Class-2 Projectile Cannon

Were you looking for the closely related shoulder-mounted Fuel Rod Gun or for the Hunter's variant?

The Fuel Rod Cannon is a Covenant direct-fire energy weapon and a larger, more powerful, vehicle mounted version of the Type-33 LAAW with anti-vehicle and anti-air applications. It is featured in Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and in Halo 3: ODST as part of the arsenal of various Covenant vehicles. It is the secondary weapon of the Banshee and the primary weapon of the Anti-Air Wraith.

Background
The Fuel Rod Cannon is often equipped to vehicles for increased firepower. Banshees are equipped with a single Fuel Rod Cannon for attacking hardened ground-targets, while Anti-Air Wraiths are fitted with pods of three. It appears to be an up-scaled version of the standard-issue Fuel Rod Gun. The Banshee's version of the weapon can only fire one shot before having to reload, but makes up for this with its virtually unlimited ammunition. The Mgalekgolo Assault Cannon uses similar technology.

Usage
The Fuel Rod Cannon is a rather powerful weapon, and vehicles equipped with them are not to be taken lightly. The Banshee in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3 often use the weapon to soften a target before finishing it with its Plasma Cannons. These are especially lethal to light vehicles, such as a Ghost or Mongoose. The enemy Banshee will generally use its Fuel Rod Cannon, sending you cart-wheeling into the air. This strategy can be easily demonstrated when several Banshees are in the area, as they can fire rather quickly. The projectile can generally be avoided, as they often fire from a distance. This is harder in Halo 3, as they have a slight homing ability in Halo 3. The Fuel Rod Cannons found on Anti-Air Wraiths seem to have a higher degree of tracking, but these are still generally easy to avoid. Enemy Banshees in Halo 2's campaign will never fire their Fuel Rod Cannon.

The Anti-Air Wraith's Fuel Rod Cannons are extremely powerful and can bring down Hornets with relative ease.

The Fuel Rod Cannon is included in Halo Wars, functioning as the Anti-Vehicle upgrade for the Covenant Turret.

Trivia

 * In Halo 3, on Heroic or Legendary, (although it is rare for one to target a player on the ground) if an Anti-Air Wraith gets a direct hit on the player it will kill him instantly.
 * In Halo 2 and Halo 3:ODST, Fuel Rod Guns are mistakenly called Fuel Rod Cannons.

Related Pages

 * Assault Cannon
 * Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft
 * Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon
 * Type-52 Anti-Aircraft Artillery