Gadulo-pattern needle rifle

The Gadulo-pattern Needle Launcher also known as the needle rifle, is an infantry weapon originally manufactured by the Covenant's Sacred Promissory, formerly in service with the Covenant military. After the fall of High Charity in 2552, Maeleesh Bazaar took over the production of the needle rifle.

Design details
As its name suggests, the Gadulo-pattern needle rifle is one of the many Covenant needle-based projectile weapons, and shares operational functionality with the ubiquitous needler, but notably features an electronic sighting optics system. The needle rifle fires unconventional, long and razor sharp Subanese crystalline shards, which detonate several seconds after coming to rest in soft tissue. The needles are stored The rear end of the weapon appears to be on a hinge, indicating it may be able to collapse into a more compact form.

Similar to other needle-based weapons, the needle rifle's internal mechanism snaps off crystalline shards into individual charged projectiles, which are launched linearly at the intended target. However, unlike the needler, the needle rifle's projectiles are not designed to home in on a target. Given that the needler uses an additional magnetic auger within the weapon to catalyze the shards so they can track heat signatures, the needle rifle likely lacks a magnetic auger. However, the needle rifle's shards travel much faster than that of the needler, leaving the needle rifle's only destructive similarity to the needler being the individual/collected needle explosion.

The rifle's crystalline shards are held in an ammo cylinder. The reload process for the needle rifle is very similar to that of the. The only difference between the reloads for the carbine and the needle rifle is that the canister for the carbine is not covered by any sort of hatch, which, in the case of the needle rifle, is the weapon's top module—also where the optics system is mounted. When reloading, the top module flips open to expose the ammo canister that ejects upon opening, allowing the user to insert a new canister. When the top module locks in place, the crystalline shards are splintered and then extrude from apertures on the weapon's shroud.

Usage
Without the needles' tracking ability, the needle rifle must be fired like a marksman rifle. The needle rifle is operated in a similar role to the, and was commonly employed by Skirmishers, Kig-Yar Snipers, and Sangheili during the Fall of Reach; notably, a Sangheili Field Marshal notably used a needle rifle to kill Spartan-III Catherine-B320 with a headshot during the Siege of New Alexandria. Within the Covenant and its splinter factions, the needle rifle is used by Sangheili, Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar, and Yanme'e. Following the dissolution of the Covenant, the needle rifle was inherited by its splinter factions, including the Swords of Sanghelios, Merg Vol's Covenant, and Sali 'Nyon's Covenant.

Trivia

 * The scope of the needle rifle has a hash-mark compass. To the right of the scope, it also features a symbol which turns red when the crosshairs are aimed at an enemy.
 * Killing an opponent with a supercombine of the needle rifle's needles will grant the player a Needle Kill medal.
 * During the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta, the needle rifle had an 18-round magazine. This was increased to 21 rounds (to match the three round increase in the DMR's magazine size) for the final game. In both cases, the model for a fully-loaded needle rifle only shows 12 needles sticking out.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo: Spartan Assault
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo: Shadow of Intent
 * Halo: Ground Command
 * Halo: Retribution
 * Halo: Fireteam Raven
 * Halo: Outcasts