Orbital defense platform: Difference between revisions

|length= {{Convert|1760|ft|m|sp=us|sigfig=5|disp=flip}} <ref name="Model">'''Halo 2''' 3D model file</ref>

|mass=2.9 million metric tons<ref name="warfleetpgs3031">'''[[Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo]]''' - ''pages 30 & 31''</ref>

|armament= *"Super" [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] (1)

*[[Point-defense gun]]s<ref name="ciws">[[:File:H2A - Cairo Station Bay.jpg]]</ref>

|affiliation= [[United Nations Space Command]] (Defense Force)

{{Quote|That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship.|[[Avery Johnson]]}}

An '''orbital defense platform'''<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 330''</ref> ('''ODP'''),<ref>'''Halo Encyclopedia''', ''page 294'' (2011)</ref> also known as an '''orbital weapon platform''',<ref name="cairo">'''[[Halo 2]]''', campaign level ''[[Cairo Station (level)|Cairo Station]]''</ref> is a class of large [[UNSC]] space stations used to defend locations of great importance, typically planets of a high strategic value. They have the [[hull classification symbol]] of '''OWP'''.

Orbital defense platforms are frequently placed in [[geosynchronous orbit]] and deployed in groups, or clusters, of two to five platforms. The well-equipped and large bridge of an ODP is suitable for directing large-scale engagements. Such was the case when [[Lord Hood|Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood]] directed UNSC forces from an ODP during the [[Battle of Earth]]. These platforms are capable of destroying even the largest of [[Covenant]] capital ships but are vulnerable to [[Covenant boarding craft]] which can avoid the heavy slugs and latch onto the stations. Thus, it is up to the UNSC personnel within the stations to repel any [[Boarding|boarders]].<ref name="cairo"/>

==Facilities==

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 name="armory">'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[The Armory]]''</ref>

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>'''[[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 target.<ref name="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 name="cairo"/> The weapon is vulnerable to the detonation of nuclear weapons, as their superconductive coils could be burned out from their electromagnetic pulse.<ref name="TFORC34>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''Chapter 34''</ref> Additionally, the platforms are armed with a number of [[point-defense gun]]s for close-in defense against enemy munitions, fighters, and boarding craft.<ref name="ciws"/>

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>

The outbreak of the [[Human-Covenant War]] prompted a massive expansion of [[Earth]]'s defenses. Even as late as the [[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>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 104''</ref> By October 2552, some 300 ODPs were operational.<ref name="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 of Earth]]. ''[[Athens Station]]'' and ''[[Malta Station]]'' were each destroyed by [[antimatter charge]]s installed by [[Covenant]] boarding parties, while ''[[Cairo Station]]'' only narrowly avoided the same fate as the other platforms thanks to [[John-117|Master Chief]]'s [[Cairo Station (Level)|removal]] of the bomb on board.<ref name="cairo"/> The ODPs were used throughout the drawn-out 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 3''', campaign level ''[[Crow's Nest (level)|Crow's Nest]]''</ref>

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>'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Midnight]]''</ref>

==Known ODPs==

*''[[Athens Station]]'' UNSCDF-OWP144 {{c|destroyed}}

*''[[Cairo Station]]'' UNSCDF-OWP142 {{c|active}}

*''[[Malta Station]]'' UNSCDF-OWP143 {{c|destroyed}}

*''[[Nassau Station]]'' {{c|unknown}}

*''[[Oaxaca Station]]'' {{c|active}}

==''Halo: Fleet Battles''==

===UNSC MAC Platform===

===Rules===

File:Orbitoldefencestation.jpg|An ODP, as shown in one of ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'''s [[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminals]].