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Be Careful: We have spotted a Nuclear Missile Silo!
- GLA Advisor

The nuclear missile is China's superweapon in Command & Conquer: Generals, and its expansion, Zero Hour. It also serves as a tech building for various nuclear-related upgrades to other units.

Background[]

The Chinese special weapon, the Nuclear Missile can nearly destroy an enemy base with a single blow. While the Nuclear Missile takes time to set up and arm, its missile can destroy multiple structures and irradiate the vicinity of its detonation. It requires plenty of power to build and arm. The Uranium Shell and Nuclear Tank upgrades are developed here.[1]

History[]

Generals Chinese Nuke Launch

Nuclear missile launching

China first deployed tactical nuclear missiles during Operation: Nuclear Winter, where the PLA had entrusted a general of great tactical brilliance to drive the GLA out of Asia.

When the GLA conquered the US European Central Command in Stuttgart, Germany using captured Chinese weaponry, the Chinese government was humiliated enough to order a nuclear strike against the GLA forces that occupied the American base. They later apologised to the European leaders and restrained their use of tactical nukes until the final battle near Hamburg, where the GLA made their last stand using captured American technology.

In-game[]

Abilities[]

Generals China Nuclear Missile cameo
Nuclear Missile Launches nuclear missile.

Upgrades[]

Land Mine Land Mines Create mines around the Nuclear Missile and harm enemy that pass through. Available for all Chinese buildings except Speaker Towers for a cost of $600.
Neutron Mines Neutron Mine Upgrades the mines to the neutron mines around the Nuclear Missile and harm infantry that pass through. Kills the crew of vehicles when they pass through. Available for all Chinese buildings except Speaker Towers for a cost of $500. Requires Land mine to be installed.

Upgrades available[]

The following upgrades are available from the Nuclear Missile:

Icon Upgrade Description
Gen1 Nuclear Tanks Icons Nuclear tanks
Gen1 Uranium Shells Icons Uranium shells
ZH Neutron Shells Icons Neutron shells
  • Granted Nuke Cannons the ability to switch to Neutron Shells, eliminating all infantry (including vehicle crews) on impact
  • Zero Hour only
ZH Tactical Nuke Mig Icons Tactical Nuke MiG
  • Equipped the MIG with a far more devastating Nuclear payload
  • Tsing Shi Tao only


Counters[]

The silo was very expensive and used up a large amount of power, and it also revealed itself to all opponents. This made it (or supporting power plants) attractive targets for enemy forces, who would at all costs want to stop the weapon from being launched. Although great against vehicles and lightly defended buildings the nuclear missile was considered less effective than the Particle Cannon and SCUD Storm in the GLA Conflict, mostly due to the GLA's use of holes beneath their buildings through which personnel could be deployed to rebuild them (although the radiation would kill one or two workers off before they started).

Also notable was that the Nuclear missile was the slowest firing superweapon and as so would lose in a battle against the other weapons as well as be cautiously used in case of a opposing superweapons.

Changelog[]

Trivia[]

  • In the initial beta developments, a Neutron Missile variant of the superweapon missile was planned (possibly in General Tsing Shi Tao's arsenal), however, it didn't reach implementation into the final release of the game due to time constraints.
  • If a silo's construction is completed under low power, the countdown timer for that silo starts at 6:35 rather than the regular 6:00 (this only applies to the silo once - after first launch, the countdown timer resets to 6:00).
  • All nuclear silos built during the Generals Challenge against Tao have their countdown timers starting at 12:00 instead of the usual 6:00.
  • Strictly speaking, being above-ground, the building is not a true silo. Instead, it has a close resemblance to the early SM-65 "Atlas-D" above-ground launchers. Named "coffins", these concrete above-ground structures were designed to store the intercontinental ballistic missile horizontally and raise it vertically for fueling just before launch. This system were used to store "Atlas-D" and "Atlas-E" missiles, but with the advent of modification "Atlas-F" (which where underground silo-based), has been declared obsolete.

See also[]

China People's Republic of China First GLA War Arsenal China
China General Leang Arsenal China
Superweapons

References[]

  1. Command & Conquer: Generals manual. Los Angeles, California: Electronic Arts Pacific, 2002.
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