Stinger site

The Stinger Site was a simple defense that served as the basic anti-air and anti-tank defense of the GLA.

Background
Consisting of a circle of sandbags with a camouflage net overhead, inside were three soldiers equipped with FIM-92A Stinger missile launchers. Should the Stinger infantry inside be killed, they would gradually be replaced by reinforcements from the GLA tunnel networks. However, if the structure itself was destroyed with the soldiers still intact, the men would simply fall under the collapsing structure.

Strategy
Stinger Sites were built around GLA bases as well as near significant positions on the battlefield to defend from tanks and aircraft. They lacked anti-infantry defense, meaning that soldiers that got too close could shoot down the troopers with impunity. To compensate for this, they were usually best used in conjunction with Tunnel Networks. Due to their size, being almost as large as the other factions' power plants, they could not be spammed like the other base defenses could be, however, they were still useful for blocking off pathways, and the tunnel networks generally ensured that making a wall would not be an inconvenience.

Counters
The open design of the Stinger Site leaves the Stinger infantry inside exposed to certain weapons that could kill them even while the Stinger Site was still standing, for example snipers or flame weapons. As mentioned previously they would be replaced eventually, but until they were the site would be utterly defenseless.

Long-range siege weapons could also easily destroy a Stinger Site outright (although Stinger Sites could still have a chance of survival if faced against Tomahawk Launchers and rogue Scud Launchers), and with impunity. Also against massed main battle tanks and MiG's with Black Napalm they stood absolutely no chance.

Changelog

 * Generals sneak peek patch 1.02:
 * cost increased from $750 to $900
 * technicals, Humvees, and Gattling weapons no longer kill the soldiers inside Stinger sites
 * Stinger missile fuel reduced from 10 to 5 seconds so they do not chase a target as far across the map as they used to
 * splash damage reduced
 * stealth detection radius cut from 360-400 down to 200
 * Raptors and MiGs slightly more effective against Stinger sites
 * Zero Hour patch 1.02: fixed a bug that caused Stinger site occupants to remain forever disabled after they have been attacked by a microwave tank

Trivia

 * The GLA were originally meant to be able to construct fake Stinger Sites in Zero Hour.
 * For obvious reasons, it was removed as fake structures cannot attack, train or research anything (apart from being upgraded to its real counterpart). As a result, it would have made it too obvious that the structure was fake, neccessitating its removal. The cameo still remains within Generals' art archives, however, as seen below.
 * The crew cannot exit the Stinger site (selling the structure will remove the soldiers from the field). However, the second USA mission in the vanilla Generals depicts the soldiers outside the Stinger site, shooting down Comanches in the city. They were not seen while during the mission itself. They were also seen in the opening cutscene of the first USA mission, shooting down a Raptor, and in the last USA mission, defending the GLA stronghold on tops of walls, but only during the first cutscene.