Phantom

Operation

The Phantom was roughly equivalent to the UNSC Pelican Dropship in terms of function and performance. Unlike the Spirit Dropship, Phantoms serve more as troop transports than cargo transports. Each Phantom boasts superior firepower, which they use to clear the drop area of enemy forces, and the capability of reaching greater speeds and maneuverability than their predecessors.

The Phantom was a substantial improvement over the Spirit, with a much sleeker and more robust design accompanying much higher offensive capabilities. It came in two separate versions, one of which featured three separate, fully rotational Plasma Cannons that served to barrage the enemy with cover fire while its payload of troops is deployed. Its second variant has the same chin-mounted turret, but swaps its internally controlled side-cannons for Grunt-manned Stationary Plasma Cannons. These could be folded into the dropship for environments that lack an atmosphere, although this greatly reduces its amount of available firepower.

The Phantom crew consists of a pilot, co-pilot, a navigator, and an operations officer who is in charge of the defensive Plasma Cannons. Troops inside were deployed from a Gravity Lift installed in the bottom of the ship or the openings on both sides. As many as 16 Covenant warriors could be carried inside the ship for Halo 2, while in Halo 3 it can transport up to 27 Covenant personnel, including Hunters. It also has the capability to take vehicles into battle which could be brought in these specific combinations: two separate Ghosts; two separate Brute Choppers; a single Spectre; or a Wraith. It could also carry Shades, Deployable Lookout Towers, and parts of an Anti-Aircraft Battery to be assembled upon deployment.

Phantom in Combat

The role of the Phantom was to transport squads of Covenant troops and/or vehicles to a combat zone with speed and efficiency. This tactic is known as Air Assault. It was capable of carrying Grunts, Jackals, Drones, Brutes and Elites; it could also carry a pair of Hunters. They had been known to carry two manned Ghosts or a single Wraith tank into the battlefield for deployment. Phantoms were seen transporting units throughout the Covenant's invasion of Earth and had become a hindrance to the UNSC Special Forces when they attempted to repel the Covenant from New Mombasa during the Battle of New Mombasa. Their use across Delta Halo was also particularly devastating, especially to units which were not equipped with anti-vehicle weapons.

Possessing three rapid firing plasma cannons make the Phantom a much more challenging adversary than the Spirit. However, the Phantom's turrets can be destroyed using ground turrets, vehicles, Rocket Launchers, and other similarly powerful weapons. It is fairly vulnerable to fire with the Rocket Launcher, and a single blast from a Scorpion Tank to the underside of the Phantom can easily neutralize its offensive capabilities, reducing it to little more than an armored personnel carrier. The Phantom has been known to strike fear into their opponents when they are heard cruising over the battlefield, their approach foreshadowing a large assault on an area.

As their hull is heavily reinforced, Phantoms are almost invulnerable to small arms fire. In Halo 2, the Phantom was invincible and could not be destroyed. In Halo 3, the Phantom is destructible. The Phantom's weak spots are the two "engine bulbs" on both sides of the front of the Phantom, and the two tails in the back. The frontal bulb and the corresponding tail in the back seem to make up an engine in the Phantom. A Phantom will go down with four hits from a Fuel Rod Gun to one of the frontal bulbs or one of the tails, on any difficulty. It is unknown if the damage is tied between them, meaning if two shots to the front and two to the back will take it down. Most other changes are superficial, including some new color schemes.
Separatist Phantom

The Separatist Phantom was a modified variant of the Phantom in use by the Covenant Separatist armed forces during the Great Schism. It differed little in terms of its usage, but it had several distinctions that separated it from its predecessor. They were almost always piloted by Elites -- if you destroy the Phantom on the level "The Covenant" at the third tower that drops the Arbiter off, an Elite's corpse will fall from the nose section between the two "engine bulbs" of the phantom which are most likely the cockpit. The Separatist Phantoms in Halo 3 were Marine Gunmetal Green as an open display of the Separatists' alliance with the humans, and emitted yellowish energy and green lights/strobes instead of the purplish energy emitted by the Loyalist Phantoms. There was no difference in the amount of damage the two separate Phantoms take. Separatist Phantoms also cloak on several levels, possibly indicating that they may have been a prototype within the Covenant, later perfected and put to use by the Covenant Separatists. It is possible that the Separatist Phantoms were taken from a group of unused Phantoms.

Operation

The Separatist Phantom, like the Covenant Phantom, was roughly equivalent to the UNSC Pelican Dropship in terms of function and performance. Unlike the DX-class Dropship, this ship served more as a troop transport than a cargo transport. It was used by the Separatists for the transport of armed combat teams into combat zones -- Some Sangheili could be seen wearing assault armor when they exited the Phantoms. It made use of active camouflage generators to fade from sight, making them difficult to find and allowing them to continue to support ground teams even in heavy combat. Like newer versions of the original Phantom, the Separatist Phantom incorporated a chin-mounted Heavy Plasma Cannon, as well as two side-mounted Plasma Cannons to support ground forces and engage aerial threats.

The Separatists use of the Phantom differed little from its Covenant counterpart, and it remained a troop transport intended to support ground forces. However, the inclusion of an Active Camouflage generator on such a scale meant that it was capable of better stealth, improving its effectiveness. Its green color scheme was used to differentiate it from the Loyalist Phantom, making it fit more into the UNSC Military Green decor. In the level The Covenant, if you get in the Separatist Phantom after you come out of the last tower, the ship will disappear, but you will somehow fall through it -- this, however, is more likely because Bungie did not want players riding on the Phantoms.

Combat Capabilities

The Separatist Phantom's primary purpose was as a troop carrier, delivering armed forces into combat zones, using its speed, maneuverability and armament to allow it to penetrate enemy lines, deliver its teams, and then provide close air support to the deployed forces. Its Heavy Plasma Cannon was capable of dealing with threats from light ground vehicles and airborne hostiles such as Banshees, and its side mounted turrets were used to fire on enemy infantry forces to support ground teams or cover them as they embark or disembark. It should also be noted that these Plasma Cannons and the platforms they mounted were generally folded up, similar to the other side entrances of Phantoms. This may have been to protect infantry from heavy fire that may otherwise kill off the troops in the cargo hold, or to achieve space flight and protect the occupants.

The Separatist Phantom was capable of deploying troops in a variety of ways. The sides of the hull protecting the passenger section were collapsible, allowing large numbers to disembark quickly in combat while covered by a gunner operating the Plasma Cannon. Alternatively, ground forces could be deployed from a ventrally mounted gravity lift, allowing the craft to deploy its passengers without landing and making itself vulnerable, though because only a single individual could deploy at a time this method was slower. It also rendered the dropped troopers vulnerable to sniper fire for a few seconds.

Phantom in Halo 3

The Halo 3 Phantom is now destructible, being vulnerable to Fuel Rod Cannons, AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun rounds, Missile Pods, Spartan Laser shots, M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher 's HEAT rockets and missiles fired from Hornets. It was, nevertheless, very durable and able to take up to four shots from a Scorpion tank. (Four Fuel Rod Cannon shots can take one down, as mentioned above under the combat section. Three hits from the rocket launcher could also do the job.) The Separatist version of the Phantom also seemed to have active camouflage, as seen in The Covenant during the Hornet fight and after the Flood arrived.