RA2:Spy Plane
From Command and Conquer Wiki
| Spy Plane | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Weaponry | N/A |
| Armour | Light |
| Type | Reconnaissance Aircraft |
| Faction | Soviets |
The Spy Plane was a Soviet aircraft built for a surveillance role during the Great World War II. Designed for performance at extremely high speeds and altitudes, the plane was almost impossible to shoot down. However, the stresses this put on the aircraft's engines were great, and the planes needed to be serviced outside the area of operation when not in use.
When called for, the Spy Plane would take off from a distant runway at high speed, fly over the designated area, and take a few snapshots. These would be transmitted to a commander's terminal, and the topography of the immediate area recon was requested for would be revealed.
While the area revealed by the recon photos was decently sized, the Allied GPS was a superior reconnaisance system. While three plane trips could be planned and carried out in the time it took the Allies to launch a GPS satellite, GPS would reveal the entire theater of war at once, rather than piecemeal.
[edit] Psychic Dominator Disaster
During the RA2:Great World War III, the Soviet Union did not find a need for Spy Planes, as their psychic corps granted them equal intelligence gathering ability. Following Yuri's defection however, the Soviet Union needed a way to undertake field reconnaissance without the need for psychic powers. They eventually settled upon bringing back a fast, hard to intercept spy plane. As Russia had ceased the development of field airstrips, the Spy Plane was built and maintained away from the battlefield.
The spy plane would take off from a distant runway at high speed, fly over the designated area, and take a few snapshots. These would be transmitted to a commander's terminal, and the topography of the immediate area recon was requested for would be revealed.
While the area revealed by the recon photos was decently sized, the Allied Spy Satellite Uplink was still superior. However, the ability of a spy plane to be serviced fairly quickly allowed it to even the odds in terms of intelligence gathering.
Though it's speed gave it a relative degree of invulnerability, massed AA still could get lucky and shoot a Spy Plane down.