Black Eagle

The Black Eagle is an Allied fighter/bomber in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge, and is only available to Korea as a country-specific unit, replacing the Harrier.

Background
Korean aeronautical engineers sought to replace the under-armored Harrier used by the rest of the Allied nations with an indigenous design, emphasizing both survivability and firepower, while maintaining the flexibility of VTOL technology and a high speed. The result was the advanced Black Eagle jet.

According to the render, this plane is an advanced twin-engine VTOL two-seat fighter-bomber designed with forward-swept wing configuration and a characteristic black job, which was used by their crews to distinguish "Korea's Finest" from the other Korean/Allied pilots. Its avionics and weapons systems were state of the art. To increase survivability, heavy armor was incorporated into the plane, providing the level of protection needed for attacks on heavily defended Soviet facilities at a negligible cost of speed. Improved Maverick II missiles, which have a larger explosive, were equipped on these units, making them ideal to attack not only armor and vehicles but structures as well. Because of the forward-swept wings, twin engine design, advanced avionics and heavy armor, the Black Eagle was far more technologically advanced than the Harrier used by the rest of the Allies, but thanks to efficient Korean research, development and production techniques, the jet maintained the same production cost as the Harrier it replaced.

Thanks to its upgraded missiles, the Black Eagle was very effective at destroying armor, as two or even one unit could the destroy most conventional tanks. Its advanced construction and armor makes it able to resist 4-6 Patriot Missiles, compared to the mere 2 missiles required to take a Harrier out of the sky. However, massed triple A positions were a serious threat, making attacks on the heart of an exceptionally well-defended enemy base difficult. Still, Korean commanders could rely on these jets and their crews to attack reasonably defended targets and still survive to return to base, something that the Harrier employed by the rest of the Allied countries could not claim.

It was erased from the timeline after the Soviets meddled with the space-time continuum.

Usage
Black Eagles are useful in most combat situations except for air-to-air engagements, hence its status as a heavy fighter-bomber. They can attack every target on the ground and eight can take out just about any structures. In Elite status, four will suffice, though losses can be expected. To avoid these losses, some lucky Korean commanders who had captured a Soviet base used the powers of the Iron Curtain to make their Elite jets invulnerable, therefore making them almost unstoppable. They were best known for their role in eliminating Yuri's Cloning Vats in Australia.

Black Eagles in squadrons of four to ten make for excellent harassment and raiding. They can also be used to intercept armour columns before they reach a base or destroy enemy ore miners in seconds. Their survivability is much better than Harriers, and if Elite, a Black Eagle can stand almost the same amount of Patriot missiles as the Paradrop C-130 before falling from the sky (likely 6 missiles).

Counters
It may be a large improvement over the standard Harriers, but it is still vulnerable to anti-air defenses, albeit to a lesser degree. The Gattling weapons in Yuri's arsenal are particularly effective. Other weapons that can destroy Black Eagles include large amounts of flak cannons or Patriot missile systems.

When selected

 * Aircraft reporting.
 * Standing by.
 * At your service.
 * Black Eagle reporting.
 * Eagle squadron.
 * Korea's finest!

When moving

 * Command received.
 * In transit.
 * Calibrating airspeed.

When ordered to attack

 * Gunner in position.
 * Easy target.
 * Let's take 'em out!

When crashing

 * Eject! Eject!
 * Bail out!
 * We're going down!

Cameos
Alpha cameo:

In order: English/German, French, Korean, Chinese.

Trivia

 * The aircraft looks like a "mix" of two real world designs - an American F/A-18D Hornet fighter-bomber and Russian Su-47 Berkut experimental fighter. The design combines the forward-swept wing and two-seat cockpit section from the F/A-18D with the inverted wings and black colour of the Su-47. Upon closer inspection, it seems that the aircraft from the render also borrows its vertical stabilizer from the Lockheed Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon.
 * In real life, few aircraft featuring forward-swept wings exist. These possess extraordinary agility, but at the cost of the wings being more fragile. Only two fighters ever employed this configuration, namely the American X-29A and the Russian Su-47. Both designs were constructed as prototypes and were tested extensively, but never reached the production lines. The RA2 Black Eagle combines forward-swept wings with VTOL technology, which is an almost impossible marvel in the real world, considering the instability and fragility of the design.
 * In real life, the Republic of Korea Air Force does use F-15K Strike Eagles as its main strike fighter. However, the Black Eagles depicted in the game bear no resemblance to the real F-15K Strike Eagle.
 * In real life, the Republic of Korea Air Force has a aerobatic squadron named the "Black Eagles", formally known as The 53rd Air Demonstration Group. Its aircraft inventory consists of South Korean-made T-50 Golden Eagles.
 * Sometimes, there is a glitch which involves Black Eagles not returning to their own Airforce Command Headquarters, instead remaining hovering in a position near their latest target until they are shot down or if their faction is defeated. They will not crash even if any remaining Airforce Command HQs are destroyed.
 * The Black Eagle is voiced by Gustavo Rex, who also voiced the Terrorist, French Newscaster and Cuban taunts in multiplayer.