The dolphin is an Allied anti-ship naval unit in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge.
Background
Allied scientists realized that the intelligent dolphins would be useful as a swift underwater scout unit when properly trained, and so dolphins became part of the Allied arsenal in the fight against global communism.
Dolphins are trained from Naval shipyards, where they can also be healed.
Usage
| “ | Intelligence informed me that effective countermeasures involves specially-trained dolphins which are now at your disposal. What's next, killer whales? - Eva |
” |
Being no larger than any other sea animal (less than 15 feet long and weighing less than 1500 lbs), dolphins are basically invisible to radar and sonar, until they get close enough to an enemy unit for them to discern the idiosyncrasies of the dolphin. Due to their natural ability for echolocation, the Allies managed to fit the dolphins with equipment that would amplify the sonar pulses enough to damage Soviet craft.
These attacks were particularly effective against the Soviet Giant Squid, due to the squids' natural sensitivity to water-based vibrations. The focused sonic attacks of the dolphins caused the squids considerable pain. The squid, disoriented, would release its grasp on any ship it might be holding captive at the time.
Dolphins were also highly effective in groups, as their sonic pulses could damage multiple targets at once. Surrounding a submarine or other naval force with dolphins tended to have a greater than 1:1 damage ratio.
The dolphins were first deployed in the Florida Keys which was a few short kilometers from Cuba when a giant squid attacked a civilian cruise ship. They rescued the ship from being torn apart and went on to harass the Soviet fleet.
Counters
The dolphins were not armored or fitted with any serious body protection, and rely on speed and stealth to survive encounters with enemy forces. The Soviets soon found that their Sea Scorpions' flak cannons are highly lethal to the dolphins. Torpedoes from Typhoon submarines also works, but rather less efficient when it comes to large schools of dolphins.
Appearance
Dolphins are first available to the player in mission Fallout.
Aftermath
It is not known to operate after the events of the Psychic Dominator Disaster. After Cherdenko's trip to 1927, the Dolphin is now capable of high jumping to avoid land attacks.
Trivia
- In real life, the military dolphin is trained for military purposes. The United States and Russian militaries have trained and employed oceanic dolphins for several reasons. Such military dolphins have been trained to rescue lost naval swimmers or to locate underwater mines.
Gallery
Manual/website render
Cameos
Alpha veteran cameo:
In order: English, French, German, Korean, Chinese.
See also
 Allied Third World War Arsenal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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