ODST armor



The ODST combat armor or Body Suit, although similar to standard Marine armor, and used by the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and SPARTAN-IIs before they got their MJOLNIR armor, is a specially-designed suit. The suit itself is composed of a helmet, body armor, boots/gloves, and a back piece. It can deflect a small-caliber round, one smaller than a SMG shot (around 5mm, usually used in automatic rifles) They have refrigeration and heating units that mask infrared signatures. The body armor and boots/gloves are fully encased and are air tight, making them capable of use in a vacuum for about 15 minutes. The integrated helmet has encryption and communications gear, a Heads-Up Display, and thermal and motion detectors. When sealed, the unit has a fifteen minute reserve of oxygen to let the wearer survive in a vacuum. The current generation ODST armor was one of the off shoots of the MJOLNIR program, using CTCs and other HUD and communication systems from it to create a more effective armor.

Appearance
The helmet's appearance is much like that of the marine armor, but is fully encased and has a wide "v" shaped visor that is reflective blue. The helmet is flat black. Body suits are matte black, form fitting, lightweight polymer body armor. The body armor has a black and gray camouflage pattern on the limbs, and flat black on the torso and boots. The armor has a total of six pouches on the waist, four smaller pouches on the chest, and two large holster-style pockets on each hip. The back piece is shaped like a small backpack, and contains a pressurized air tank that can supply the user with clean air for a total of 15 minutes. Below the back piece, there is a small solid sheath that can hold a Combat Knife.

Disadvantages
Unfortunately, the suits are uncomfortable over prolonged periods of time and tricky to repair in the field. Also its somewhat ineffective in desert, forest, jungle, and arctic fighting, for the black color of the uniform is very visible. The suits are probably suited for only night, urban, and space operations. It's inability to stop rounds larger than 5mm is a liability against any primary weapons carried by the UNSC, Rebel Forces, and Covenant.

Unlock
The ODST helmet can be obtained in Halo 3 by unlocking the Spartan Graduate Achievement. There are no shoulder or body pieces for the ODST permutation.