M1027 Anti-Air

The M1027 Anti-Air is an Allied Nations mobile anti-air vehicle featured in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.

Overview
The M1027 Anti-Air is the only anti-air vehicle used by the AN in Mercenaries 1. It is built upon the same chassis as the M1025 Scout and therefore has the same speed, armor and control. The only major differences is the armament and seating capacity.

The machine gun of the M1025 has now been replaced with a large gunner operated anti-air missile launcher capable of firing eight surface-to-air (SAM) missiles.

One can be found south of the AN HQ in the Southern Province. Two can be found across from the back way into Ichon. They appear when you begin the AN contract 'Downed Bird in Enemy Nest' and remain, at least, until you take on the Ace of Diamonds.

In the Northern Province, several M1027 Anti-Air can be found at the Allied MASH as well as the AN HQ.

It can be unlocked in the Merchant of Menace by completing '106 Miles to Sinuiju'.

Tactics
The M1027 is an offense-oriented, second-line, fire-support air defense artillery platform; it is meant to destroy enemy helicopters and fixed wing aircraft from behind the immediate front lines. In comparison to other anti-air vehicles in the game, the M1027 is fast, light-weight, and can negotiate difficult terrain well. Its status as the fastest anti-air vehicle in the game comes at the price of it being a soft-skinned vehicle with no real armor; an M1027 is unable to withstand the punishment of front-line combat and cannot defend itself against ground targets, featuring only its anti-air missiles as weapons. In addition to lacking anything but the lightest of vehicle armor, the M1027 features no weaponry whatsoever apart from its guided anti-air missiles. If attacked up close by anything from infantry to tanks, the M1027 will be helpless and unable to defend itself, forcing the crew to flee, abandon the vehicle, or dismount and attempt to fight on foot- none of which are especially attractive options.

The M1027 anti-air is not NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) shielded, so it cannot drive inside nuclear contaminated areas without harm to its crew. That consists of driver, gunner, and a passenger sitting in the cab beside the driver.

Unless the turret is manned by a gunner, the driver will have to stop the M1027 to fire its missiles. The missiles must acquire a lock before firing, and this takes a few seconds. Flights of jet aircraft passing overhead occasionally travel too fast for either the player or an NPC to lock and fire on, so the M1027, like all anti-air vehicles, is really usable only against helicopters, a role at which it excels.

Real life
The M1027 Anti-Air is based on the United States Armed Forces' mobile air defense missile system, the AN/TWQ-1 Avenger. The Messenger SAM in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is also based on this vehicle.

The M1027 resembles the M1025 scout closely, in both name and designation, for a reason; both are based off the real-life HMMWV; High-Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle, commonly known as the Humvee. The "pickup truck" variant of the HMMWV has been used to mount the AN/TWQ-1 Avenger missile system since the Avenger's introduction in 1989.

The real-life "Avenger" Humvees fire FIM-92 Stinger anti-air missiles. They also mount a .50-caliber M3P machine gun as secondary armament, something that is not included on the M1027 in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.

Trivia

 * In the PlayStation 2 version of World in Flames the M1027 Anti-Air re-appears under the moniker of the Archer Gun Truck.