Mirage tank (Red Alert 3)

"Bonjour, Commander!"

- Mirage Tank

Mirage tank is the Allies' anti-surface stealth tank in Red Alert 3.

Background
The new version of the Mirage Tank is an advanced vehicle of the Allied Forces. This versatile tank can disguise itself as a harmless object and the onboard Dulamp FT-70 gap generator's energy bubble can be inverted to hide any Allied unit within, but at the same time leaving the Mirage Tank visible and unable to fire its weapon. Mirage tanks have spectrum-dispersion cannons that are similar to the weapons of the Red Alert 2 prism tanks (which are absent at this time due to the elimination of Einstein), but with a much shorter range. It is based on L.A.S.E.R technology, very similar to prism technology of the previous war. It is said to be based on a French tank chassis and weapon system, but was then further developed by the FutureTech company (also responsible for the Cryocopter).

It does not have a turret and must rotate it's whole chassis to target an enemy unit. The Mirage tank's firepower actually surpasses that of the Apocalypse Tank and the King Oni, although it's still no-match for either of them in a one-on-one fight because of its weak armor.

The new Mirage tank features new reactive camoscanners, which actively scan the Mirage tank's background and then disguise the tank as a suitable object (i.e. no more trees on roads) such as a lamp post, a milk truck or a tree, depending on its surroundings. As in the original Mirage tank, stealth is it's main defense. It's light armor is not suited to withstanding engagements with heavier tanks, although it was seen surviving the Apocalypse Tank cannons.

Its appearance is more similar to the Prism tank from the Post-war Crisis than the first design from the Third World War.

Deployment history
"Fire at will!"

- Mirage Tank in combat

The Mirage tank was first deployed in the Allied mission A Monument to Madness, when the Allies were forced to eliminate President Ackerman's Mt. Rushmore superweapon. Its other significant role was being disguised (badly but still passable) as an Apocalypse tank commanded by Giles who discovered a treacherous Soviet plan to bomb major Allied cities from Havana, Cuba. Later in the final battle of Leningrad 10 of these tanks were chronoshift into the city to knock the Soviets off the plateau and stop the soviet shuttle from taking off.

In-game
The Mirage tank is the most advanced land vehicle available to the Allies. It has significant firepower and is effective against all surface targets. This, combined with its ability to camouflage itself while stationary, or not using its secondary ability, makes it perfect for ambushing enemy forces. It does, however, have very weak armour and the spectrum cannon has a relatively short range. In order to construct Mirage tanks, a War Factory with access to Maximum Clearance is required.

The Mirage tank's secondary ability allows it to project a stealth field in a limited radius around itself, cloaking any allied units within that radius. The Mirage tank itself is fully visible and unable to use its weapon, making it highly vulnerable. It is however unable to cloak each other using its secondary ability.

Both the disguise and cloaking field can be neutralised by attack dogs, war bears, and burst drones.

The Mirage Tank's cloaking is almost unique to the Mirage tank, being shared by the spy (who can be seen by other players as a friendly unit) and the Sudden Transport. It is the only cloakable unit that can attack.

Note that critically damaged mirage tanks won't cloak themselves if idle.

Pros

 * Highly destructive spectrum beam


 * Faster than Apocalypse tank, King Oni and Future tank X-1
 * Can hide units under it's cloacking field
 * Can disguise itself by blending with terrain objects
 * Cheaper than Apocalypse Tank, King Oni and Future Tank X-1
 * Spectrum beam reflects and damage multiple targets at once
 * Spectrum beam instantly kills infantry

Cons

 * Available at Tier 3 only


 * Light armour


 * Vulnerable to air-attacks


 * Enemy scouts can easily detect disguised Mirage tanks


 * Can be crushed by Apocalypse Tanks and Assault Destroyers


 * Vulnerable to Terror Drone infection


 * Vulnerable to advanced base defences (Tesla Coils, Wave-Force towers)


 * Short range


 * Expensive

Trivia
"Now's our chance"

- Mirage Tank attacking


 * It seems that the Mirage is a French tank, according to the accent of his quotes and his phrases, but it was never explained how the French managed to get such a powerful tank if they were occupied by the Soviets (according to the European map in the first mission's intro of the Allies). It could possibly be that the operator is French, or the French gave Futuretech a tank chasis blueprint before it got occupied and it eventually became the Mirage Tank. As a token of appreciation, The Allies largely (or solely) deployed French-operated Mirage tanks from any Frenchman willing to take arms on their Soviet occupants.
 * There is one way to detect that you're being attacked by a Mirage Tank. If your units are being damaged without any enemy units appearing on the radar, it means that there's a Mirage Tank near your units.
 * It is strange how bears and dogs could detect Mirage Tanks unlike burst drones that are built to detect disguised enemies.
 * When there's nothing around to copy, the Mirage Tank will turn invisible, and on rare occasions, the Mirage Tank will copy a unit.
 * When a Mirage Tank is "Iron Curtained", if it disguises as an object, it is seen very clearly as the object is also "Iron Curtained".

Quotes
Ready Moving
 * "You called for a Mirage?"
 * "Mirage Tank."
 * "Mirage Tank operational."
 * "Bonjour, commander."
 * "Camouflage standing by."
 * "We are waiting your direction."
 * "Blending in."
 * "Mirage field standing by."
 * "Nothing here but trees."
 * "What should it be?"

Attacking
 * "To the next mirage."
 * "Proceed."
 * "Place to place."
 * "Prepare to blend!"
 * "Into the background!"
 * "Understood!"

While attacking
 * "Now's our chance."
 * "It's time to play our hand."
 * "Don't let them see us coming."
 * "Now, now!"
 * "AHA!"
 * "Attack!"
 * "Fire at will!"
 * "Commence attack!"
 * "Ambush them!"
 * "Approaching the target."
 * "Track them down."


 * "Don't let them leave."
 * "Again,AGAIN!"
 * "Firing Spectrum Cannon!"
 * "End them quickly!"
 * "Aur Revoir!"

Under attack


 * "They found us."
 * "We're taking damage."
 * "How bad are we hit?"
 * "We must find cover!"
 * "We've messed up here!"