M312 Elephant

''This article is about a Halo Wars vehicle. For the Halo 3 vehicle, see M313 Heavy Recovery Vehicle.''

The M312 Heavy Recovery Vehicle, commonly referred as the Elephant, is a UNSC Mobile Assault, Support, and Recovery Platform. The vehicle is used primarily as an armoured mobile recovery vehicle and has seen action most noticeably in the Human-Covenant War.

Background
Designed and manufactured by JOTUN Heavy Industries, the Elephants were initially used in the utility and farming industries during the early colonial expansion periods. After several decades serving in the civilian market, JOTUN was contracted by the UNSC to develop the Elephants and build them as armoured repair and recovery vehicles. As time has progressed, the Elephant has been modified into several variants and upgrades, though the Elephant's versatility remain unchanged.

Design details
The M312 Elephant is designed to safely transport troops, equipment and light vehicles to and from the battlefield. In one occasion, it was able to pull an entire Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine by itself. The M312 also features a protected rear bay, providing more protection to its onboard personnel and equipments. The vehicle is fitted with three M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun as its primary defense/offense weapons system and can be equipped with an overhead M247 light autocannon.

Known Elephants

 * Recon Team Lima - Commanded by Sergeant Forge in 2531, took part in the Battle of Shield 0459.
 * Recon Team India - Accompanied Lima onto the surface of Shield 0459, before being captured by the Flood and rescued by Forge and Red Team.
 * Recon Team Echo - Accompanied Lima onto the surface of Shield 0459, before being captured by the Flood and rescued by Forge and Red Team.

Gameplay
The Elephant appears in Halo Wars as an armored personnel carrier and mobile infantry barracks, capable of creating troops in the field and/or deploying them while defending itself. To operate as a barracks, the vehicle must first deploy. This unit can only be used when the player chooses Captain Cutter as their Leader Character in online play or skirmish.

Upgrades:
 * Costs: 400 Resource units and requires two Population Cap and zero energy units
 * Capable of building SPARTAN-IIs and other infantry.
 * "Twin Engine": Increases the Elephant's speed by about 30%.
 * "Defense Turret": Adds a M247 GPMGT Autocannon defending the Elephant in deploy mode.
 * "Ceramic Armor": The Elephant can now take 25% more damage.

Trivia

 * An elephant is a large, grey mammal native to Africa and southern Asia, in keeping with the UNSC's tradition of naming atmospheric vehicles after real animals, with the exceptions of the Cyclops and Gremlin, which are named after mythical creatures, and the Longsword, Shortsword, and Sabre, which are named after bladed weapons.
 * On the left hand side of the Red Team's Elephant there is a spray-paint graffiti with text that reads "BEHEMOTH" and a red cartoon picture of a woolly mammoth. On the Blue Team's Elephant it says "LEVIATHAN" and has a picture of a blue, whale-like sea creature sporting a mean grimace and wearing a comically tiny golden crown. The Behemoth and Leviathan are two scriptural creatures that are enormous in stature and girth.

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars