (15m) of all the grenades in the game.
 * The grenade is most often used in grenade jumps and the Warthog Jump from Halo: CE.
 * A Frag Grenade cannot kill a player with full health and energy shields. In Halo 2 and Halo 3 the detonation would just knock out shields. In Halo: Combat Evolved a Frag Grenade would knock out the shields and leave only three health bars.
 * Frag Grenades will not bounce when it lands in snow or sand, making them more deadly on Snowbound, Sandbox, Avalanche, and Sandtrap.
 * The Frag Grenade is useful for killing "lift campers" by simply throwing the grenade into the Grav Lift.
 * It is possible for a Frag Grenade to become stuck to a Plasma Grenade or Spike Grenade if they collide in mid-air.
 * It is also possible to wedge a Frag Grenade in a vehicle or a Sentinel, acting much like a "sticky" grenade.
 * Although rather rare and difficult it is possible to "stick" a person with a Frag Grenade. It has to land between their arms so they "cradle" it. It can also land on Spartans' shoulders or helmet.
 * It is also possible to stick an elite by throwing it into their jaws; however, this is extremely difficult. It may also stick if thrown on its shoulder (only if standing still).
 * This grenade is the most often used in "baseball," where a player throws a grenade and another player with a Gravity Hammer must bat it back.
 * In Halo 2 and 3, you can shoot Frags out of the air, causing them to explode prematurely. The best weapon for this is the Battle Rifle. In Halo 2, after the explosion you can see the grenade fly off still in one piece.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, a Frag Grenade could set off other grenades caught in the blast area, causing them to explode as well. This often lead to dangerous chain reactions.
 * In Halo 2, while looking down, if you throw a grenade when you don't have any your torso appears to rise from your hips.
 * It is possible to "stick" a Banshee in Halo: Combat Evolved if you aim for the middle of the inside of it.


 * It is possible to throw a fragmentation grenade under the shield doors on the multiplayer map "Epitaph". This was shown in a video by the "Halo Mythbusters" on the Bungie.net website.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, the frag grenade is smaller when in use than when it is inactive.
 * The cost of one frag grenade is 30 cR.
 * The explosion from a fragmentation grenade, if timed correctly, can divert a M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket, or even cause it to explode.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, when thrown in some dark areas the fuse produces a yellow glow or lighting that lights up a small area on where it is thrown.
 * In Halo 3's Campaign if a frag grenade, or any other grenade is shot while it is lying on the floor it will explode and cause any explosives, including other grenades, to explode. This cannot, however, be done in Multiplayer.
 * Setting off a grenade by shooting it can also be achieved in Halo 3: ODST's Firefight mode, though it can only be performed on grenades that have been dropped by killed players, not grenades still on weapon racks.
 * In Halo: Reach, according to the latest Bungie Podcast, grenades dropped by killed opponents can be shot to kill nearby enemies.