Horizon (Stargate)
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Horizon is the codename for a fictional experimental space-based weapon seen in Stargate: Atlantis, designed and constructed by the United States Air Force.
The Horizon contained six Mark IX "Gatebuster" Naquahdriah-enhanced nuclear weapons constructed in independent reentry vehicles, and four decoy vehicles. When launched from a Daedalus class battlecruiser, the Horizon would fly under its own power into the atmosphere of a target planet. At this point, the craft's heat shield would be detached, revealing the warheads and decoys. Upon entering the lower atmosphere, the MIRVs would be launched heading to their individual targets, detonating at optimum altitude, likely a few hundred meters off the ground. The whole engagement process, from launching of the platform to nuclear detonations takes a little over a minute.
In "First Strike", the discovery that the Asurans were constructing an armada of ships prompted the first deployment of the weapon. The USS Apollo was dispatched to the Asuran homeworld with orders to use the weapon to destroy these ships. The mission itself was a complete success. Even though the first strike was to trigger an Asuran counter-attack against Atlantis, all of the primary targets and most of the secondary targets were destroyed.
