Akula sub

The Akula (meaning "shark" in Russian) was a class of Soviet attack submarines in service during the Third World War. The Akula is armed exclusively with torpedoes and specializes in anti-ship operations. These torpedoes are an improvement over early designs as they have a sophisticated tracking system to ensure a hit on enemy vessels.
==Background==
The Akula has two pairs of torpedo tubes protruding out the front, from which normal torpedoes and ultra-torpedoes are fired, respectively. Normal torpedoes are fired one at a time in short sequence while both ultra-torpedoes are fired at the same time. The Akula also features rather heavy armor, making it one of the best-protected vessels in the Soviet Navy, second only to the Dreadnought. To produce the Akula submarine, Soviet Commanders must have already built a Super Reactor. The Akula must surface to fire its normal torpedoes (even when firing at other submarines), but otherwise stays submerged, even when under attack.
Despite the expensive cost of building an Akula Sub, its naval existence and purpose will be well paid off, with its additional weapon: the Ultra-Torpedoes - the Akula Sub's special, yet dreaded naval weapon. These are fast-accelerating torpedoes that lack guidance systems but pack extremely powerful explosives. They can only move in a straight line and will keep on moving until they hit land, a structure, or a unit (be it friend or foe). The recharge time for the ultra-torpedoes is considerable and this ability should be used strategically. They are highly effective against structures and slow-moving units such as Aircraft Carriers. One tactic used by Soviet commanders, is to fire one salvo of regular torpedoes, and since the submarine lines up with the target, the ultra-torpedoes are much more accurate when they are fired.
Alternatively, if the enemy has no submarine defense, the ultra-torpedoes can be used in a sort of building sniper maneuver, by placing the Akula in "hold fire" mode (thus preventing it from automatically surfacing) and then launching the ultra-torpedoes at a high-value target. Since the Akula does not need to surface in order to fire the ultra-torpedoes, this is extremely effective at killing off outlying power plants, or even better, base defenses, without fear of retaliation. The ultra-torpedoes also have incredible range (technically infinite, as long as they don't hit anything), so if the player's aim is good enough, they can do this far enough away from the target as to be even outside of his enemy's sight, leaving them short a power plant and clueless as to what killed it. In serious competitive play, this has a very big psychological impact on most opponents.
==Abilities==
	Ultra-Torpedoes	Fires two non-homing torpedoes that deal significantly more damage with a long reload time.
==Game unit==
The Akula Submarine is more capable of dispatching naval enemies than the Allied assault destroyer on a one-on-one basis, and is capable of defeating a Naginata cruiser if it uses its Ultra-torpedoes, though one must be wary of the Naginata Cruiser's more powerful version of the Ultra-torpedoes: the Type-S Torpedoes. It is only capable of attacking naval vessels and is somewhat more vulnerable to large numbers of enemies than the Naginata, which has the Type-S Torpedo special attack and a higher rate of fire. All Akula Subs must surface to fire and the time it takes to surface also results in a significant pre-attack delay. Aside from being scout units- they are excellent killers of important ships. While submerged, they are invulnerable to most weapons (launched from base defenses or vehicles)- except advanced base defenses, torpedoes, the Allies Assault Destroyer's main gun, and rogue Soviet Terror Drones. As with the Naginata's Type-S, care must be taken when using the ultra-torpedoes, lest they incur friendly fire. The Akula is best used in 'wolf-packs' of up to 6 submarines; they work exceptionally well as an escort to the Dreadnought.
==Changelog==
* Red Alert 3 patch 1.05: now easier to target when surfacing to fire
==Quotes==
===Creater===
*Akula Sub, ready for the deep!
*Akula Sub, on the hunt!
===Select===
*Akula!
*What? What is it?
*Do you see something?
*We lurk the seas!
*We've come this far!
*So much pressure!
*What's that dripping sound?!
*Shhh! Quiet!
*Are the scanners working?!
*Do you hear that noise?
===Moving===
*Yes, I was going there!
*Staying deep!
*Full ahead!
*Push forward!
*Further out!
*We must scour these depths!
*Men, new coordinates!
===Attacking===
*Fire!
*Torpedoes!
*Sink them NOW!
*Empty the tubes!
*Bring them down!
*NOW!
*Take them, take them!
===Move to attack===
*We're going after them!
*Don't let him out of our sight!
*Send them to the abyss!
*Sonar locked!
*Closing in!
*After them!
*Pursue them!
===In combat===
*They're still out there!
*Stay on them, crew!
*Make this one count!
*Curse them!
*Come on! Come on!
*We need another one!
===Retreating===
*That's it! We're going back!
*They're on our trail!
*Maybe we can lose them!
*We'll need some patching up!
===Under fire===
*I know! I know!
*We've been hit haven't we?!
*We can't take much more of this!
*Patch up that leak!
*Mayday! Mayday!
==Trivia==
*"Akula (Акула)", means "Shark" in Russian, coincidentally, real-life Russian Akula-class submarine is codenamed "Typhoon-class by NATO, sharing the same name of the Typhoon attack submarine in Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge.
*The submarines torpedoes are a reference to the supercavitating torpedo.
*The RU-20 "Shkval" Supercavitating Torpedo is actually based on real-life Soviet-Russian VA-111 Shkval supercavitating torpedo which is capable of speeds in excess 200 knots (370 km/h or 230 miles/h)
*The Akula sub is possibly based on the real-life 971 Shchuka-B submarine, NATO designation Akula.
*Like other submarines in the game, the Akula needs to surface before firing even when firing at submerged units. This is likely due to balancing reasons.
*Ultra-torpedoes can reach the other side of the map unlike the Naginata's special ability. This can be very useful in all-water maps like "Trench Warfare" in which Akulas can stay at the base and fire ultra-torpedoes repeatedly at the enemy's location.
==Gallery==
RA3_AkulaSub1.jpg|Concept art
==Videos==
==See also==
* Assault destroyer, Allied advanced ship counterpart
* Dolphin, Allied submerged counterpart
* Naginata cruiser, Imperial advanced ship counterpart
* Yari mini-sub and Sea-Wing, Imperial submerged counterparts
Category:Red Alert 3 ships