Is the Ori Supergate a weapon or a route?

Is the Ori Supergate closer to a mass relay or a strategic harbor and air base?

The Supergate is strategic movement infrastructure, comparable to a major wormhole route.

The Supergate changes movement and access in its fictional theater. It is closer to a harbor or air base than to a device that destroys a world by itself. A Star Trek wormhole provides another route analogy. Its strategic importance lies in where forces can travel and arrive.