M41 Vulcan

The M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun is a United Nations Space Command Defense Force vehicle-mounted projectile machine gun. It is used in means as the primary armament on the standard Warthog

Background
The M41 LAAG is the standard weaponry of the M12 Warthog LRV, although it is found on the Elephant Troop Recovery Platform as well. It is a triple-barreled, electric-powered, linkless, drum-fed weapon. It fires 450 to 550 12.7x99mm armor penetrating rounds per minute. Turret traverse rate is 100 degrees per second and weapon elevation rate is 60 degrees per second. Recoil from sustained fire is prodigious and negatively impacts accuracy at long range. It also works quite well for taking out Banshees and other lightly-armored vehicles.

Ammunition
As stated above, the M41 uses 12.7x99mm rounds, also know as the .50 BMG round, or .50 caliber. The name BMG comes from the 20th-century M2 Browning Machine Gun the cartridge was designed for. It is well known for it's legendary stopping power. It is normally considered an anti-matériel round, as it can take out both heavy armor and infantry at great range. The bullet is even supposedly capable of stopping a car dead in its tracks, shooting a round right through its engine block.

The 12.7x99mm rounds is capable of exerting upwards of five times as the 7.62x51mm rounds used in the MA5 series of assault rifles, and the M41 is a relatively accurate example of its power compared to the smaller 7.62mm round. This was only evident in Halo: Combat Evolved, as damage per-hit in Halo 2 was dramatically less powerful. To balance this out, the rate of fire on the M41 was increased to roughly 900 rounds per-minute, and accuracy was increased significantly from the Halo: CE version.

Trivia

 * This weapon bears a close resemblance to the GAU-19/A machine gun used by the United States military. In addition to other superficial similarities, both are triple-barreled Gatling-style machine guns. Both weapons also fire the 12.7×99 mm round.
 * The M41 is also found on the Elephant Troop Recovery Platform.
 * When the weapon is firing it is slow but gradually gets faster the longer you pull the trigger, so it's always a good idea to just prime the trigger when you're on the turret, since you don't waste any ammo.
 * The armor plating can be shot off or beaten off in Halo 2 and 3.

The XM41 is a United Nations Space Command heavy mounted machine gun.

Background
It is first seen in the Halo Wars announcement trailer at the end when Spartan Group Omega and UNSC Marine reinforcements show up. It features four barrels, instead of the usual three that is common on the M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun.

Trivia

 * It could simply be a mistake as the animator who worked upon the video made other mistakes in it as well, or it could be a new form of machine gun special for the Halo Wars game. Also the gun could just be a new graphic of the M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun
 * It could also be a 7 reference. There is a three barreled and a four barreled. 3+4=7


 * It is possible that it is an older version of the m41 and the 4 barrels spinning rapidly caused it to overheat quickly in combat thus eliminating its usefulness.


 * Its more likely the lack of raw materials forced the reduction of barrels from four to three as more barrels disperses heat quicker. Due to the fact each is given more time to cool in the rotation, the main reason the Vulcan cannon uses six barrels today.

Related Articles

 * United Nations Space Command
 * M12 LRV Warthog
 * M68 Gauss Cannon