Missile submarine

Missile Submarine
Unit
Internal ID	MSUB
Faction	Soviet Union
Role	Support ship
Armament	Ballistic missiles
Tier	3
Tech level	6
Properties
Hit points	150
Armor type	Light
Production
Cost	1650
Produced by	Submarine pen
Requires	Soviet tech center
Combat
Ground attack	400 (HE)
Cooldown	120
Speed	5
Attack range	14
Sight range	6

“

Realizing their navy lacked first-strike capability, the Soviet Empire has developed a new class of submarine capable of launching attacks on inland targets. The Missile Sub's weapons are nearly as powerful as those of the dreaded Allied Cruiser, with the added advantage that they can submerge and surface before the enemy knows what hit them. - Red Alert: The Aftermath manual(src)

”

The missile submarine was a complement for the Allied cruiser, and capable of massive damage at extreme ranges.

Background

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 first production facility of these submarines was located in South Italy. It was, however, destroyed by Allied chrono tanks, before it began mass producing the submarines.

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 these submarines, this mission would be a failure even before deployment. They were eventually replaced by improved classes of missile submarines with improved designs.

Legacy

The missile submarine was replaced by the Dreadnought before the Third World War which cost considerably less and gave about the same result. Though it is believed that Yuri's Boomer was based on some of the submarine's designs.

Game unit

Similar to the other type of submarines, the missile submarine conceals itself beneath the waves during ordinary movement, but is revealed by the sonar systems present on board the Allied Destroyers and Gunboats, as well as by sonar pulses. It is also forced to surface while attacking or under attack. Furthermore, it is also dreadfully slow. However, it counterbalances these weaknesses by having decent armor, and more importantly, by having extreme firepower.

The missile submarine can launch a pair of missiles a massive distance, hitting its targets that were far inland. Furthermore, the missiles are more accurate than ballistic shells and are tuned to guide to their targets, allowing infantry and light vehicles to be easily slaughtered, good for supporting base defenses if the range permits. However, their main strengths are as a siege weapon and precision artillery against buildings, structures will cede to the missile barrages in moments; Some weak structures takes only 4 missiles before crumbling into dust or even as few as 2.

The missile submarine is even extremely devastating against aircraft that may be unlucky enough to get caught by one in its range, in which case a direct hit from a single missile is more than enough to knock it out of the sky. Though instances where missile submarines supporting in an anti-aircraft role are few and far between, it gives the sub the capability to easily defend itself against aerial threats when needed. Not only this, but even heavily fortified bases have succumbed to precision use of two or three missile submarines.

While they couldn't fire on other naval units normally, they could somewhat hopefully damage them to a degree by force-firing on a tile close to the respective units.

Note in the Retaliation port, if the missile submarine is put in guard mode, it will attack ships within a certain range.

Comparison to Cruiser

Both the Cruiser and the missile submarine fire from extreme range, though in this regard, the cruiser is superior. However, considering the enormous distances involved, this difference may be academic. The cruiser and the missile submarine both do 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. However, missile submarines fire noticeably faster than Cruisers and with better precision, therefore potentially having the higher DPS than a Cruiser. Obviously, cruisers has no anti-air attack, having only the 8-inch guns whereas the missile submarine can defend itself against aircraft if the need arises.

These advantages of the missile submarine, along with the fact it being cheaper than the cruiser, are counterbalanced by its high cost and lack of armor, speed and anti-sea weaponry.

Usage

Soviet commanders relish the opportunity to use such devastating weapons, but are appalled by its slowness and high price tag. A missile sub cost even more than a Mammoth Tank, which itself is a powerful weapon. However, the ability to hit the Allies far inland from the sea, a capability that the Allies had possessed alone, was much needed and more than enough to compensate for this. Soviet commanders deployed missile submarines in a number of engagements.

Gallery

Cameos

DOS	English	French	German

See also

• Cruiser, Allied counterpart