M274 Mongoose

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"Speed is the only protection this vehicle provides; it is unarmored, noisy, and prone to roll-over. It demands a level of skill from its operator that is impossible to expect...during combat conditions."

— Anonymous E2-BAG/1/7 serviceman

The M274 Ultra-Light All-Terrain Vehicle (abbreviated M274 ULATV), commonly known as the Mongoose, is a United Nations Space Command (UNSC) ground reconnaissance vehicle. The Mongoose lacks weapons, but can carry two people, one of whom can fire his weapon.

Introduction

• The M274 Mongoose ULATV is the fastest and most maneuverable ground vehicles in the arsenal of the UNSC Marine Corps, making it a highly effective vehicle for reconnaissance, rapid transportation, swift tactical versatility and for shooting between positions. It is the smaller cousin to the ubiquitous M831 Troop Transport, and is a small ATV with a driver located in the front seat and features a rear platform that can be used to carry one additional passenger. Because it carries no armament of its own, having a passenger riding pillion is essential if engaging a combat zone. Due to its smaller size, the Mongoose has become a difficult target for the enemy, instead of the Warthog, whose size is somewhat substantial.

• The Mongoose's high speed and light mass and armor makes it unwieldy and difficult to control at high speeds and over unstable terrain, making the ULATV vulnerable to destabilization, crashes, and flips. The driver and passenger are also completely exposed, and the Mongoose's design has extremely little if any vehicular armor, making Mongoose operators extremely vulnerable to fire. Furthermore, the Mongoose does not incorporate any offensive or defensive capabilities, making the Mongoose's sole defensive capability an armed passenger. However, whatever defenses the Mongoose lacks, it compensates for in sheer speed. Thus, standard UNSC Marine Corps operating protocol in engagements against Covenant forces place a M41 Rocket Launcher-armed Marine in the passenger position to fire rockets against slow-moving hostile vehicles while the driver uses the Mongoose's superior speed to evade enemy return fire. In a last resort, the Mongoose can run over nearby enemies, but this is usually not an effective plan because of the low width and height of the vehicle make it very difficult to get an enemy kill. But if you do get a splatter you will be rewarded the Mongoose Mowdown achievement.

• The Mongoose can be transported by the Pelican Dropship or the Behemoth-class Troop Transport.

• Furthermore, the Mongoose is believed to be analogous to the Covenant Type-32 "Ghost" Rapid Assault Vehicle, though the Ghost has a built-in weaponry system and is less agile and maneuverable.

Operation

A wireframe profile of the M274 Mongoose ULATV.

The Mongoose's light weight renders it capable of being launched from a Man Cannon.

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The Mongoose in Halo 3's multiplayer.

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The Mongoose's high speed makes it very useful for CTF games.

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The Mongoose is a two man vehicle.

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The Mongoose can take a beating from small-medium arms fire as long as the driver remains on, which is great.

• The lack of weaponry mounted on the Mongoose makes the presence of an armed passenger often essential in combat zones. Engagements with enemy infantry or vehicles are often inadvisable in the absence of a passenger armed with heavy weaponry; the Mongoose's extreme speed and maneuverability makes it best zoom through enemy lines. The Mongoose's speed makes it almost impossible to hijack at its full speed of 60 MPH, which is a vital advantage while trying to "splatter" enemies. However, the Mongoose's excessive maneuverability often makes it difficult to splatter enemies, and all but a head-on full-velocity impact on a shielded enemy will not splatter the enemy.

• It is thought by many seasoned mongoose users that an ally wielding a shotgun is the perfect weapon to use in conjunction with the mongoose. The driver must simply drive near the enemy and his gunner has a reasonable chance of getting the kill. However, this assault leaves the player open to melee and sticking by an enemy.

• The Mongoose's lack of personnel-protective armor, however, makes the driver, and especially the passenger, vulnerable to enemy fire, especially from medium-long range weapons such as the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle. Although the Mongoose's maneuverability makes it difficult to destroy with heavy weapons such as the M41 Rocket Launcher, the Mongoose is vulnerable to the Spartan Laser; even the Mongoose's high speeds still make it extremely easy to track with the Spartan Laser. The Brute shot is also very effective, if you hit the mongoose, it will send it about two of three meters flying the direction you shot at. Furthermore, in close-range engagements against a Mongoose, it is easy to stick or melee the operators.

• Despite the Mongoose's acute vulnerabilities, its light mass and small profile give it interesting applications: it is possible to launch the Mongoose safely off of a Man Cannon (albeit with mixed results), and the Mongoose can allow a driver "lowride" in one; to drive by balancing on the back two wheels.

• Unfortunately, this light weight can also be the player's downfall. Explosives as weak as the explosion from bubble shields are strong enough to flip it, and when fighting flood infection forms a gunner is required, as apparently the Mongoose isn't heavy enough to "POP" them (the Mongoose will simply drive over the infection forms, leading to a bumpy ride that usually flips the player). An example of this is the final run on the level "Halo', there are many infection forms and flood with brute shots here, making the final run quite a chore on a Mongoose.

Multiplayer

• Due to the high-speed nature of the Mongoose, it is a very useful and effective vehicle for objective-based games, such as Capture the Flag or Assault. It is entirely possible in Assault for the attacking team for one player to drive a Mongoose while another player rides as the passenger with the bomb in-hand. It is also possible to use the Mongoose for rapid tactical transportation as well, to relocate players to critical areas, to reach weapon spawns before opposing players, or to prevent enemies from scoring a flag.

• However, as aforementioned, the Mongoose is extremely vulnerable. Explosives such as grenades or even the Brute Shot can effortlessly flip over this low-mass vehicle, and the Mongoose is an obvious target for snipers and gunners, and even at close range players can easily disable the Mongoose with a charged Plasma Pistol shot or just use suppressive fire to kill the highly vulnerable operators.

• On the Sandtrap map, you can use it to drive through the minefield indefinably around the perimeter. While opponents are usually concentrating on the center of the map, you and a buddy can grab a sniper rifle or another power weapon.

• Another advantage of the Mongoose is the weapon load out, a smart team can use one Mongoose to disable a Wraith or Warthog with a plasma pistol, while a second or third Mongoose will use grenades against the downed vehicle, or will use some kind of anti-vehicle weapon. But one must not forget that an overcharged plasma pistol bolt can shortly disable your vehicle too.

• The Mongoose is the main vehicle used when a player makes a forged race map. Because of the Mongooses small size the player can forge small quarters where they couldn't if a Warthog was used.

Appearances

Halo 3 Campaign

• The M274 Mongoose ULATV is a frontline reconnaissance and rapid-response vehicle of the UNSC Marine Corps, and thus it is commonly featured in Halo 3's campaign.

• The Storm: Four Mongooses with SPKNr Rocket Launcher-armed Marines were part of a UNSC counteroffensive against the Covenant occupation of Voi in the Battle of Voi in the Second Battle of Earth. SPARTAN-117 led the initial Mongoose assault on a Covenant-held lake bed which featured two Type-52 Anti Aircraft Artillery Wraith tanks that were obstructing the UNSC aerial offensive. After the initial Covenant garrison was eliminated, Kilo 23 arrived with another pair of Mongooses as reinforcements. Not only were Mongooses essential in the destruction of the Covenant AA Wraiths, but after a Covenant Scarab walker attacked Voi, the Mongooses led an offensive to weaken the walker's joints with rockets, while using their superior maneuverability to evade enemy fire.

• The Ark: One of the six Pelican Dropships deployed by the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn onto Installation 00 was carrying 2 Mongooses. It crashed under heavy fire, but later its crashed hulk and the Pelican's surviving crew were recovered by an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper offensive led by SPARTAN-117. It was manned by Marine(s), and Mongooses played a role in the UNSC vehicular offensive.

• The Covenant: The UNSC Marine Corps/Covenant Separatists assault on the Citadel's island on Installation 00 involved multiple Mongooses to rapidly transverse large amounts of enemy-held terrain. In the strike on the first Barrier Tower, Kilo 23 deployed both a Mongoose and a Warthog to assist SPARTAN-117 and his allied ODSTs and Marines in the assault on the first tower. After the tower was secured, a second Mongoose was deployed by unknown means to aid SPARTAN-117 in his trip from the tower back to the Hornet LZ on the island's beachhead. Later, after the third Barrier Tower had been secured, the UNSC Marine Corps organized a large vehicular force to press forward towards the Citadel, and thus prevent the Prophet of Truth from activating the Halos. The attack force included a Mongoose with a Rocket Launcher-armed passenger Marine.

• Halo: Apparently, the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn deployed another Mongoose ULATV in Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson's trek from the landed frigate to the rebuilt Installation 04's Control Room. It can be found after SPARTAN-117 reaches the initial Warthog by taking the left snowy path, and instead of venturing right towards the rest of the level, taking the first immediate left turn. A Mongoose is secluded by the cliffs on the left hand side, and can be used to transverse the rest of the level. And when you do the jump at the end, it turns into a Warthog due to the cinematic either being pre-recorded or simply an overlooked part of the cutscene's scripting

Halo 3 Multiplayer

The Mongoose appears naturally on several Halo 3 multiplayer maps, but can be artificially added to any multiplayer map by Forge.

• High Ground: One Mongoose spawns at the beachhead, and is often useful for charging the base in objective gametypes, or for securing the valuable weaponry between the base and the beach. Two Mongooses spawn at the back of the base, and can be useful in Capture the Flag defense for stopping the opposing team from scoring the flag back at the beach.

• Isolation: One Mongoose spawns above each base, for a total of two Mongooses. However, in the cramped confines of Isolation, Mongooses are often vulnerable to close-quarters combat and also the Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle.

• Last Resort: Two Mongooses spawn at the beachhead, and two others spawn at the base. They are useful for seizing the Active Camo tower and also the sniper rifle, which spawns at Camp Froman. Mongooses are useful in CTF and Assault matches to quickly carry the objective, although all Mongooses are acutely vulnerable to the Spartan Laser, especially when it is atop the wind wheel.

• Sandtrap: Two Mongooses spawn at each base; one on the sand dunes, and the other within the front compartment of each Behemoth-class "Elephant" Troop Transport.

• Valhalla: Two Mongooses spawn at each base, and are especially useful for charging the weapons in the middle of the map; namely the Spartan Laser and the Machinegun Turret. A fifth Mongoose spawns next to the UNSC communications post at the Machinegun Turret.

• Avalanche: Both bases have 2 Mongooses each. The Mongoose on this map have changed color. They are the new Snow Mongoose, which is basically repainted to suit the snowy terrain, which it is in and gives it camouflage while parked or driven.

If the player manages to splatter an enemy player with the Mongoose in a ranked free-for-all Xbox Live playlist in Halo 3, the player will earn the Mongoose Mowdown achievement and 5 gamerpoints.

Behind the Scenes

Involvement in Halo 2

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An early Halo 2 prototype of the vehicle.

The Mongoose modded into Coagulation in Halo 2.

The Mongoose was originally intended to be put into Halo 2, but was eventually cancelled. The Mongoose prototype did not fulfill Bungie's expectations for Halo 2, and although Bungie attempted to add dual coaxial machine-guns to it or an armed passenger, it remained unbalanced and didn't fit into the gameplay. Bungie at the time could not figure out a way to implement it into the campaign, and had trouble getting the physics for it right, stating that the whole thing had a tendency to flip very easily, and gameplay wise, had no purpose as it couldn't be driven with the flag and became virtually useless. The addition of the passenger seat gave rise to whole new possibilities and lead to its inclusion in the third game. Other Warthog-related vehicles proposed in Halo 2 were also not featured in the final game.

Modding

Modders have been able to mod the Mongoose into Halo 2 and also certain Halo: Custom Edition maps. In Halo: Custom Edition, often many modders, instead of making the driver weaponless, made the driver drive with one hand and fire a weapon with the other, and stand up and throw grenades as well, which is unique.

Red vs. Blue

The Mongoose was also featured at the end of the 100th episode of Red vs. Blue. Sarge called over Simmons and Grif to help him name the new ATV he created from "old Warthog parts we had lying around", which happens to be a Mongoose. This is mainly notable because this episode was shot using Halo 2, where the Mongoose did not appear legitimately. This was done by a silhouette picture put in the background, a common special effect in Machinima.

Trivia

• The Mongoose is the UNSC's High Speed Reconnaissance and Recovery Vehicle.
• Like other UNSC vehicles, the Mongoose closely resembles the animal of its namesake. "Ears" jut out on each side of the front and "eyes" are in the windshield. Its agility, speed, and small size are also characteristic of the real-life mongoose mammal.
• Despite the Mongoose being touted as "the fastest UNSC land vehicle", this description ironically belongs to the M12 LRV Warthog. Despite being 3 times heavier, it is faster overall.
• The Mongoose is drivable in certain maps for Halo: Custom Edition. The first map to use it was called "Yoyorast Island," a map that was essentially a race course. Now that Halo 3 has come out, this early creation is often acclaimed for how realistic it is to the Halo 3 counterpart.
• It is possible to have a player drive at full speed to an on-foot player, and if the soon-to-be splattered player melees at the right time, (at a moment JUST before collision) the meleeing player will lunge towards the driver and take off his shields, while positioning himself at a good location; behind the driver. It makes Mongoose splattering increasingly difficult, considering the fact that most people just jump out of the way. However if you can run somebody over in a Ranked FFA match you will earn the Mongoose Mowdown achievement. Usually the easiest way to do this is with someone who also wants the achievement on Lone Wolves.
• The Mongoose has a yellow instruction sticker on the deployable passengers seat stating the maximum weight for the driver and passenger. It is interesting to note that the driver can weigh about 500 kilograms, the average weight for an actual Spartan-II soldier. The passenger can also weigh up to 450 kilograms, so carrying around another Spartan-II soldier as a passenger is possible however it would seriously damage the Mongoose's suspension under hard acceleration or braking and even the smallest bump or drop would render the Mongoose useless.
• Due to its speed the Mongoose is a good vehicle for out running the mines on Sandtrap.
• Fans often refer multiple Mongoose as a Mongeese or Mongi or Goose, this is also much easier to say than Mongooses
• It's possible for an enemy to board a Mongoose and become the passenger. If this occurs, the driver is encouraged to dismount, as the enemy passenger is capable of meleeing them to a humorous death.
• The Mongoose was cut out of Halo 2. See the Halo 2 DVD.
• Just in front of the Mongoose's seat is a yellow sticker warning people that the fuel is pressurized and the players should be careful when removing the fuel cap.
• A snow camouflaged version is available in the Legendary Map Pack level Avalanche, which was released on the 15th April 2008 and is known as the "Snow-goose", due to it being snow-camouflaged.
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  The snow Mongoose.
• A good anti-vehicular strategy is to have a passenger armed with a heavy weapon such as the Spartan Laser, Rocket Launcher or Brute Shot. Plasma grenades are also a good idea to carry when riding shotgun in a Mongoose so that you can stick passing vehicles with a well aimed shot. Most people don't remember that passengers can use grenades. This doesn't work well against infantry because the Mongoose jumps a lot and people are just too small of a target.
• If landed right, it is possible to drive this vehicle forward in a wheelie permanently until you reverse.
• It seems the Mongoose could possibly be hooked up to the back of a Hornet due to the fork-like sleds at the rear and the bar under the rear tail where the passenger seat meats the driver's seat.
• Some early renders showed the Mongoose in many forms: Three wheeled, more heavily armed, or with slightly larger seats. The final version of the Mongoose was chosen before the Beta version of Halo 3 was released, despite its numerous makes and models.
• The Mongoose has a similar Quake Wars counter-part the Husky.
• Mongoose are fast, but their light and weak form make it very hard to run over someone, without max speed.
• It may be featured in Halo Wars but as of yet this has not been confirmed.
• "Rocket Race" is a social playlist in Halo 3 that focuses on one player to use a mongoose to drive a VIP to destinations, while the VIP fires at enemy mongooses with a Rocket Launcher

Images

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  A Red Spartan on a Mongoose.

• 1209951508 Mongoose-gravity-hammer.jpg

  Two Blue Spartans with Gravity Hammers on a Mongoose.

• 1209951628 Laser and mongoose.jpg

  A Red Spartan on a mongoose with a laser in the background.

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  Master Chief and Arbiter teamed up and on a Mongoose.

• 1212116910 Halo3 Spartan Blue mongoose.jpg

  A Blue Spartan wielding a sniper rifle driving a mongoose.

Related Articles

• Ghost - The Covenant Separatist and Loyalist equivalent of the Mongoose.

• Brute Chopper - The Covenant Loyalist equivalent of the Mongoose.