Phantom

Summary
The term Phantom is given to the dropships in Halo 2. Phantoms are the Covenant's equivalent of a Pelican class human dropship, boasting far superior firepower and the capability of reaching greater speeds and manoevurability. The Phantom class dropship appears to have replaced the original dropship which was seen in Halo: Combat Evolved, an obsolete fork-shaped design which contained 4-6 troops in each of its "prongs" as well as a Red Plasma cannon at the point where the "prongs" met.

Role
The Phantom is a substantial improvement from the original dropship, fitted with a much sleeker and more robust design which does not compromise its ability to transport Covenant troops to distant places efficiently. Equipped with three Red Plasma cannon positions formed in a triangular along the underside of the dropship, it poses a very formidable firebase against ground troops and is reasonably capable of engaging aircraft. However, it is fairly vulnerable to fire from marines carrying the new lock-on Rocket Launcher, and a single blast from a Scorpion tank to the underside of the Phantom can easily neutralize its offensive abilities, reducing it to little more than an aerial APC. Fortunately its hull is heavily reinforced and no infantry firepower has yet succeeded in destroying one of these ships.

In Halo 2, the role of the Phantom is to transport units of Covenant troops to a combat zone with speed and efficiency. It is capable of carrying up to 8 Covenant troops, which are usually Grunts, Jackals, or Elites, or carrying two manned Ghosts into the battlefield for deployment. Phantoms were seen transporting units throughout the Covenant's invasion of Earth, and became an increasing hindrance to the UNSC Special Forces as they tried to repel the Covenant from New Mombasa. Their interventions and interceptions across Delta Halo were also particularly devastating, especially to units which were not equipped with anti-vehicle weapons.

It was also noticeable that the Brute Chieftain Tartarus spent most of his time pursuing the Arbiter in a Phantom, the ship's capability of travelling through space making it invaluable to the Covenant's strike teams when engaging the Heretics and Flood as they sought to uncover the mysteries of Halo.