A-74 Sylver Vertical Missile Launcher

The A-74 Sylver Vertical Missile Launcher is an air-to-surface missile launcher typically mounted as one of the primary armaments of the AC-220 Vulture gunship.

Design details
A-74s are vertical launch systems positioned on the top of the Vulture's hull, arrayed in two rows of four running along the craft's left and right sides. The launcher has a 360-degree effective radius, allowing it to target any enemy near the gunship itself. The A-74 launcher can work with the craft's Argent V missile bays to unleash a unified barrage of missiles on an unfortunate target.

The A-74 launcher can be internally reloaded, and can be stocked with a variety of air-surface munitions including Anvil-IV ASMs and Phoenix ASMs. These weapons complement complementing the turret-mounted Argent-V anti-air missiles and quad GAU-23/AW/Linkless Feed Autocannons.

Gameplay
In Halo Wars, the A-74 is granted to the Vulture gunship upon researching the Mega Barrage upgrade. Once completed, the Vulture can use the A-74s to bombard a target from afar as the vehicle's Y-ability. This weapon was replaced in Halo Wars 2 with the Phoenix missile, though it is still present on the Vulture model.

Trivia
The A-74 Sylver is likely inspired by the real-world Sylver Vertical Launching System, a French VLS; the word Sylver in this context stands for SYstème de Lancement VERtical. Notably, one of the model numbers of the Sylver launcher in the real-world is the A-70 model.

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo
 * Halo Wars 2