| “ | Prepared for signal distortion. - ECM Tank leaving the War Factory |
” |
China developed the E.C.M. (Electronic Counter Measures) Tank to support its attacking tank legions. It utilizes a soft-kill jammer designed to deflect incoming projectiles in a small radius around the vehicle. It can also paralyze ground vehicles with a directed beam.
Background[]
| “ | Missiles won't get through. - ECM Tank |
” |
This vehicle-based suite of electronic countermeasures protects advancing Chinese columns. A multi-frequency jammer effectively disrupts guided missile and rocket attacks, which can cause them to miss their targets. Its directed beam can also disable the electronics of all ground vehicles.[1]
Game unit[]
| “ | They won't know what happened! - ECM Tank disabling a vehicle |
” |
Abilities[]
|
Disable Vehicle
The ECM focuses its energy into a jamming beam to deactivate another vehicle, deactivating the missile deflection as long as it is active.
|
Strategy[]
| “ | Corrupt their communications! - ECM Tank |
” |
To disable vehicles, the ECM tank had to fire a focused jamming beam from a stationary position. If it lost its focus, the targeted enemy unit would reactivate. The ECM tank was purely a support vehicle, and could not do direct damage to its target. Misdirected missiles were still live and dangerous; they could damage any nearby units. Despite these limitations, the ECM tank could offer protection from rocket attacks, especially those from rocket buggies. An ECM unit loitering near base defenses could make them very difficult for a GLA faction to take down.
Despite lacking offensive weapons, the ECM Tank is still more than capable of crushing infantry and holding off against a sole vehicle with its jammer.
Counters[]
| “ | Jam their frequencies! - ECM Tank attacking |
” |
The ECM is unable to counter missiles when paralyzing enemy vehicles, which unfortunately is a frequent occurrence as it is mixed with units that often expect action. If it ever comes under fire from enemy units, it is unlikely to survive unless its escort fights them off, especially if air units are present since it cannot target them. Non-missile projectiles, such as artillery shells, are immune to interception. Due to their sheer size, Overlord tanks and variants often required several ECMs to be fully disable. Transports that allow infantry to fire from within like the Humvee and Battle Bus can still engage targets within range despite the vehicle itself being immobilized.
Selected Quotes[]
| “ | Prepared for signal distortion. - When emerging from the War Factory |
” |
| “ | Frequency jammers on standby. - When selected |
” |
| “ | ECM Tank. - When selected |
” |
| “ | Missiles won't get through. - When selected |
” |
| “ | Emission rate steady. - When selected |
” |
| “ | Noise level set. - When moving |
” |
| “ | Inputting coordinates. - When moving |
” |
| “ | Triangulation complete. - When moving |
” |
| “ | Resetting navigation systems. - When moving |
” |
| “ | Enabling power train. - When moving |
” |
| “ | Disabling target! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
” |
| “ | Corrupt their communications! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
” |
| “ | They won't know what happened! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
” |
| “ | Shut their systems down! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
” |
| “ | Jam their frequencies! - When ordered to disable enemy vehicle |
” |
Trivia[]
- The ECM Tank apparently had a jammer which disabled all enemy drones near itself. It was probably removed because the developers noticed it causes serious issues with friendly fire, which made the effect backfire.
- Oddly enough, despite being unguided rockets in real life, the ECM Tank can deflect "missiles" fired by GLA RPG Troopers.
- In rare cases, the game would glitch and a vehicle shut down by an ECM tank would remain disabled after the tank had either switched targets or been destroyed, effectively making it a sitting duck. Exceptions are made, however, as infantry units within transport vehicles such as the Humvee, Battle Bus, and General Fai's Assault Troop Transport could still fire upon nearby threats.
- The ECM tank is loosely based on a Cold War Russian vehicle called the
SPR-1, which can jam the fuses in modern mortar rounds.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour manual. Los Angeles, California: Electronic Arts Los Angeles, 2003.
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