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Orbital defense platform: Difference between revisions
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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 "point four-tenths" the speed of light,<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 283''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach|Halo: The Fall of Reach (2010 edition)]]''', ''page 320''</ref><ref group="note">While the [[Halo Encyclopedia]] 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.</ref> ensuring the complete annihilation of the ODP's target.<ref name="armory"/> As with starship-mounted MACs, a platform's cannon is commonly controlled by an [[Artificial intelligence|AI]]. | 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 "point four-tenths" the speed of light,<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 283''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach|Halo: The Fall of Reach (2010 edition)]]''', ''page 320''</ref><ref group="note">While the [[Halo Encyclopedia]] 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.</ref> ensuring the complete annihilation of the ODP's target.<ref name="armory"/> As with starship-mounted MACs, a platform's cannon is commonly controlled by an [[Artificial intelligence|AI]]. | ||
Curiously, no sources indicate the presence of additional weapons, such as point defense cannons commonly mounted on UNSC warships (the absence of such weapons may explain why so many Covenant boarding craft were able to latch onto the | Curiously, no sources indicate the presence of additional weapons, such as point defense cannons commonly mounted on UNSC warships (the absence of such weapons may explain why so many Covenant boarding craft were able to latch onto the platforms orbiting Reach and Earth). However, the possibility that ODPs are not armed with such weapons cannot be ruled out. The apparent lack of point-defense cannons may be explained by the fact that transient magnetic bursts tend to magnetize the weapons. | ||
===Power plant=== | ===Power plant=== | ||
ODPs do not possess the power generation equipment necessary to fire their main armament. Instead, they receive power from [[ | ODPs do not possess the power generation equipment necessary to fire their main armament. Instead, they receive power from [[orbital defense generator|ground-based generators]]. An effective strategy to neutralize the formidable ODPs would be to disable the generators via ground assault. This would disable the platform's weaponry without destroying it, allowing this valuable prize to be captured or destroyed outright. The Covenant used this strategy during their invasion of [[Reach]], dropping troops to the planet's surface and destroying these generators. This paved the way for Covenant forces to completely overwhelm the UNSC forces in the space battle over Reach. | ||
===Locations=== | ===Locations=== | ||
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===Reach=== | ===Reach=== | ||
[[File:Magnetic Accelerator Cannon.png|thumb|right|300px|An ODP above Reach firing its main cannon.]] | [[File:Magnetic Accelerator Cannon.png|thumb|right|300px|An ODP above Reach firing its main cannon.]] | ||
By [[2552#August|August 2552]], [[Reach]] was protected by twenty ODPs. At least one of these platforms was in place by [[2517|May 2517]];<ref>'''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp]]'''</ref> a number were online by [[2527]].<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''page 50''</ref> During the [[Fall of Reach]], the orbital defense platforms inflicted massive losses on the Covenant armada in the opening stages of the battle, | By [[2552#August|August 2552]], [[Reach]] was protected by twenty ODPs. At least one of these platforms was in place by [[2517|May 2517]];<ref>'''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp]]'''</ref> a number were online by [[2527]].<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''page 50''</ref> 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>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach'''</ref> | ||
===Earth=== | ===Earth=== | ||
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The ODPs were also used later in the Battle of Earth after [[Truth's fleet]] arrived, but the Covenant might have already destroyed numerous stations when Truth himself arrived at Earth on the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] in November.<ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[The Great Journey (level)|The Great Journey]]''</ref> | The ODPs were also used later in the Battle of Earth after [[Truth's fleet]] arrived, but the Covenant might have already destroyed numerous stations when Truth himself arrived at Earth on the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] in November.<ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[The Great Journey (level)|The Great Journey]]''</ref> | ||
== Known ODPs == | ==Known ODPs== | ||
*''[[Athens Station]]'' UNSCDF-ODA144 (destroyed) | *''[[Athens Station]]'' UNSCDF-ODA144 (destroyed) | ||
*''[[Cairo Station]]'' UNSCDF-ODA142 (damaged) | *''[[Cairo Station]]'' UNSCDF-ODA142 (damaged) | ||
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*The fact that there are 300 ODPs could be a reference to the Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans used the phalanx formation to hold their own against an army of more than 200,000 Persians. | *The fact that there are 300 ODPs could be a reference to the Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans used the phalanx formation to hold their own against an army of more than 200,000 Persians. | ||
*Two weeks after the Fall of Reach, when the UNSC Security Council met at HIGHCOM in Sydney, it is mentioned by Colonel Ackerson that most of Earth's ODPs would take ten days before becoming fully operational. | *Two weeks after the Fall of Reach, when the UNSC Security Council met at HIGHCOM in Sydney, it is mentioned by Colonel Ackerson that most of Earth's ODPs would take ten days before becoming fully operational. | ||
*The kinetic energy of a single shell from an orbital defense platform would be equivalent to almost''' '''51.6 gigatons of TNT, | *The kinetic energy of a single shell from an orbital defense platform would be equivalent to almost''' '''51.6 gigatons of TNT, 1,031 times the yield of the real world's largest nuclear weapon currently tested. | ||
* | *The ODPS entered the conceptual stage sometime before 2490, as [[Avery Johnson]] mentions that they were being proposed around the same time he shipped out for boot camp. | ||
==List of appearances== | ==List of appearances== | ||
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==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
<gallery> | <gallery> | ||
File:BootCamp - Reach.png|Reach | File:BootCamp - Reach.png|An orbital defense platform above Reach, along with the [[Epsilon Eridani Defense Fleet]]. | ||
File:Nassau.png|[[Nassau Station]] firing its MAC. | File:Nassau.png|[[Nassau Station]] firing its MAC. | ||
File:UNSC Home Fleet.JPG|[[Cairo Station]]'s battle cluster above Earth, one of dozens of triads in the orbital defense grid. | File:UNSC Home Fleet.JPG|[[Cairo Station]]'s battle cluster above Earth, one of dozens of triads in the orbital defense grid. | ||
File:CairoStationCallouts.jpg|The typical layout of an | File:CairoStationCallouts.jpg|The typical layout of an ODP. | ||
File:Macstationcairolarge1ki.jpg | File:Macstationcairolarge1ki.jpg|Cairo Station right before the [[Battle of Earth]]. | ||
File:Halo2_Concept_2.jpg|Concept art of an | File:Halo2_Concept_2.jpg|Concept art of an ODP's interior. | ||
File:Halo2_Concept_4.jpg|Concept art of a [[M12 Force Application Vehicle]] in an | File:Halo2_Concept_4.jpg|Concept art of a [[M12 Force Application Vehicle]] in an ODP's interior airlock. | ||
File:IntAir.jpg|Concept art of an | File:IntAir.jpg|Concept art of an ODP's interior airlock. | ||
File:Station gun con.jpg|Concept art of | File:Station gun con.jpg|Concept art of an ODP's weaponry controls. | ||
File:Orbitoldefencestation.jpg|An ODP, as shown in one of ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'''s [[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminals]]. | File:Orbitoldefencestation.jpg|An ODP, as shown in one of ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'''s [[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminals]]. | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||