Kirov Airship

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Kirov Airship
Unit
Faction	Soviet Union
Role	Bombardment
Armament	FAB-1500 bombs
Tier	3
Tech level	10
Properties
Hit points	2000
Armor type	Medium Aircraft
Speed	9 (flying)
Turn rate	3
Sight radius	8
Production
Cost	$2400
Estimated build time	1:26
Built at	Soviet War Factory
Requires	Palace Battle Lab Atomheart
Combat
Ground	375-187.5 Main attack: 100% vs. all infantry armor types and Drone 85% vs. (Big) Light Structure and ((Very) Big) Defensive Structure 70% vs. Light 55% vs. (Big) Heavy Structure 35% vs. Medium/Harvester and Heavy Death explosion: 100% vs. all infantry armor types and Drone 85% vs. (Big) Light Structure 75% vs. ((Very) Big) Defensive Structure 70% vs. Light 50% vs. (Big) Heavy Structure 35% vs. Medium/Harvester and Heavy
Cooldown	45 frames (3 in-game seconds)
Range	1, radius 2
Function
Veteran bonus	+40% armor
Elite bonus	+40% firepower +25% speed
Notes	Self-repair Has 5 ammunition Each ammunition takes 50 frames (3.3 in-game seconds) (60 frames (4 in-game seconds) when empty) to reload Causes 210-105 damage in a radius of 2 at where the Kirov Airship crashes when shot down
Miscellaneous
Artist(s)	Azri_Apoc

“	Kirov reporting.	”
	—Kirov Airship

The Kirov Airship is the most iconic Soviet unit, which is a slow-moving zeppelin capable of causing mass destruction and are also tough to boot.

Official description

Kirovs, named after the great general of the Second Great War Sergei Kirov, are an iconic image recognized by all. Slow, powerful and incredibly durable, these blimps represent the overwhelming firepower and intimidating presence of the Soviet Union. A fleet of Kirovs is often a sign of impending doom for any commander. Only mass amounts of heavy anti-aircraft fire is capable of downing these blimps. Their role in the invasion of the United States brought a quick success in favor of the Soviets.

Overview

For a detailed list of changes from the original game, click here.

With an endless supply of bombs and painfully slow top speed, the Kirov Airship is almost exactly the same as in vanilla Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge (except for the increased cost and more importantly, the lack of an announcement of its arrival on the battlefield), and is the most powerful air unit in the Soviet arsenal - and also the slowest. The Kirov drops highly destructive bombs directly onto its targets to annihilate anything below, and its nigh impregnable armour can soak up a large deal of punishment.

The main purpose of the Kirov is base destruction. Its bombs are so powerful it will take only two to three to destroy the most well-armoured structures, and a single Kirov can raze an entire base within seconds if left unattended. It's ineffective, however, against anything that moves, as even the slowest ground units can just simply walk or drive away from under it. The Kirov is also unsuitable for a defensive role, as it's way to slow to intercept attackers and its bombs are quite likely to damage your own forces.

The main drawback of the Kirov Airship is its awful speed. Coupled with the point-blank range of its only weapon, the Kirov is utterly helpless against any mobile anti-air resistance, especially from other air units. While its tough armour can buy it some time, if intercepted en route the Kirov will likely not make it into the enemy base. Thus, it's a good idea to always escort it with other units. A strike force could be used to quickly destroy anti-air units or defenses before the Kirov's arrival, leaving the enemy base helpless.

Against an unaware player the Kirov can be used in mischievous ways, such as sneaking in one through an undefended part of their base. This will give the Kirov enough time to take out key buildings and severely cripple, if not outright eliminate, the enemy.

The Kirov Airship can also be used as a psychological weapon. An unprepared opponent might panic and scramble to stop the Kirov from approaching their base upon detecting it, distracting them and potentially making them waste resources on anti-air defenses.

AI behaviors

Kirovs controlled by the AI has the following attack patterns:

Easy

• 2x targeting the closest structure/defense

Medium/Hard

• 1x targeting power plants
• 1x targeting special defenses (Gap Generator, Iron Guard, Signal Inhibitor and Plasmerizer)
• 2x targeting the closest structure/defense

Hard

• 2x targeting offensive superweapons (including Fake Psychic Dominator)

Appearances

“	Holy...! Where'd those things come from?!	”
	—An Allied soldier witnessing Kirov Airships during Operation: Red Dawn Rising

Act One

• Kirovs open the Russian invasion of the United States, being both a controllable unit in Bleed Red and an enemy unit in Red Dawn Rising.
• In Peace Treaty, several Kirov Airships will be given to player after Psychic Beacon is built. Player(s) are also available to use limited numbers of Kirov Airships in Lights Out and Death From Above.
• Kirov Airship becomes buildable in Think Different. For the other Soviets, it becomes buildable in Dragonstorm.
• In The Lunatic, the Russians use an unmanned, remote-controlled Kirov to destroy a Psychic Beacon mind-controlling Chinese forces near it. Volkov and Chitzkoi must escort the Kirov past Chinese lines until it can reach the Psychic Beacon, at which point it'll be detonated, crashing down and destroying the Psychic Beacon.

Act Two

• In Juggernaut, it is notable that when the enemy's waves advance halfway, several Kirov Airships will enter the battlefield from the right side of the map and attempt to attack the Congress.
• In Power Hunger, Kirovs are unavailable to both the player's Russian forces, although the Latin Confederation ally and enemy Chinese forces still uses them.
• Kirovs are notably absent in Earthrise, due to not being adapted to the low gravity and lack of atmosphere of the Moon.

Assessment

Pros	Cons
Highly effective against structures. Extremely durable. Unimaginable power in large numbers. Deadly if combined with Scud Launchers and Dreadnoughts since the Kirov can distract anti-air defenses. Causes heavy damage when it crashes down to earth. Practically a guaranteed victory if deployed in large enough numbers. Can self-repair.	Extremely slow. Very expensive ($2400), but can be reduced by Industrial Plant so it becomes less expensive ($1800). Vulnerable to air-to-air and hit-and-run harassment. Can only target ground units directly below. Bombs may cause friendly fire. Vulnerable to massed anti-air defenses and Tier-3 anti-aircraft units.

See also

• Kirov Command Airship

External links

• Kirov Airship in the Command & Conquer Wiki