305 lines
12 KiB
Perl
305 lines
12 KiB
Perl
.TH Concept "Plane Types"
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.NA Plane-types "Description of different kinds of planes"
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.LV Basic
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The general plane types currently available in Empire are:
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.s1
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.NF
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fighter A general offense/defense plane. Historical examples include
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the FE.2B, the Sopwith Snipe & Camel, the Nieuport V-XVII, the
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Spad, and the Fokker planes. From WWII are the Me-109, the
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FW-190, the English Spitfire & Hurricane, the Japanese Zero,
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the American P-39, P-40, P-38, and the Soviet Yak series.
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Later planes include the Me-262, the Gloster Meteor, P-80,
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Mig-15. Korean War vintage planes are the F-87 Sabre, F-100
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SuperSabre, and the Mig-17. Vietnam Era planes are the F-4 &
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Mig-21. Later, NATO & WP models include the F-16 & F-15 and the
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Mig-23, 25, and 29.
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The main points of similarity are: 1 or 2 high performance
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engines, a single pilot, and plenty of guns/missiles. Duties
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include patrol/interception, escort, and light bombing.
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escort These are planes optimized for escorting, with superior range,
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sometimes at the expense of fighting capacity. Examples are
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the Me-110 & the P-51. Note that this type is relatively rare,
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as long range heavy bombing was rare.
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naval
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fighter These planes all sacrifice range and/or fighting power in order
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to fit on a carrier and carry the gear necessary to operate
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from one. Examples are the series of Short biplanes built in
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Britain, the Sopwith Baby & Cuckoo, the Gloster Gladiator, the
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American Wildcat & Corsair, versions of the Japanese Zero, the
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F8 Corsair, the F-4, F-14, and F-18. Many of the planes were
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multi-role, due to the relatively small plane capacity of their
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carriers. They were almost always inferior in performance to
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land fighters. Many of them carry dual engines.
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light
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bomber These planes are tactical bombers, suited for strafing, combat
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support, etc. These range from the first trench bombers, such as
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the Junkers J-I and the Sopwith Snark & Dolphin, the Ju-87
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Stuka, the American P-47, various ground-attack versions of the
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Yaks, the Japanese Val and Kate, the British Typhoon, and many
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others. Modern versions are the A-3 SkyWarrior, the A-4
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Skyhawk, the A-6 Intruder, the Su-22 Frogfoot, the Su-27, and
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various British models. A modern and most effective example is
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the A-10
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The common factors are maneuverability, the ability to take
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damage and still fly, and the ability to hit targets precisely.
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(Either through low-speed bombing, dive-bombing, or rocket or
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guided bombs/missiles) Their performance against fighters of
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any sort is poor, with few exceptions (notably the P-47, which
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was designed as a fighter, and used as a ground-attack plane
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due to its toughness) Many are naval, or have naval versions,
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since the requirements of a naval plane do not affect them as
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greatly as fighters.
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heavy
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bomber These planes are build for long range and great load-carrying
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ability, and the ability to defend themselves against fighters.
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(Although that never worked more than middling well) Examples
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are the Handley-Paige bombers of WWI (especially the O/400), the
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German Gothas and Giants, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24
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Liberator, the B-29 SuperFortress, the Avro Lancaster, the Short
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Sterling, and the Vickers Wellington, as well as the more modern
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B-36, B-47, B-50, B-52, B-1, and the Soviet Ant-4, Tu-20 Bear,
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Tu-2? Backfire, and others.
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The common factors are the extreme range, the ability to carry
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several tons of bombs, the wide range of defensive armament, and
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four engines.
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medium
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bombers These were basically an intermediate stage between the light &
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heavy bomber, and were used for both purposes. Examples are the
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He-111, the Do-17, the B-25 Mitchell, B-26 Marauder, the A-20
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Havoc, the Avro Manchester, Armstrong Whitworth Whitely, the
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Russian Il-4 & I-15, and the Japanese Betty & Sally.
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These planes were essentially compromises, and were phased out
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as time went on. They could not bomb as precisely as a light
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bomber, nor as heavily as a heavy bomber.
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transports
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Initially, these were basically similar to civilian airliners.
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They could carry supplies or troops. (In Norway, the Germans
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captured airports and flew in troops) Later, they were used for
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paratroop landings. Eventually paratrooping became too dangerous
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for these planes (with the introduction of SAMs) and they were
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replaced by helicopter assault, with the transports going back
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to carrying supplies and equipment.
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transport
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helicopters
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These were made to transport assault troops. They also carry
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supplies & wounded, but their main duty was to deliver troops
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with greater precision, rapidity, safety, and cohesion than was
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possible with paratrooping. (They were also to replace the
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landing craft, as the Marines looked at the odds of an invasion
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fleet standing up to nukes)
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attack
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helicopters
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These supplement the light bombers, and specialize in the very
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precise application of firepower, as well as evading
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interception, by use of terrain.
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recon
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planes &
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satellites
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These provide precise information about enemy troop dispositions
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and movements. The first recon planes had no protection. Then,
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it was attempted to make them un-interceptable. This was done by
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simply being faster than anything the enemy had, such as the
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stripped down British Hurricanes, US P-38's & P-51's, or German
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FW-190's or Blitz-Bombers. Later, emphasis shifter to also being
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able to fly higher, as with the U-2 & SR-71. These planes are
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largely superseded by satellites now (for good or ill).
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SSMs
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& ICBMs
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The first SSMs were used as strategic harassing weapons, and
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were almost useless. (German V-1 & V-2) There were also combat
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rockets, such as the Russian Katayusha's and the German
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Nebelwerfers, but these were essentially similar to artillery.
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The first true SSMs were the Russian missiles in the 1950's,
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such as the Frog. They were intended to deliver nuclear or
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chemical warheads at medium ranges, and to be un-interceptable.
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Later missiles increase payload & range.
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However, since we've artificially restricted the blast effects
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of nuclear weapons, I am merging these in with tactical
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missiles. (no need for an ICBM unless you've got big nukes)
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marine
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missiles
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These are modern smart-missiles. They are naval weapons, such
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as the Harpoon, Penguin, Exocet. They are accurate missiles which
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may be launched at ships.
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SAMs
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The first sams were nuclear-tipped, and intended to break up
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large attacking bomber forces. Later, they were made smaller
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and more accurate, and were intended to hit single targets
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at any speed or altitude.
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ABMs These are to shoot down missiles, and are mostly fantasy.
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ASW
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planes These are either long-range bomber type aircraft, with some
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sort of equipment for locating & killing submarines, or also
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helicopters, able to fly from most naval vessels.
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.FI
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.s1
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These plane types differ in their fundamental capabilities;
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some can fly bombing missions,
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other carry cargo, others exist to shoot down other planes.
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Missiles are special;
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they are planes which fly one-way missions
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and cannot be shot down by opposing planes.
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.s1
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The technology level at which the plane was built is very important.
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The same model plane built at a higher tech level
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will outperform the planes built at a lower tech level.
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.s1
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The particular planes available and their attributes
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are given by the show command.
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The fields given in the output are as follows.
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For building:
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.sp 1
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.in \w'avail\0\0'u
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.L lcm
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the amount of lcm to build the unit,
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.L hcm
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the amount of hcm to build the unit,
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.L crew
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the number of military this plane has as crew
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.L avail
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the amount of avail used to build this plane
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.L tech
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minimum tech level to build this unit,
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.L $
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cost of the unit in dollars,
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.s1
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.in
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For the stats report the fields are:
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.s1
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.in \w'stealth\0\0'u
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.L acc
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bomb accuracy, low is best; a 0 accuracy implies no ability.
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.L load
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bomb load/cargo capacity.
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.L att
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air-to-air combat attack rating (reduced by low eff, can't go below 1/2 of base).
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.L def
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air-to-air combat defense rating (reduced by low eff, can't go below 1/2 of base).
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.L ran
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base range (in sectors).
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.L fuel
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amount of fuel used each trip.
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.L stealth
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the percentage chance this plane has of evading detection
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.in
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.s1
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The abilities are given as a set of attributes for each plane.
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These include:
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.s1
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.in \w'half-stealth\0\0'u
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.L tactical
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Pinpoint bombing ability. Can be put on interdiction and support
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missions. Tactical missiles may be launched at sectors unless they
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have "marine" ability in which case they may only be fired at ships.
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.L bomber
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strategic bombing ability
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.L intercept
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Interception and escort ability. May be put on escort or air defense missions.
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.L cargo
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cargo-carrying ability
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.L VTOL
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vertical take-off ability -- no need to use airports
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.L missile
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missile -- one shot, can be launched (see info launch). "marine"
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missiles may only be fired at ships, "tactical" missiles which don't
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have "marine" capability may only be fired at sectors.
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.L light
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light, can land on carriers or be carried on a submarine
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.L spy
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spy ability, for recon missions (see info recon, info bomb, info satellite)
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.L image
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full imaging capability - satellites with this ability show much more
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(see info satellite)
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.L satellite
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a satellite - stays in orbit until shot down
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.L SDI
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Intercepts tactical missiles.
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.L x-light
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xtra-light, can be carried and used on any ship or land unit with a non-zero
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xl capacity. (see info Ship-types)
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.L helo
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ship-helicopter, can be carried and used on any ship with a non-zero
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hl capacity. (see info Ship-types)
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.L ASW
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Has ASW (anti-submarine warfare) ability. May use sonar & bomb subs.
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.L para
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may be used to paratroop
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.L escort
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Escort ability only. May be put on escort missions.
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.L mine
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Can lay mines (see info mine).
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.L sweep
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Can sweep mines (see info sweep).
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.L marine
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Missiles with this ability may only be launched at ships.
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.in
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.s1
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Each plane has a stealth rating. The
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stealth rating of a group of planes is that of the plane with the LOWEST
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rating.
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.sp 1
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As an example of the output
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.EX show plane build
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.NF
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lcm hcm crew avail tech $
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Zeppelin 6 2 3 6 70 $1000
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f1 fighter 1 8 2 1 7 90 $400
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lb1 lt bomber 1 10 3 1 9 100 $550
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nf1 naval fighter 1 8 2 1 7 100 $500
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hb1 hvy bomber 1 20 6 2 17 110 $1100
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as1 anti-sub plane 1 10 3 2 9 110 $550
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f2 fighter 2 9 3 1 8 150 $600
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es escort 9 3 1 8 150 $700
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.FI
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.s1
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.EX show plane stats
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.NF
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acc load att def ran fuel stlth
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Zeppelin 60 2 0 -3 15 2 0%
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f1 fighter 1 90 1 3 2 7 1 0%
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lb1 lt bomber 1 50 2 1 2 7 1 0%
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nf1 naval fighter 1 80 1 2 2 7 1 0%
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hb1 hvy bomber 1 90 5 1 3 15 2 0%
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as1 anti-sub plane 1 85 2 1 2 15 2 0%
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f2 fighter 2 60 1 6 4 9 1 0%
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es escort 60 1 4 5 15 2 0%
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.FI
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.s1
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.EX show plane cap
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.NF
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capabilities
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Zeppelin tactical cargo VTOL spy
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f1 fighter 1 tactical intercept VTOL
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lb1 lt bomber 1 bomber tactical VTOL
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nf1 naval fighter 1 tactical intercept light
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hb1 hvy bomber 1 bomber
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as1 anti-sub plane 1 tactical ASW
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f2 fighter 2 tactical intercept
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es escort tactical escort
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.FI
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.SA "fly, build, show, Planes"
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