Slingshot

"Enemies inbound!"

- Slingshot

An effective anti-air platform, the Slingshot is a GDI hover vehicle.

Background
Unlike older HoverTech units, the Slingshot's hover chassis was less susceptible to Ion Storms, making the unit more reliable. With its use of HoverTech the Slingshot had light armour, but was very fast and highly maneuverable. It was designed to complement the Pitbull, as the former was only moderately good at shooting down aircraft.

The vehicle carried four cannons mounted to the sides of its turret, guided with a high fidelity radar, and was capable of literally tearing through enemy aircraft with ease. Slingshot ammunition could be upgraded with Tungsten Shells, making it the most powerful anti-air unit fielded in the conflict, on par with the Black Hand Mantis Drone. The cannons do not have enough depression to be able to target ground units, however, though it was still capable of crushing infantry.

Deployments
A group of heroic-level Slingshots were seen defending the covert GDI lab where they were keeping a complete duplicate of Nod's Stealth databank. Some were also airlifted in Chile in the failed attempt to stop the Black Hand from kidnapping Dr. Alphonse Giraud, GDI's leading Liquid Tiberium researcher.

The Slingshot was not seen in the Fourth Tiberium War, and appears to have been replaced by the GDI Sandstorm.

Game unit
Slingshots are nearly useless for dealing with ground units; they can crush infantry and move quickly, making them good at it, but they cannot actually fire at anything on the ground. Their AA capabilites are very good: They function a lot like GDI's AA Battery except they are highly mobile. A principal advantage held by the Slingshot is that it is the only mobile AA unit that instantly starts doing damage to whatever it is firing at; there is no actual time before its rounds start damaging its target. Therefore it is better at dealing with hit and run attacks than other mobile AA units since its more likely to shoot down enemy craft before they can actually fire at it. It also does damage at a constant rate, not in bursts like most other units, allowing it to continue to damage enemy aircraft as efficiently as possible as long as they stay within its range.

High speed allows the Slingshot to get where it is needed quickly and efficiently, and its armor is also fairly respectable. Slingshots are GDI's best defense against units like the Nod Venom which excels at harassment, and are equally useful for dealing with the powerful and well-armored aircraft deployed by the Scrin. Their high speed allows them to be micro-managed against Devastator Warships relatively effectively, as they are fast enough to dodge or at least partially dodge volleys being fired at them from one.

While the Slingshot is incredibly powerful when dealing with aircraft, Vertigo bombers and Devastator warships have enough firepower to destroy Slingshots easily if they get in some of the first hits. Slingshots were unable to detect stealthed units.

Idle

 * Ready to roll.
 * Awaiting orders.
 * Slingshot ready.
 * Hovering.
 * Ready to hunt.
 * Systems ready.
 * Slingshot.

Moving

 * Tracking them down.
 * Coordinates acquired.
 * Moving to ORD position.
 * Attack trajectory confirmed.
 * Already there.
 * I got it.
 * Hovertech engaged.
 * I'll check it out.
 * We'll scout it out.
 * Watch the horizon.
 * Eyes on the sky.

Attacking

 * Blow 'em outta th sky!
 * Perferating airframes!
 * Firing!
 * Taret locked!
 * We'll shoot it down!
 * Won't be flying for long!
 * Take him out!
 * See you next Tuesday!
 * Enemies inbound!
 * Taking damage!
 * Under fire!

Retreating

 * Okay, bye-bye!
 * Move it or lose it!
 * Let's glide out of here fast!
 * Pull out!
 * They're right on top of us!
 * Can't take this much longer!

Pros

 * Most effective anti-air vehicle available; only rivals are Black Hand  Mantis and Scrin Shard Walker
 * Inexpensive and highly mobile; available to all GDI factions
 * High rate of fire; can turn standard aircraft into scrap metal and eliminate large aircraft quickly when massed; firepower increases with Tungsten Shells upgrade
 * Hover function allows it to traverse water

Cons

 * Lightly armored; can be easily destroyed by vehicles and anti-armor defenses
 * Incapable of engaging ground units (but heavy enough to crush infantry)
 * Has no stealth detection capabilities
 * Human crew allows it to be controlled by Masterminds, Prodigies and Cultists