MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V (Earth-5875)

"This is everything I had always dreamed it could be."

- - Dr. Catherine Halsey

The MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V was the second main version of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. The first iteration of the powered exoskeleton came with the Mark V/B, issued to both SPARTAN-IIs and SPARTAN-IIIs on November 24th, 2551, while the second variants came for Operation RED FLAG. The armor continued to be issued for SPARTANs until October 2552, being replaced by the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark VI.

History
In 2542, seventeen years after the issuing of MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark IV, Dr. Catherine Halsey and her team of scientists spent ten years developing the next iteration of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. After devising hundreds of minor technical improvements, some major changes from all data collected by the Mark IV, the Mark V was made. Among the changes was the complete redesign of the armor plating with better materials. Halsey considered separating the Mark V from all previous systems to be the key improvement over the user's effectiveness in combat.

One of the clearly apparent improvements of the suit was the addition of energy shielding, reverse-engineered from the technology employed by the Covenant for its sangheili warriors and the kig-yar point defense gauntlets, making the armor capable of repelling bullets and energy bursts, as well as any type of hazardous elemental energies. Despite the fact that impacts on the shield's locale would drain the power supply of the armor system, it would regenerate in five seconds once the SPARTANs was not under fire. The adaption of the shield over the users' body weakened the magnetic field, weakening the shield system from sustained fire.

The other major advancement was the addition of a computer memory superconductor that allowed a synthetic to interface with the user's field in order to provide them real-time intelligence and strategies. Until then, synthesizing a synthetic's matrix with the human brain was impossible without upgrades to specialized neural interface. Much like the standard interface used by commanding officers, the specialized neural lace of the Mark V translated electrochemical signals to digitial code and routed them via an interfaced connection to the rear of the skull. Other addictions included an upgraded heads-up display, which were linked to sensors that projected the shield strength and an improved version of the motion tracker and the MJOLNIR Mark V BIOS firmware. The armor weights a quarter ton (226,8 kilograms).

John-117 was the first SPARTAN-II to test the Mark V, with the synthetic Cortana interfaced within him in a combat scenario, which involved ten ODSTs, numerous TR/9 Antipersonnel Mine, one AV-49 Wasp and a Scorpion missile. The success of the simulation proved the power of the Mark V, as well as the improvements a synthetic could give to its user.

Variants
Numerous variants of the Mark V were manufactured through the First Contact War for specialized uses, being compatible with variants and components of early and late MJOLNIR iterations.
 * MJOLNIR/AA- Air Assault
 * MJOLNIR/B - B-class
 * MJOLNIR/C - CQB
 * MJOLNIR/CQC - CQC
 * MJOLNIR/EOD - EOD
 * MJOLNIR/FJ/PARA - FJ/Para
 * MJOLNIR/G - Grenadier
 * MJOLNIR/G - GUNGNIR
 * MJOLNIR/HAZOP - HAZOP
 * MJOLNIR/K - Commando
 * MJOLNIR/M - Security
 * MJOLNIR/MP - Military Police
 * MJOLNIR/ODST - ODST
 * MJOLNIR/Operator - Operator
 * MJOLNIR/Pilot - Pilot
 * MJOLNIR/R - Recon
 * MJOLNIR/S - Scout
 * MJOLNIR/V - EVA

Attachment

 * External Command Network Module - CNM
 * CBRN Hardened Uplink Module - CBRN/HUL
 * External Hardened Uplink - HUL

Performance and durability
The Mark V MJOLNIR was a vast improvement over its previous iteration. After contact with the Covenant and the implementation of energy shielding, the Mark V became resistant to injuries, gunfire and explosions that former iterations and armor could not withstand, including plasma weaponry. Notably, John-117's armor was able to withstand the blast from a Scorpion missile. During the Fall of Reach, Red Team's armors were still working despite the trio constantly hitting the ground at terminal velocity. John-117 was also able to withstand the explosion from an off-target mgalekgolo's assault cannon.