Vulture

From Halopedia, the Halo Wiki

Vulture Production information Class Heavy Gunship Technical specifications Armament A-74 Sylver Vertical Missile Launcher GUA-23/AW/Linkless Feed Autocannons Argent V Missiles Usage Year introduced Third Battle of Harvest Role(s) Ground-Attack Aircraft Era(s) Human-Covenant War Affiliation United Nations Space Command
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"The Vulture is one of the UNSC's most powerful units. Basically a highly armed flying assault tank packed to the brim with weapons. The UNSC Vulture is the largest aircraft fielded by the UNSC. It is designed to deliver massive damage to enemy ground troops after air superiority has been achieved. It is slow moving but carries an impressive armament of two twin-autocannons and rocket silos that can be used to deliver a devastating barrage to enemies in a wide area.
Crewed by highly trained UNSC pilot and gunners, the Vulture is an expensive unit and is usually reserved for difficult or lengthy battles. Being slow, it is vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire and enemy aircraft, but it is surprisingly resilient."

—Halo Wars Official Site.

The Vulture is a heavy gunship used by the UNSC during the early years of the Human-Covenant War. It is suspended by a series of ducted fans visible near the rear of the aircraft, or jet engines like the D77-TC Pelican. It is slower than other UNSC aircraft, such as the Hornet or the Hawk, but is armed with a number of devastating missile artillery pods for engaging enemy ground and air units, able to fire off huge barrages of missiles, as well as a pair of humm-mounted autocannons.^[1] It is considered an "über unit" constructed at the UNSC Airpad, and requires 6 population, 900 resource points, and 4 tech level to deploy. It can be upgraded with the Mega Barrage upgrade, potentially doubling its barrage power; this upgrade is purchased at the Air Pad and costs 800 resource points and requires a minimum tech level of 4.

[edit] Combat

A slow unit which can take massive amounts of damage before destruction, the Vulture is the largest ground-based aircraft fielded by the UNSC^[2]. It is able to fight against both air and ground units due to its weapon configuration (Argent V Missile Pods for aircraft, GUA-23 Autocannons for ground units). Thanks to its "Barrage" ability, it can deliver massive damage to slow and/or static units. The Vulture's main drawbacks are its cost and the large amount of time it takes to build one; it is also vulnerable to fast counter-attacks and very slow to repair. It is best used to finish off bases. The Vulture should be reserved for buildings and ground units for the greatest effect. It is recommended to get Wolverines for attacks on air units.

[edit] Trivia

• For balance, the Vulture is the only UNSC vehicle unit in Halo Wars that cannot be commandeered by SPARTANs.
• It is the only UNSC unit in Halo Wars that does not come out of the Firebase upon deployment. Instead, it seems to descend from the Spirit of Fire, decelerating just before touching the ground because it's too big to store it in the base.
• Despite being a über unit like the Scarab, multiple vultures are needed to bring down a single scarab in a straight fight.
• The Vulture is the only air unit that isn't immobilized by a single Vampires' Stasis Drain, though it is still damaged and can be immobilized by multiple, synchronous drains.
• It is possible to make six Vultures at a time, sixteen in Deathmatch, more than enough to take down a Covenant base, regardless of how many Shield Generators it has with a synchronous barrage.
• In the level Beachead, if you send a Vulture through a teleporter, it will appear in the ground and float up to normal height.
• If the Vulture doesn't pass a structure in the sufficient height, it will do a backflip in mid-air.
• It is possible that the Vulture is a spacecraft, seeing as it descends from space when it is summoned to the battlefield in Halo Wars. It may also be faster in space, but this remains unknown. It is possible that the pilots limit their speed while in atmosphere because of the stress it could cause to the Vultures hull or that they are much more likely to hit and destroy something, especially since it's going through the atmosphere, so it would go really fast. However, it could simply be because that everything travels faster in space, including Pelicans.

[edit] Sources

1. ↑ GamePro July Edition
2. ↑ http://www.halowars.com/GameInfo/airpad.aspx#vulture

Aircraft of the UNSCDF
Bombers	Shortsword-class Bomber
Dropships/Cargo Transports	D77-TC Pelican - D77H-TCI Pelican Dropship - Albatross - Pod
Ground-attack aircraft	Hornet - Skyhawk Fighter - Sparrowhawk - Vulture
Reconnaisance	F-99 Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle
Starfighters	C709 Longsword-class Interceptor - Booster Frame
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