M61 Cougar

"You can run, you can hide, but the Cougar's gonna find ya!"

- Anonymous Cougar driver

The M61 Cougar Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV) is a medium armored vehicle in service with the UNSC Marine Corps.

Design Features
One of the first vehicles designed to counter the Covenant, the Cougar is a highly-specialized vehicle that fulfills only a single niche in the UNSC's armor arsenal, and that is for aggressive reconnaissance. This requires a mixture of stealth, firepower, operational range and speed, as they are expected to recover intelligence within secured territories patrolled by sentries, aircraft, and tanks. Support is non-existent, aside from the few force recon teams that may be sent in. Warthogs are not powerful enough to protect themselves from any of these threats, requiring something tougher instead.

The M61 Cougar is a 6x6 all-terrain vehicle, able to clamber through woodlands, ice fields, and sand deserts with equal ease. It has a low-detection rating to UNSC sensors, using a combination of low-RADAR return signature, emission-dampening systems, and basic stealth composites; all of which have been improved over time. A substantial suite of sensors (trending into passive models), jammers, and self-defense dazzlers are featured, all protected by faraday cages to resist interference from EMPs. To reduce downtime in the field, the Cougar's drivetrain uses a number of high-reliability machinery that is specifically engineered for easy work, and spare parts are provided to replace what cannot be made in the field.

Most of the Cougar's weapons are selected based on their ability to assist with a quick getaway. It is armed with twin M68 Gauss cannons, which are excellent anti-armor weapons capable of punching through all but the toughest of enemy armor. Light vehicles can be outright destroyed in one or two shots, while it is hoped that heavier vehicles will suffer enough damage and casualties to break off pursuit. A second turret sits atop this, with a M231 7.62mm machine gun for clearing and suppressing infantry, as well as defeating energy shielding. The Cougar also boasts a XM511 heavy grenade launcher, which is usually loaded with high-explosive and smoke rounds.

The Cougar's Achilles heel lies in its weak armor. Though inclined to increase thickness, it cannot stand up to medium and heavy weapons, though infantry small arms provide little threat to the protection scheme. For this reason, any fights it participates in must conclude quickly - another reason why it is most often used in raids and ambushes.

M61B Cougar
The M61B model of Cougar is a cut-down budget option, and is aimed for use in developed suburban and urban environments as an anti-armor vehicle. The stealth systems have been removed, various components such as the sensors and fuel filtration are substituted with smaller models, and the suspension has been reduced to a 6x2 system. In exchange, extra armor has been added to protect the crew and machinery, though in later-production M61Bs this has been removed to both reduce cost and increase its top speed on straights.

M61C Puma APC
The M61C Puma is an armored personnel carrier adapted from the Cougar. To accommodate a cramped troop bay fit for carrying two fireteams of UNSC Marines, the Puma moves the driver's canopy forward, exchanges the original armament gauss cannons for two smaller 7.62mm machine gun positions, and lengthens the rear. Armor is much more heavily increased over the troop bay to compensate, and firing ports have been added to allow the troops to supplement the Puma's firepower.