Combat knife

The Combat Knife, occasionally referred to as the Close Quarters Combat Weapon System, is a multi-purpose infantry-sized knife used by the United Nations Space Command.

Design details
The UNSC's multi-purpose combat knife has a 20 centimeter (7.9 inch) blade made of high carbon steel, an anti-flash non-reflective titanium carbide coating, edge coated for corrosion resistance and is 43.3 centimeters (1.42 feet) when sheathed. All UNSC troops are issued with a combat knife for field and utility uses, as well as a backup weapon for desperate situations. It is also balanced for throwing.

History
Knives have been used in battle almost since the dawn of warfare, first as a sharp piece of rock, and then metal proved effective during a period of time where projectile weapons were not readily available. Even after the invention of the firearm, knives were still used as bayonets for close-quarters-combat and in event of enemy's cavalry charge. As more modern times came about during the 21st century, combat knives became almost exclusively used for utility purposes in the field, and were only used as a weapon during desperate situations, simply due to the fact that they were impractical for use during combat in most situations due to firearms and other advanced weaponry.

By 2553, the UNSC still uses knives in their operations, showing that such an easily accessible and created weapon and tool still runs strong even thousands of years later.

Appearances
A larger version of the combat knife, called the machete, was intended to be used in pre-releases versions of Halo: Combat Evolved build, but was cut before it made it into the final game, replaced with the game's use of melee attacks from any weapon.

The combat knives eventually made their first official non-gameplay appearance in the difficulty level icons: Normal, Heroic and Legendary icons feature one or two crossed Combat Knives. (Halo 3: ODST replaces them with Suppressed SMGs.) The combat knives make their first gameplay appearance as ornamental add-ons on the lower backs of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers in Halo 2. The combat knives also appeared in Halo 3 live-action commercial trailer Halo: Landfall, attached on the ODST's left shoulder. The weapon returns to Halo 3 as ornamental add-on for the MJOLNIR CQB permutation, as a sheathed combat knife attached to the left chest section.

The combat knives make its first fighting scene in Halo Wars, when Sergeant John Forge uses his combat knife, which he has nicknamed "Lucy", to wound the Arbiter before killing the Sangheili leader with his own energy sword. Another scene where the combat knives is used was in Halo 3: ODST, where Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck uses to kill a Jiralhanae Chieftain by stabbing him in the neck, afterwards casually flicking the alien's blood off its blade. In the Halo Legends episode The Package, Frederic-104 uses two combat knives to fend off the two Sangheili from pursuing Kelly-087 and John-117 inside the Covenant flagship. These knives are stored in the shoulder pauldrons of Frederic's Mark IV MJOLNIR armor.

In the Halo: Reach world premiere cinematic, Emile-A239 is seen sharpening a kukri against his shoulder plate. In-game, the combat knives are used to perform special extended animation sequences called assassinations by holding down the melee button when behind an opponent.

Trivia

 * Frederic-104 possesses particular skill with combat knives, and is rather fond of their use.

Internal

 * Curveblade
 * Energy Cutlass
 * Jiralhanae Combat Knife

External

 * Bayonet on Wikipedia
 * Combat knife on Wikipedia