The Spartan-III project is a military project in the fictional Halo universe. The project was formally introduced in the novel Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, but first mentioned in the novel Halo: First Strike, and hinted at in the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach. the Spartan-IIIs are the next generation in the Spartan series. The difference between the Spartan-III series and their predecessors (the Spartan-II's) is that the Spartan-IIIs were designed to be cheaper, faster to train, and ultimately expendable. This time led by Colonel Ackerson and other members of ONI Section III. It is believed that the S-III project is unknown to others within the UNSC, possibly even those within ONI.