Spy Plane

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    • Like the title says, I think there should be a spy plane unit type. With all the stealth changes and now the production facility changes I think there is a clear recon role. I use planes to gather intelligence all the time and I assume other players do as well, but the best I can do is send interceptors which the enemy immediately sees. Normally that's fine, you just achieve air superiority first, then you know everything, but it would be better if there was a stealth aircraft that had poor combat capabilities but long range and high speed.

      Interceptors can already detect stealth units anyway, this would give people an incentive to maintain patrols other than defending a stack and make the air war much more interesting and consequential. It could justifiably be added to either the aircraft or secret tech trees.
    • Spite_Is_Right wrote:

      Like the title says, I think there should be a spy plane unit type. With all the stealth changes and now the production facility changes I think there is a clear recon role. I use planes to gather intelligence all the time and I assume other players do as well, but the best I can do is send interceptors which the enemy immediately sees. Normally that's fine, you just achieve air superiority first, then you know everything, but it would be better if there was a stealth aircraft that had poor combat capabilities but long range and high speed.

      Interceptors can already detect stealth units anyway, this would give people an incentive to maintain patrols other than defending a stack and make the air war much more interesting and consequential. It could justifiably be added to either the aircraft or secret tech trees.
      Yes I think that is actually a great idea. Interceptors can detect spy planes. Spy planes have low attack value but great range and viewing range.
      BeaveRyan
      Moderator
      EN Community Support | Bytro Labs Gmbh


      Training Alliance United Leader
    • VorlonFCW wrote:

      Stealth planes are a bit advanced for this time period.
      Stealth planes, as they exist in the modern lexicon, are less visible on radar. Stealth in this game refers to the detectability of a unit, ostensibly by sight. High altitude recon planes are about as detectable as a commando or tank destroyer brigade. That said, the flight ceiling of propeller aircraft is pretty limited so the technology for high altitude flight may not open up until mid/late game.
    • DoctorDR1 wrote:

      Nuclear powered ships have been removed from 1.5. As for nuclear rockets, the technology for them was developed shortly after WWII ended.
      I mean if "soon after" is the measuring stick the first nuclear rocket was the Redstone Rocket "Redstone rocket
      It's here, in a secluded corner of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, that the US Army and NASA performed critical tests during the development of the Redstone rocket. In 1958, this rocket became the first to detonate a nuclear weapon..."

      And depending on when you want to call an aircraft a "spy plane" the first would have been the U-2 in 1955:
      "The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)..."

      I think it was mentioned earlier however other aircraft were used for reconnaissance as modified aircraft and could fit in the game as having reduced offense/defense but with greater range (fuel capacity) and stealth (at least from ground units).

      It also might be noted about the nuclear rocket that while the US had the nuclear capability it wasn't until after the war and they had seized the German V2 Rocket program could the technologies come truly together. I think some creative liberty has been used thus far in this game and it is not a period role play only type of game. I personally don't think a "spy plane" is too far outside of the scope for the period, at least compared to a nuclear rocket.
    • Recon aircraft have been around since WWI, and didnt necessarily use a high flight ceiling as a means to remain undetected. Sometimes they were small aircraft like the O-57 Grasshopper. Their quiet engine and small profile helped them remain undetected. Often times, regular fighters would be modified with photography equipment, such as P-38 recon variants and relied on their speed to avoid being destroyed. Other times single bombers would be sent out, which did rely on height to avoid detection. It would be a very good idea to add these to the game, although because they were only one or two aircraft, health values could be very complicated.