OPERATOR-class Mjolnir

The MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Operator variant, commonly known as the Operator armor, is a variant of the Mark V MJOLNIR armor and MJOLNIR (GEN2) armor. The Mark V variant was designed for use by Spartan operators within the ONI Beta-5 Division's Asymmetrical Action Group.

GEN1
While the non-Spartan members of the Asymmetrical Action Group wear their own standard-issue armor, the Beta-5 Division contracted Chalybs Defense Solutions to develop a MJOLNIR variant designed to improve the performance of the AAG's Spartan personnel. The armor, which was jointly developed at the Beta-5 Division Ordnance Testing Facility and at Chalybs' Testing Preserve, and was tested at the latter location, can provide the wearer with detailed, on-the-fly intelligence through secure transmissions that can bypass most Covenant security networks.

The standard version of the helmet features a B5D-O/Optics suite, which is mounted on the forehead. The UA/HUL variant replaces the standard optics suite with an up-armor plate featuring a Hardened Uplink Module on the left side. Another variant, which is issued to unit commanders, features Command Network Module-Improved on the right side.

The Operator systems's shoulder pauldrons are simply armored bands mounted on the user's base shoulder guards, with two string-like attachments descending from the bottom. There is a geometrical pattern emblazoned on the plate as well.

GEN2
Sometime after the Fall of Reach, the Operator armor was taken over by the Naphtali Contractor Corporation, after the abandonment of all CDS facilities on Meridian, and was tested extensively with live fire exercises in the NCC's abandoned shipyards on the outskirts of Abilene. Unlike its predecessor, it optimizes a Spartan for the operation and control of vehicles.

Production notes
The armor in Halo 4 utilizes the Wheelman armor mod which draws more stamina and durability out of a vehicle that's being operated by the Spartan. The armor also has a variant called Operator SURFACE (SRFC), which is unlocked in the order of Torso, Shoulders, and Helmet from ranks Operator-7 to Operator-9

Trivia

 * The helmet looks very similar to an updated concept of the MJOLNIR armor drawn by Eddie Smith which is featured in The Art of Halo.
 * Although the Operator armor is used solely by the Asymmetrical Action Group, Emile-A239 wore an Operator shoulder piece on his left shoulder.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo 4
 * Halo: Initiation
 * Halo: Escalation