“ | Prepared for signal distortion. - ECM Tank leaving the War Factory |
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China developed the E.C.M. (Electronic Counter Measures) Tank to support its attacking tank legions. It utilizes a soft-kill jammer designed to deflect incoming projectiles in a small radius around the vehicle.
Background[]
“ | Missiles won't get through. - ECM Tank |
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This vehicle-based suite of electronic countermeasures protects advancing Chinese columns. A multi-frequency jammer effectively disrupts guided missile and rocket attacks, which can cause them to miss their targets. Its directed beam can also disable the electronics of vehicle units.[1]
Game unit[]
“ | They won't know what happened! - ECM Tank disabling a vehicle |
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Abilities[]
Disable Vehicle
The ECM focuses its energy into a jamming beam to deactivate another vehicle, deactivating the missile deflection as long as it is active.
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Strategy[]
“ | Corrupt their communications! - ECM Tank |
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To disable vehicles, the ECM tank had to fire a focused jamming beam from a stationary position. If it lost its focus, the targeted enemy unit would re-activate. Therefore the ECM tank was purely an assistant in the elimination of hostiles. Having friendly units close to the tank was also a bad idea when the tank directed missiles away, as the missiles were still live and capable of damage friendlies. It was however, a frustrating task for GLA commanders attempting to use Rocket Buggies against them, especially against base defense with ECM tanks loitering near them.
Despite lacking offensive weapons, the ECM Tank is still more than capable of crushing infantry and holding off against a sole vehicle with its jammer.
Counters[]
“ | Jam their frequencies! - ECM Tank attacking |
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The ECM is unable to counter missiles when paralyzing enemy vehicles, which unfortunately is a frequent occurrence as it is mixed with units that often expect action. If it ever comes under fire from enemy units, it is unlikely to survive unless its escort fights them off, especially if air units are present since it cannot target them. Non-missile projectiles, such as those fired by a Nuke Cannon, can easily reduce it to scrap without fear of interception. Even against vehicles, quite a few can trouble the ECM. Overlord variants often require several to disable, and ICVs that allow infantry to fire from within like the Humvee and Battle Bus will be merely immobilized.
Selected Quotes[]
“ | Prepared for signal distortion. - When emerging from the War Factory |
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“ | Frequency jammers on standby. - When selected |
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“ | ECM Tank. - When selected |
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“ | Missiles won't get through. - When selected |
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“ | Emission rate steady. - When selected |
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“ | Noise level set. - When moving |
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“ | Inputting coordinates. - When moving |
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“ | Triangulation complete. - When moving |
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“ | Resetting navigation systems. - When moving |
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“ | Enabling power train. - When moving |
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“ | Disabling target! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
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“ | Corrupt their communications! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
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“ | They won't know what happened! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
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“ | Shut their systems down! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
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“ | Jam their frequencies! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
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Trivia[]
- The ECM Tank apparently had a jammer which disabled all enemy drones near itself. It was probably removed because the developers noticed it causes serious issues with friendly fire, which made the effect backfire.
- Oddly enough, despite being unguided rockets in real life, the ECM Tank can deflect "missiles" fired by GLA RPG Troopers.
- In rare cases, the game would glitch and a vehicle shut down by an ECM tank would remain disabled after the tank had either switched targets or been destroyed, effectively making it a sitting duck. Exceptions are made, however, as infantry units within transport vehicles such as the Humvee, Battle Bus, and General Fai's Assault Troop Transport could still fire upon nearby threats.
- The ECM tank is loosely based on a Cold War Russian vehicle called the SPR-1, which can jam the fuses in modern mortar rounds.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour manual. Los Angeles, California: Electronic Arts Los Angeles, 2003.
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