Supply drop zone

The supply drop zone was an American support structure used to call in additional supplies for American bases during the War against the GLA.

Background
To build the supply drop zone, US generals had to have already constructed a strategy center. The supply drop zone was a large drop-off point that allowed the commander in control of it to periodically receive UN Crates from C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. Supplies are processed immediately upon landing.

A large amount of money is dropped off on each delivery, with the supply drop zone paying for itself on the second delivery. However, the structure also consumes high base power resources and the delay between supply drops is a potential weakness when compared to the continuous, steady funds that could be delivered by Chinese Internet centers or GLA black markets.

Game building
Upon completion, the supply drop zone will call in a cargo plane filled with supply crates every two minutes. A complete load of supplies is worth $1500 once dropped. After purchasing the Supply lines upgrade, the amount of supplies dropped will be worth $1650.

Occasionally, the crates will not land directly on top of the supply drop zone but rather on the ground nearby, which means the player must manually order his units to collect them before they disappear. This also allows other players to take the supply crates for themselves.

Changelog

 * Zero Hour patch 1.03: now displays upgrade cameo for supply lines (USA and Granger only)

Trivia

 * The supply drop zone was originally intended to be a tech building. A duplicate model file including the "tech building" flag exists in the game files.
 * If the structure is destroyed before the crates land, they become free for anyone to take (provided the emerging Rangers are quickly killed as well).
 * Crates can sometimes miss the drop zone, requiring the player to retrieve them with other units.
 * If there are buildings near the supply drop zone, some of the supply crates may fall on them and be collected.
 * If a drop zone is caught in the blast of an EMP, the two-minute timer will continue to count down, effectively making it one of the few structures that still functions while powered down.