Tesla tank (Red Alert 1)

The Tesla tank was an experimental vehicle developed by the Soviets in Second World War.

Background
Essentially, it was a half-track with the ball of a Tesla coil mounted on top, which was omnidirectional. The Tesla tank was used as a long-range support unit for main battle tanks such as the heavy tank, and sometimes also as a scout, since it was relatively fast compared to other Soviet vehicles. The Tesla tank also jammed enemy radars if it got close enough to a radar dome.

The tank was reasonably fast (owing to its half-track design) and its weapon was effective against all surface targets. However, its advantages come at the price of high costs of manufacture, as well as thin armor. The Tesla weapon also had a relatively long cool-down time required to recharge the capacitors, making it vulnerable in a combat situation with several opponents.

This tank was not widely deployed and was only used on some occasions. Two versions of it have been reported to exist: the first was mounted on a mobile command center chassis and looked very similar to it. The second was notably bigger and saw more deployments. Both however performed almost identically, with the first version having less armor but more firepower than the second one.

Some important operations where Tesla tanks were present included the protection of the Sarin nerve gas facilities, the destruction of the Allied MiG prototype. Tesla tanks were also present in Siberia to defend the nuclear production facilities. They were also used by the Soviets to destroy the Chrono tank prototypes and to defend the base near the Super tank testing grounds, among other deployments.

After the war a new version of the tank was developed but it was not widely deployed.

Game unit
The Tesla tank only appears in the two expansion packs of Red Alert, Counterstrike and The Aftermath and the PlayStation exclusive Retaliation, which includes the two expansion packs.

In Counterstrike, it appears in both sides' campaign, but is not normally build-able in Skirmish and multiplayer modes, as are none of the other Counterstrike-specific special units. However, it is possible to build Tesla Tanks in Skirmish in Counterstrike through a glitch: simply load a mission where the Tesla Tank exists, exit the mission and start a Skirmish match, and the existing Radar Jammer will now have the tesla weapon (you can't have Aftermath installed).

In The Aftermath, it was made available in skirmish and in some missions in the campaign. The Tesla tank of Counterstrike uses the sprite of the Radar jammer, while in the Aftermath it its own appearance. The Tesla tank has a long range (out ranges Turrets and Pillboxes), but is incapable of responding to air attacks.

The Tesla tanks require support as it has very weak armor and can easily be destroyed by point defenses.

A good strategy to wipe out buildings quickly is to use heavy tanks as a meat shield, while Tesla tanks do the damage.

Although Tesla tanks do incredible damage and they move faster than heavy tanks, they are very vulnerable to Nuclear weapons and Anti-vehicle mines. To prevent a large amount of Tesla tanks from being destroyed, spread them along the line of fire and don't send them at the same place.