Orbital defense platform: Difference between revisions

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|role=*Interdict enemy spacecraft{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}

*[[Orbital Defense Command]]{{Ref/Book|[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]|Page=136-138}}

'''Orbital defense platform'''{{Ref/Novel|Halo: The Fall of Reach|Page=330}} ('''ODP'''),{{Ref/Book|[[Halo Encyclopedia (2011 edition)]]|Page=294}} also known as an '''orbital weapon platform''',{{Ref/Level|Id=cairo|[[Halo 2]]|[[Cairo Station]]}} is a general term for a wide variety of [[space station]]s employed by the UNSC. Stations falling into this classification include unmanned weapon satellites all the way to large stations with a capital grade [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] built into it.{{Ref/Site|Id=lookingglassed|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-looking-glassed|SiteName=Halo Waypoint|PageName=Canon Fodder - Looking Glassed}} Some classes of ODP have the [[hull classification symbol]] of '''OWP'''.

Internally, the stations are remarkably spacious, complete with high ceilings and a monorail system to move personnel and equipment. In addition to numerous small craft bays, there are two docks for larger ships, such as [[freighter]]s, or even [[UNSC frigate|frigates]]. These docking bays could possibly be used to hold [[GA-TL1 Longsword|Longsword fighters]] used to protect the station from hostile spacecraft. The design incorporates many features against potential hostile boarding action, including security stations and small arms racks situated at strategic locations.{{Ref/Level|Id=armory|Halo 2|[[The Armory]]}}

The primary and crucial armament is a Mk. V "''Super''" [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] capable of causing near-fatal damage to even a shielded Covenant capital warship with a single slug. The slug can weigh up to 3,000 tons and is launched at 4% the speed of light,{{Ref/Novel|[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]|Page=283}}{{Ref/Novel|[[Halo: The Fall of Reach|Halo: The Fall of Reach (2010 edition)]]|Page=320}}{{Ref/Note|While the [[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]] lists the velocity as 40% the speed of light, the figure remains unchanged in the reissue of ''The Fall of Reach'', a more recent source.}} ensuring the complete annihilation of the target.{{Ref/Reuse|armory}} As with starship-mounted MACs, a platform's cannon is commonly controlled by an [[Artificial intelligence|AI]]. Due to the immense power of the MAC, a large recoil dampening system is situated at the base of the cannon.{{Ref/Reuse|cairo}} The weapon is vulnerable to the detonation of nuclear weapons, as their superconductive coils could be burned out from their electromagnetic pulse.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TFORC34|Halo: The Fall of Reach|Chapter=34}}

Some platforms are armed with a number of [[point-defense gun]]s for close-in defense against enemy munitions, fighters, and boarding craft.{{Ref/Book|Id=warfleetpgs3031|[[Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo]]|Page=30 & 31}}

By [[2552#August|August 2552]], [[Reach]] was protected by 20 {{Class|Erőd|orbital weapon platform}}s.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}} At least one {{Class|Moncton|orbital weapon platform}} was in place by [[2517|May 2517]].{{Ref/Comic|Id=bootcamp|[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp]]}} A number of Reach's ODPs were online by [[2527]].{{Ref/Book|Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe|Page=50}} During the [[Fall of Reach]], the orbital defense platforms inflicted massive losses on the Covenant armada in the opening stages of the battle, as well as providing fire support for ground forces on Reach. Large numbers of UNSC forces were deployed to protect the orbital platforms' planetside power generators, but they ultimately fell against determined enemy assaults. The disabling of the defense platforms was a major factor on the battle's outcome.{{Ref/Novel|Halo: The Fall of Reach}}

The outbreak of the [[Human-Covenant War]] prompted a massive expansion of [[Earth]]'s defenses. Even as late as the [[Fall of Reach|Battle of Reach]] preparations had not yet been completed; a series of new platforms above Earth were set to come online on September 14.{{Ref/Novel|[[Halo: First Strike]]|Page=104}} By October 2552, some 300 ODPs were operational.{{Ref/Reuse|armory}} Many of Earth's ODPs were named after points of interest that they roughly kept station over.

A portion of the 300 platforms first saw action at the early stages of the [[Battle for Earth]]. ''[[Athens Station]]'' and ''[[Malta Station]]'' were each destroyed by [[antimatter charge]]s installed by [[Covenant]] boarding parties, while ''[[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo Station]]'' only narrowly avoided the same fate as the other platforms thanks to [[John-117|Master Chief]]'s removal of the bomb on board.{{Ref/Reuse|cairo}} The ODPs were used throughout the drawn-out Battle for Earth after more Covenant fleets began to arrive in the following days and weeks,{{Ref/Generic|Id=lootcrate2|Heading=[[Halo Legendary Crate]]|Subheading=[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #2]]}} but the Covenant might have already destroyed numerous stations especially when the final Covenant [[Great Schism|loyalist]] [[Truth's fleet|naval forces]] and the [[Prophet of Truth]] himself arrived at Earth on the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] on [[2552#November|November 17]].{{Ref/Level|Halo 3|[[Crow's Nest]]}}{{Ref/Level|Id=TGJ|Game=Halo 2|Level=[[The Great Journey (level)|The Great Journey]]}}

During the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s [[New Phoenix Incident|attack on Earth]] in mid-[[2557]], ODPs defended Earth from the Didact alongside the ships of the UNSC Home Fleet. However, the Didact's ship ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' was too heavily shielded for even the ODPs Super MACs and as a result, the Master Chief had to destroy the ship from the inside with a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon|HAVOK nuclear warhead]].{{Ref/Level|Halo 4|[[Midnight]]}}

*'''{{Class|Moncton|orbital weapon platform}}''' - A large MAC-based ODP that was deployed over [[Reach]]{{Ref/Reuse|bootcamp}} and en masse over [[Earth]].{{Ref/Reuse|cairo}}

*'''{{Class|Erőd|orbital weapon platform}}''' - A large MAC-based ODP deployed over [[Reach]].{{Ref/Reuse|lookingglassed}}{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=36}}