Diplomat Heavy Tank

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Diplomat Heavy Tank 1
Faction	Allied Nations
Capacity	2: 1 driver / main gunner 1 secondary gunner
Armament	1 x 105mm Rifled Gun 1 x Coaxial .50 caliber heavy machine gun 1 x 7.62mm minigun
Ammunition	42 x 105mm sabot shells 300 x .50 caliber BMG rounds 2000 x 7.62mm minigun rounds
Armor	Strong (type 3)
Speed	Average

Diplomat Heavy Tank 2
Faction	Allied Nations
Capacity	2: 1 driver / main gunner 1 secondary gunner
Armament	1 x Rifled Rail Gun 1 x Coaxial .50 caliber heavy machine gun 1 x 7.62mm minigun 2 x TOW missile launchers
Ammunition	45 x sabot shells 600 x .50 caliber BMG rounds ? x 7.62mm minigun rounds 12 x Anti-tank missiles
Armor	Strong (type 3)
Speed	Average

"Cover me! I'm going for that badass tank!" —Soldiers from all factions

The Diplomat Heavy Tank is the Allied Nations' heavy and only tank in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Overview

Diplomat Heavy Tank icon

"Weighting in at nearly 70 tons, this modern behemoth has super-heavy armor and enough firepower to level a city on its own. The 105mm cannon fires sabot rounds which are particularly effective against enemy armor."

— Stockpile caption

The Diplomat is equal to the Chinese Iron Mountain Heavy Tank in armor and in damage output from the main gun. The Iron Mountain Tank cost less fuel at 220 gallons, while the Diplomat costs more fuel at 240 gallons. 

This tank moves more quickly than most others, and can travel up anything but a vertical surface while maintaining a decent amount of speed to work with. It can actually run over and destroy almost any vehicle smaller or shorter, even another Iron Mountain or Diplomat tank if the player manages to run it over. The tank can run into or over anything, even at top speed, and take no damage. (That is, excepting IED's, landmines, and airstrikes.) Bullets, including heavy machine gun bullets and anti-material rifles, will also do absolutely zero percent damage to the tank. However; like most vehicles, this tank has weaker rear armor; a shot from another heavy tank will destroy it.

This is the only tank in the game with a minigun. The armor of the Diplomat may be tough but getting caught in the blast of a Fuel Air RPG will destroy the tank. Do not hold this against it, however, as a Fuel Air RPG blast can destroy literally any vehicle. It is difficult to hijack a Diplomat because the player needs to press the corresponding button shown while wrestling a grenade from the driver very fast.

Its advantage over the Iron Mountain Heavy Tank is increased speed of movement but at the cost of a larger profile. Making it easier and harder to hit in two different ways. However, the Diplomat's higher profile allows it to bulldoze its way over anything, unlike the Iron Mountain, which gets stuck getting over wall rubble.

This tank is not hard to destroy, two blocks of C-4 are actually enough to set the engine on fire, thus disabling the tank.

Tactics

Fuel air explosions are probably the deadliest things a Diplomat will encounter; should you be in an area with large amounts of fuel air launchers, it is advised to never stop moving. The Diplomat is fast enough to be hit by the initial rocket, and speed away before the explosion. Trying to reverse out of the cloud or turn away will result in the destruction of the tank. In terms of fire power, the Diplomat's cannon fires sabot rounds which should have more power than the Iron Mountain tanks' 125 mm gun which fires HEAT round, while in game there seems to be no difference. The main gun fires shells at an extreme velocity. They hit almost instantaneously upon firing. The damage each shell does is massive. It will one-shot any other tank in the game save the Iron Mountain Heavy Tank. They are vulnerable to attack helicopters with AT-missiles or rockets, if they are not taken out quickly, they will easily wreck any type of opposition. Do not expose the rear of the tank to incoming fire to prolong survivability. It will take extra damage if hit in the rear. The main gun fires shells at an extreme velocity.

Armor and Damage

The armor of the Diplomat can withstand (damage % is rounded to nearest multiple of 5 or 0.5):

• 1 fuel air explosion (100%+)
• 1 IED (only in 'Medusplosion') (100%+)
• 2 shots Iron Mountain Heavy Tank/Diplomat Heavy Tank rounds (70% damage, 100%+ when hitting the rear)
• 2 C-4s (45% damage when 2 are detonated at the same time, 2 separate explosions inflict 100%, damage is not multiplied when placed on the rear)
• 4 Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ie: helicopter/Urban Commando launched ATGM) (30% damage)
• 4 Anti-Tank Missiles (SMAW)(30% damage)
• 7 RPG/helicopter rockets/light tank/105mm artillery rounds (15% damage)
• 200 25mm cannon strikes (160+ impacts will set the engine on fire, 0.5% damage per hit, 2% damage if hit on the rear)

Blow it Up Again

In the Mercs Blitz mission from the Blow It Up Again DLC pack (and only in this mission), the player drives an upgraded version of the Diplomat with a railgun cannon, covered 7.62mm Minigun and twin TOW launchers. Another feature is a mounted "plowing" barrier. It is upgraded with more speed, but just like all tanks, the weak point is the rear.

Locations

• Two will appear patrolling near three Chinese Destruction Bounties in the Caracas Estates area. These spawn points will disappear when the targets are destroyed.
• One is parked next to the road near an Allied High Value Target, south of the Allied HQ. It is thought that verifying the target will make the Diplomat's spawn point disappear.
• May be found at other unspecified high value targets.
• Unlocked for purchase after completing all 24 Allied Destruction Bounties, and can be bought from any Allied contact.
• Some of them can be found along the route of China's Last in Line activity. They can be kept by finishing the activity then going back to them. It is untested whether it will work if you intentionally fail the activity.

Real Life

The Diplomat is based on the M1A2 Abrams main battle tank with the M1A2 TUSK (Tank Urban Survival Kit) add-on armor kit, as shown by the square shaped bricks on the side of the tank which are the Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) bricks. However, the 105MM gun indicates it to be modified from a reserve M1 Abrams or a new export model entirely.

Gallery

Trivia

• On the main cannon, the words "The 4th Horseman" can be seen printed on. This refers to the "Four horsemen of the apocalypse," the 4th horseman was known as Death, a fitting name for the Diplomat due to it being able to destroy almost anything in the game.
• The name of the Diplomat is quite ironic due to the fact that a diplomat is someone who negotiates arguments peacefully while the main job of the in-game Diplomat is to destroy heavy targets with pure force.
• Despite the description claiming that the Diplomat is firing sabot rounds, the rounds are still as explosive as any other HEAT rounds fired by any other tank.
• There is a glitch for every tank which you can drive your tank in underwater. (This works for PS2 version, unknown if this works for PS3 or PC, does not work on Xbox 360.)The trick is to submerge the player while driving the tank, but when underwater you must drive it backward. While underwater do not bail out of the tank or it will surface.
• It can get run over and destroyed by a Sundered Dragonfly IFV if the main gun is not blocking the front.
• It should be noted that the captions in game mention the Diplomat has a 105mm gun when in real life, the M1A2 Abrams carries a 120mm gun.
• It has some visual, but unusable, smoke grenade dischargers on either side of the turret.

See Also

• Iron Mountain Heavy Tank - People's Liberation Army counterpart.
• Jaguar Heavy Tank - Venezuelan Army counterpart.
• M1 Tank - Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction iteration.