UNSC Weapon & Vehicles Technology

[TheMetronomicForger]

Does anyone else notice how low the UNSC technology is? Most of all their technology we have or could have if ever wanting to make it. Mongoose? That's a cool looking fourwheeler. Warthog? Some kind of ATV... Scorpion. Like any kind of tank we have. Falcons. Helicopters. Pelicans. Our half plane half helicopter thing. Mammoth? We have pretty huge pieces of equipment. Maybe not THAT big. But we could still make something that size. I don't really know what real purpose it could serve Weopons. They still use bullets. And bullets hardly even work against Elites or shields or anything. It takes a super long time. Plus almost every weapon has been already made in a different form. The highest technology are the space craft. We don't have that yet. Or Spartan laser. or Railgun. or Gauss Cannon. But those few things in over 500 years!? It's too late to change it now but that's just stupid how 500 years later, we still have the same technology.

[Jinx]

They base it off of nowadays things. You can't expect anything to change... Remember that the 21st century we were supposed to have flying cars, like The Jetsons? Well that never happened. So don't bring that kind of hope up in the future. You don't know for sure what's going to happen.

[Tranquility]

we may end up as an extinct specirs due to atomic war before then

[Azaxx]

 

 

we may end up as an extinct specirs due to atomic war before then

Which probably will never happen, because every country is terrified of it the consequences.

To the OP. Yes the tech may be a bit old, but the Dep for Defense at the times put a lot of money into space exploration and eventually the Orion Program. Soon after everything going into just mass producing for the Covenant. So there wasn't a huge amount of opportunity to develop onto their weapons, from what we know from the Lore.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Azaxx

[DN2012]

I wouldn't consider UNSC technology low. Sure, some things may still be the same but, that doesnt Mean that they have low tech. For example, what about Spartan Soldiers or the ability of instantantanious travel. We don't have that, yet.

 

Besides, I remember reading in halo lore somewhere that humans were once the greatest species in the universe, and because of that, the forerunners blasted the humans back to the stone age. So in that sense, at one point, The humans had very good technology.

[BaconShelf]

The game was made in 2001; they made things that they thought were futuristic.

 

Remember Aliens? They had laptops as a just-invented thing in the 2500's or whatever it was. 

 

We are very close (More than you'd think) to making Halo MJOLNIR armour- without need for augmentation and is stronger. 

 

It's based off tech available at the time, and how we believe it will be; we'd say FTL travel in next few hundred years, but if it's sooner, we'd say "FTL travel was in X, why is fictionn not saying it?"

 

 

Besides, bullets have more of a kick than plasma, they fill a certain niche in the game.

[Ivesy]

Also it is a Sci fi game/universe so things need not follow the same trajectory as reality.

[Particular Justice]

Alright, let me start off by saying the UNSC didn't know of the Covenant until the 2520's (More precisely, the first encounter was with Jackals, and they are TERRIFYINGLY ugly. And weak.) The UNSC didn't even think of upgrading weapons technology because, before then, there was no enemy to fight other than the Insurrectionists. And, the vehicles had plenty of advantages over today's. The Scorpion for example, significantly increased rate of fire, versatility and mobility, the only disadvantage was the shell, which were 90mm , that's less than today's! The reason they still had treads on tanks and bullet projectiles was because that's what was reliable and effective before the Covenant. I hope that answers your question!

[Ranger Intel]

We can't just go around building Mammoths and Pelicans because the UNSC have one thing we don't have enough of today, the resources. We are getting lower and lower on resources day by day. In Halo, they have inhabited life on other planets and could mine for more resources, we only have Earth which will eventually run out of resources. Sure we've got a quad bike which is almost a Mongoose, but a Pelican will take to much energy to power. I don't think they are behind on technology, they have shields and slip space. You are right about the weapons though, they could at least fire lasers.    I like the weapons though, I feel more realistic firing a human weapon instead of a covenant or promethean weapon. I think we will have advanced to some sort of plasma/laser/hard light weaponry by then though.

[DracoAvian]

Most of the technology seems to be fairly 'behind-the-scenes.' Space elevators, weaponized gaussian equipment (Railguns / Gausshogs / MACs), vehicles capable of heavy transport in and out of atmosphere, firearms smart linked to individual HUDs, body armor, advances in medical and robotics technology, faster than light travel (Which is far from instantaneous, I'm afraid), cryogenics, major advances in energy technologies, etc. And these are all from the games! Think of what the expanded universe may have! It is good Sci-Fi I assure you!

 

Most of these technologies are impossible to us now purely because the materials needed to build them are cost prohibitive. The idea of a space tether or space elevator is not an especially new one. The only problem is that the only material that is light and strong enough to make it would probably be carbon nano-tubing. Just do a google search on the stuff. They sell it by the milligram. 1/1000th of a gram.

 

All of the smallish UNSC vehicles run on hydrogen power. They burn the hydrogen to create energy. Largish UNSC vehicles run on fusion power. The combine hydrogen atoms to create energy. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe! Fuel is everywhere! Now fusion isn't capable with today's technology, but we're well on our way to hydrogen-burning vehicles.

 

I'm not sure why the UNSC doesn't employ more directed energy weapons. Today, even the most sophisicated lasers require an immense amount of energy. The only portable high-intensity laser I can think of is mounted on the nose of a 747 and is powered by decks of batteries. To the best of my knowledge, these batteries are only powerful enough because they contain the extremely toxic and caustic chemicals needed to produce that much power. It seems the UNSC has solved the portability issue though. Curiously, however, the Spartan Laser and a larger counterpart mounted in later Pelicans are only examples of laser weaponry employed by the UNSC.

 

Perhaps the energy requirements of ship-based lasers make them unrealistic, or perhaps they are less deadly than kinetic or warhead based weaponry. Another answer could just be that guns, MACs, and missiles are so much easier, faster, and/or cheaper to produce than laser based weaponry, that the logistics of transporting ammunition is actually cheaper.

[Kazadure]

it is based off futuristic tech

[Kilo Actual]

I think the reason is because the UNSC never knew they were not alone. I guess they didn't put as much funding for Weapons technology than most other things. Plus the Orion and Spartan Programs, they were probably too busy thinking about that. And MJOLNIR armor. And if the UNSC didn't upgrade their weapons tech then neither would the Insurrection, right? Didn't they just steal UNSC tech and produce those? What if the UNSC thought the same thing? That's what I think..

[DracoAvian]

We can clearly see that UNSC ground based weaponry is adequate. In many cases UNSC weaponry has clear advantages in range, accuracy, and rate of fire. I believe the UNSC has the policy of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[ShockGazm]

It gets the job done... eventually, and that's good enough. But, saying that, if the UNSC has ships that could glass a planet that would be a huge advantage and the job would we like taking candy from a baby. Technology is always getting better, so I don't doubt we'll see some amazing tech in Halo 5.