Yari mini-sub

"Yari submerging!"

- Yari mini-sub rolling out of the Imperial Docks

The Yari is a submarine used by the Imperial Navy.

History
"Attack!"

- Yari pilot ordered to fire

The Empire of the Rising Sun struck at the Soviets without warning, and with a seemingly uncanny knowledge of the Union's few coastal vulnerabilities. This foresight must have been partly due to the Empire's shinobi network, for its hooded assassins have gained a fearsome reputation for procuring sensitive information brutally and reliably. Another theory growing in popularity is that the Empire managed to thoroughly scout northern Europe and Asia from undersea, avoiding detection while relaying essential tactical data back to Imperial military command. These underwater scouting missions were conducted by young sailors operating the Empire of the Rising Sun's Yari mini-subs, the smallest submersible combat vessels ever invented. Although these mini-subs initially appear rather non threatening due to their size and relatively benign shape, the consequences of their successful scouting reveal them to be a huge threat. It also turns out that Yari mini-subs have fairly significant attack power, and moreover, that the sailors piloting these vessels are prepared to lay down their lives for the Empire of the Rising Sun's ambitions.

Although it is rather late for this information to be surfacing from the Soviet Union's perspective, much has been gleaned from the collected remains of multiple Yari mini-subs found destroyed off the coast of northern Russia. Having carefully studied the Soviets' submarine program and the capabilities of their enemies' navies, the Emperor's chief naval technicians must have developed the Yari as an inexpensive miniature submarine suitable for reconnaissance and light skirmishing. Each of these vessels is fitted with a pair of light torpedo tubes, which, while far less powerful than the torpedoes of a Soviet Akula-class, nevertheless can eventually puncture and sink even the largest vessel (as the Soviet Union unwittingly discovered). Mini-subs are also virtually undetectable when submerged, which is part of what makes them so dangerous. And because they are cheap to manufacture, they can quickly be deployed to support Imperial blockades.

While ill-equipped to fend off a complete naval strike group, the Yari mini-sub does have a secret weapon that can make is deadly even to vessels many times its size: Its pilot, loyally bound to his Emperor, is prepared to use his craft in a battering maneuver known as the "Last Voyage", which can severely damage even the sturdiest hull. This destroys the Yari mini-sub in the process. Soviet forces were completely caught off guard in their first encounters against this maneuver, which led to the shocking defeat of one of the Union's most notorious Akula wolf packs. The sociology that leads Imperial sailors to be willing to use such a strategy is still being studied carefully, and diametrically-opposing theories abound, with some pundits insisting that mini-sub sailors must be extremely brave while others claim they are driven by fear.

However, their enemies are quite obviously dolphins, who can quite easily reduce the Yari's to scrap and can evade their suicide attacks with ease, as their agility was granted by millions of years of evolution, honed to a second nature, thus rendering Yari subs quite ineffective against them.

Game unit
Yaris are not tough units and should be used mostly for scouting and harassing ore collectors on water. In numbers they will beat an allied assault destroyer and soviet akula but they are vulnerable to any anti submarine weapons especially advanced base defenses, torpedoes and the assault destroyers gun. Should the Yari cannot win an engagement use the Last Voyage ability to sink the tougher foe. Yaris can only attack naval units and not any land or air units.

Notes from the field
"For the empire!"

- Overheard from a Yari pilot doing a suicide attack

Battlefield reconnaissance has revealed at least these facts about the Yari Mini-Sub:


 * Affordable -- Presumably, part of the reason mini-subs are so small is to keep manufacturing costs to a minimum. These are relatively inexpensive, fast-moving scout vessels ill-suited for mainline combat on the seas. However, mini-subs can still be extremely dangerous, especially in large numbers.


 * Submersible protection -- Imperial mini-subs' greatest defense is their ability to avoid detection while lurking undersea. While submerged, mini-subs cannot be detected by most enemy scanners, nor can they be attacked by most conventional weapons. However, mini-sub torpedoes are not designed to operate under extreme pressures, forcing mini-subs to surface to fire.


 * Mini-torpedoes a-plenty -- Because of their small form factor, mini-subs are not equipped with heavy weapons, although their mini-torpedoes partly make up for a lack of sheer impact-power with a fast firing rate. This makes mini-subs extremely well-suited for hit-and-run attacks. Note that mini-subs cannot defend themselves against land or air targets especially Twinblades and the Guardian Tank.


 * Last Voyage -- Yari mini-sub pilots have been known to resort to extreme measures in the name of completing their missions. Specifically, they have been observed to collide with their targets, barreling straight into them purposely. This is inevitably catastrophic to the mini-subs, but also to their targets. This brutally devastating attack will sink the strongest Capital Ships; even Dreadnoughts won't survive.

Changelog

 * Red Alert 3 beta patch 1.3: kamikaze attack damage reduced against harvesters
 * Red Alert 3 patch 1.05: kamikaze attacks now reliably target Yuriko Omega

Created

 * Yari submerging!

Select

 * Sir, is that you?
 * Anybody out there?
 * Scout sub!
 * Command?
 * HQ, so good to hear from you!
 * Undersea patrol!

Moving

 * Okay, let's go!
 * Where are we going?
 * It's dark!
 * Got it command!
 * Let's check it out!
 * Moving forward!
 * Did you hear that?
 * Hai!
 * Yes sir!
 * Wakarimashita! (Understood!)

Attacking

 * Sink them!
 * Torpedoes!
 * Attack!
 * Armed!
 * Fire!
 * Another one!

Use Last Voyage

 * For the Empire!
 * Kamikaze!
 * For honor!
 * Banzai!
 * We're taking you with us!
 * Tora Tora Tora!

Move to Attack

 * There they are!
 * That's them isn't it?
 * Good call, let's get them!
 * Let's try the torpedoes out!
 * We'll distract them!
 * Hurry before they see us!
 * Whatever you say!
 * Here we go!

In combat

 * They're here!
 * Another, HURRY!
 * We can do this!
 * This is our chance!
 * I think we got this!
 * Don't mess with us!

Retreating

 * Yes yes, good call!
 * Returning to base, sir! Thank you!
 * We might make it out alive!
 * Full speed!

Under fire

 * I see water coming in!
 * Patch it up, hurry!
 * I think we're losing pressure!
 * Sir, they're attacking!
 * What do we do?

Trivia

 * The word "Yari" from the name of the mini-sub means "spear" in Japanese.
 * The Yari mini-subs are based on the Japanese midget submarines and the Kaiten human-steered torpedoes used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Pacific War.
 * The Mini-sub's Last Voyage ability can damage a small radius around the explosion, making grouped units an obvious target.
 * If the Yari is ordered to kamikaze itself to an enemy unit but fails (The target unit is already destroyed by the time the Yari reaches it), the Yari will now move at twice its speed.