Iron Dove Heavy AA

The Iron Dove Heavy AA is an self-propelled anti-air and surface-to-air missile tank used by the People's Liberation Army featured in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Overview


"The biggest, baddest anti-air vehicle you can find in Venezuela, this Chinese tank has solid armor, surface-to-air missiles, and quad-linked autocannon."

- Stockpile caption

The Iron Dove Heavy AA combines a light tank chassis (armor wise) with a small but threatening air defence turret. While technically it is meant for Anti-Aircraft purposes, the Iron Dove is extremely effective against infantry and light vehicles. One short burst from the 20mm cannon can take out a small squad.

It is also worth noting that the Surface-to-Air Missiles can be fired without locking on and can be fired at whatever the player chooses in a pinch; however they are not anywhere near as effective on ground vehicles as they are on aircraft.

As far as AA platforms go, this (besides possibly the Mosquito AA) one is the most armored. Largely found in Chinese bases, be it the HQ, some HVTs proximity and on Isla de Margarita. It is the most common Anti-Air Vehicle in the game; it makes a hostile approach of the PLA Head Quarters proximity almost impossible by air.

When a hostile unit gets in range of this Heavy AA, it will send a continuous burst of AA shells in that direction and also fire SAMs if the target is an air unit.

It can be purchased from the PLA shop.

Tactics
As previously mentioned, the 20mm cannons are extremely effective against infantry, including the player. A burst approximately half a second long can drop the player down to 3% health. Despite its incredible ability for crowd control, its 20mm AA cannons are unable to damage a vehicle of armor type 3 or above. However the power of the quadruple guns is actually able to slow down or even stop ground vehicles (for whatever good that might do). If the player is not careful, the ammunition on this vehicle will get used up quite fast due to the limited amount of SAM and the insanely fast rate of fire of its AA cannons.

For a vehicle of its power it is relatively easy to hijack. On the battlefield, it is extremely effective at strafing at a distance. Up close it is very vulnerable to any kind of anti-tank weapon (RPGs, Missiles, Recoilless rifles) and its type 3 armor is not grenade resistant. It is advisable to keep out of close combat situations and stick to open terrain for maximum effectiveness. Like most land vehicles, the rear is a weak point on this vehicle, so face the front armor towards the enemy at all times.

This vehicle's weaponry is almost impossible to dodge by most helicopters. However, it is usually easy to spot this vehicle from a distance as it shows up as a SAM diamond and can be locked on by anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM).

Real life
The Iron Dove Heavy AA is based on the Type 95 SPAAA.

Trivia

 * The quadruple 20mm AA cannons can lift pieces of debris off the ground with sustained fire.