T850 Chaingun

The T850 Chaingun is an antiquated UNSC weapon, which was the precursor to and has been replaced with the M41 LAAG on vehicles, but which is still a potent weapon in the hands of a strong infantryman.

Appearance
The T850 is a high powered turret based weapon. It features three rotating barrels--each spinning as it fires, like the M41 LAAG. On the front, many infantry models have shark's faces painted on, to frighten enemy units. It feeds from an ammunition drum of 100 rounds, which is located at the back of the weapon. This drum feeds belt mags which run into the weapon. It features and ammo counter, and has a switch to start the barrels spinning, which is neccessary to begin firing. It is large and rather bulky, and is similar in design to the M7057 flamethrower. It is made of hardened metals, and is very heavy.

Development
The weapon was first developed in 2493, to be placed on M12 LRV Warthog units. It was created by several researchers, and was developed on the pretense that it could be taken off and function as an individual, albeit heavy, weapon. It's design was well conceived, and it boasted tremendous stopping power, range, and fire rate.

Differences from a M41

 * Lighter
 * No Front Protection
 * More exposed working parts
 * 100 round drum belt mag--no larger mag

Field Usage
The weapon saw hog unit deployment till 2513, when it was phased out by the M41 LAAG. However, the LAAG copied many features, and was extremely similar. The T850 then found a home as a turret mounted chaingun, providing exceptional power. During the Covenant war, SPARTAN-IIs were observed ripping off the T850 from it's stand, and a SPARTAN-II specific weapon was soon put into production, the same T850, but without the tripod. The T850 became a choice SPARTAN weapon during open battles where stealth was not needed.

By 2552, the weapon had progressed to almost SPARTAN only status. Dozens of the weapons were loaded onto the pillar of autumn, inside the SPARTANs special armoury. During the fall of Reach, Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb used turrets during his short stay at Camp Independence as a security measure. SPARTAN-087 also used a M41 LAAG in a manner which the T850 was generally used, since none were available during the battle. After the SPARTANs lost the majority of their people on Reach, HIGHCOM saw no further use for the weapon, and discontinued it. In addition, when the SPARTAN's special armoury was destroyed during the battle of Reach, a large amount of the weapons were destroyed. The weapon detachability would also later inspire the makers of the AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun to allow their turret to be detachable.

Flaws
The T850's primary flaws were it's limited ammunition capacity (as opposed to the M41) and it's heavy weight. These restricted the weapons use away from vehicles and standard infantry troops, allowing only SPARTAN like troops to make use of it.

Remarks
"I had one on a triod once, twas crazy! Packed three times the punch of the AIE!  Too bad I had to change out ammo drums for it every fifteen seconds."

"I once saw a pair of SPARTANs leap straight up a ten foot ridge, carrying these beasts. They had a solid wall of grunts in front of them, slavering and charging, and these two badassess just open fired and tore the critters to bit.  Within fifteen seconds, everything, and I mean everything, was dead."

"I understand completely why the LAAG replaced it. I can't imagine having to change ammo drums while on a moving hog.  Hard enough to stay on as it is."