Flak cannon (Red Alert 2)

The Flak Cannon is a type of Soviet anti-aircraft emplacement.

History
Following the end of the Second World War, the Allied Forces disarmed most of the Soviet Union's military arsenal as part of the peace treaty. One of these was the SAM site, which was the first anti-air missile developed in history. The puppet Premier Romanov had decided to secretly re-arm the Soviet military and, exploiting another loophole in the treaty, commissioned the development of a cheaper anti-air emplacement to repel the expanding Allied airforce.

The flak cannon ultimately replaced the of the. The weapon fired explosive shells whose blast or fragments was a hazard to aircraft in close formation. The flak cannon was so successful that the weaponry was soon used by infantry and deployed on wheels. The latter two though had the advantage of firing the flak on enemy infantry.

It was revised in the new Third World War due to the temporal manipulation of Anatoly Cherdenko. Instead of a single large cannon, the Flak Cannon used two smaller caliber Cannons with lacked the area effect of its temporal cousin but with a much higher rate of fire.

Deployment
Being the cheaper version of the SAM site, it was widely used in every deployed Soviet base. It was first seen during Eagle Dawn in case the Allies recaptured the Colorado Air Academy and used the docked Harriers against them.

In-game
The Soviet Flak Cannon is a basic form of defense against aerial units. It is extremely effective against all Allied air units, including Rocketeer. However the Flak Cannon relied on power. A severe power shortage would render the AA emplacements offline, allowing enemy air forces to launch strikes against the base without harm.

Compared to the Allied Patriot missile system, the Flak Cannon's splash damage is better at taking out clusters of targets, making it an excellent counter to Rocketeers, Harriers, and Kirov Airships, units that tend to group together before striking.

It cannot harm ground-based units, or interfere with them in any way other than potentially distracting them from attacking a more valuable target (e.g. the Construction Yard).

Cameos
Pre-release cameos, in order: alpha variant 1 (Allied), alpha variant 2, alpha variant 3.

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

Trivia

 * During early-to-mid alpha stages of Red Alert 2 development, flak cannons were also used by the Allies.
 * The flak cannon's primary role and appearence was inspired by the Nazi German 8.8cm Flugzeugabwehrkanone ("anti-aircraft cannon", abbreviated FlaK), also known as the 88, used during the Second World War, which was infamous not only as a deadly anti-air emplacement against allied aircraft, but also as a very effective anti-tank weapon. Unfortunately, the latter function is not available for the in-game Flak Cannon.