Missile submarine
From Command and Conquer Wiki
| Missile Submarine | |
|---|---|
| |
| Unit | |
| Affiliation | |
| Role |
Support Warship |
| Armament |
Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles |
| Protection |
Light |
The Missile Sub was a complement for the Allied Cruiser, and capable of massive damage at extreme ranges.
Contents |
[edit] Design
Soviet engineers, fearing Allied shelling from cruisers, realized that they would need to strike back in a similar fashion using a submarine. Stripping out the torpedo bays allowed them to move the crew quarters and sensor systems further forward, creating a space for additional weapon systems further to the rear. Unfortunately, this was not enough room for the oversized missile launchers planned, so the engineers made a number of modifications to the original submarine's hull. Eventually, they fitted the oversized missile launchers and missiles into the submarine's mid area bay, and put the engines on small outriggers to save precious internal space. This let them use essentially the same chassis as the regular submarine.
The missile submarine concealed itself beneath the waves during ordinary movement, but was revealed by the sonar systems present on board the allied destroyers and gunboats, as well as by sonar pulses. It was also forced to surface while attacking or under attack. Furthermore, it was dreadfully slow. However, it counterbalanced these weaknesses by having decent armor, and more importantly, extreme firepower. The missile submarine could launch a pair of missiles a massive distance away, hitting targets that were far inland. Furthermore, the missiles were guided to their targets, allowing infantry and light vehicles to be easily slaughtered as well as enemy aircraft and especially buildings.
This has proven crucial when a radical Soviet faction decided to launch an untested experimental biological weapon against the Allies, a weapon that could potentially destroy humanity. With assistance from a group of missile submarines and their older, regular brothers, Volkov managed to escort a scientist into the launch complex and deactivate the warheads. Without the missile submarines, this mission would be a failure even before deployment. They were eventually replaced by improved classes of missile submarines with improved designs.
[edit] Description
Similar to the other type of submarine, the missile submarine concealed itself beneath the waves during ordinary movement, but was revealed by the sonar systems present on board the allied Destroyers and gunboats, as well as by Sonar Pulses. It was also forced to surface while attacking or under attack. Furthermore, it was also dreadfully slow. However, it counterbalanced these weaknesses by having decent armor, and more importantly, by having extreme firepower. The Missile Submarine could launch a pair of missiles a massive distance, hitting targets that were far inland. Furthermore, the missiles were guided to their targets, allowing infantry and light vehicles to be easily slaughtered. However, their main strengths were against buildings, structures would cede to the missile barages in moments; Some weak structures took only 4 missiles before crumbling into dust. The Missile Submarine was even extremely effective against aircraft. Not only this, but even heavily fortified bases have succumbed to precision use of 2 or 3 missle submarines.
[edit] Comparison to Cruiser
Both the Cruiser and the Missile Submarine fired from extreme range, though in this regard, the crusier was superior. However, considering the enormous distances involved, this difference may be academic. The cruiser and the missile submarine both did comparable damage to infantry and structures. It is difficult to compare vehicle damage, as cruisers were very inaccurate, and often lacked the ability to shoot vehicles precisely. Obviously, cruisers had no anti-air attack, having only the 8 inch guns.
These advantages of the missile sub were counterbalanced by its cost, slowness, and lack of anti-sea attack.
N.B. Missile Sub, in C&C Red Alert Retaliation for Play Station, if put in guard mode, will attack ships within a certain range.
[edit] Usage
Soviet commanders relished the opportunity to use such devastating weapons, but were appalled by its slowness and its high price tag. A missile sub cost even more than a Mammoth Tank, which itself was a powerful weapon. However, the ability to hit the Allies on land from the sea, a capability that the Allies had possessed alone, was more than enough to compensate for this. Soviet commanders deployed missile submarines in a number of engagements. It was replaced by the Dreadnought before the Great World War III which cost considerably less and gave about the same result. Though it is believed that Yuri's Boomer was based off of some of the Missile Submarine's designs.
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