Support Aircraft

## Introduction

**Support Aircrafts** are not directly controllable units, they are only called in under special circumstances, either via General's Powers, or by specific units or structures. They are mostly enormous and have tougher aircraft armor.

## Cargo Plane

Cargo planes are used by generals to air drop supplies or reinforcements. Each major faction currently has their own variation of the cargo plane.

* The USA uses the classic **Lockheed** **C-130 Hercules**. They are used to drop-off paratroopers, vehicular reinforcements at Tech Reinforcement Pads, and supplies at the Supply Drop Zones. General Ironhand, however, avoids using manned C-130s, instead he uses Drop Pods to call in cyborg reinforcements or supplies. He only uses C-130s when a Tech Reinforcement Pad is captured.
* The Chinese uses the Antonov **An-22 "Antei"**, replacing the old Y-8 cargo planes. It has a rather impressive cargo carrying capacity and is used for a much larger variety of purposes (likely due to their lacking in bombers). It's used to drop off cluster mines by air, vehicular reinforcements at Tech Reinforcement Pads, paratroopers for General Fai, tanks for General Kwai and Bao, and spill fuel for General Bao.
* The GLA uses the old but rugged **Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter**, which replaces their retrofitted Tu-4 bombers. They are likely captured from the Israeli Air Force by General Huchum when he successfully chased them out of Jerusalem. As the C-97s are likely available in smaller numbers, and the fact that the GLA lacked properly trained pilots, the Stratofreighter is a much rarer sight on the battlefield, it's mainly used to drop off vehicular reinforcements at Tech Reinforcement Pads and deliver the GLA's famed anthrax bombs. General Rodall Juhziz has several C-97s loaded with explosives and aviation fuel, with fanatical pilots ready to crash them into enemy bases at any given notice.

All of the cargo planes for every faction are pretty similar (heavily armored/powered by four propeller engines) with some differences (Hercules and Stratofreighter have high-frequency radio antennas connecting the vertical stabilizer with the fuselage which are absent on the Antei, The Antei featured a H-tail like the B-24 Liberator).

While cargo planes in general are speedy and durable, they are unable to withstand anti-aircraft fire for long, which could prove costly for the commander if the plane is shot down and takes its cargo with it.

C-130 HerculesAn-22 "Antei"C-97 StratofreighterC-130s of the USAF.Russian An-22C-97 of the USAF
## B-52 Stratofortress

First flown in 1955, the **Boeing B-52 Stratofortress**, nicknamed by the Americans as the "B.U.F.F." (**B**ig **U**gly **F**at **F**\*\*\*er), is the workhorse bomber of the United States Airforce. Due to various shifts in the political landscape, cost overruns and budget cuts, the B-52 proudly remains the oldest military aircraft in service, even after the introduction of more advanced aircrafts like the B-1 Lancer or the B-2 Spirit.

The B-25 Stratofortress is a heavy bomber that still uses the conventional heavy aircraft design similar to domestic airplanes and has a very thick armor. Because of its weight, the bomber needs four jet engines to provide lift. Although the plane is very old, its extreme durability makes it a valuable asset in the heat of a battle.

While very lacking in terms of speed, the B-52 boasts impressive durability which allows it to soak up an impressive amount of punishment. Its payload bay can carry up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) worth of ordinance, and has a typical combat range of more than 8,800 miles (14,080 km) without aerial refueling. The B-52 is mainly used to deliver the Carpet Bombing or the High-Explosive Bomb general's power for USA Generals.

B-52 renderB-52 of the USAF.
## B-1B Lancer

The B-1B Lancer is a heavy bomber that has a slim, pointy design and uses two thrusters to move faster than its similar counterparts. It also has bigger bomb bays and weighs much lighter. While it may appear to be a smaller aircraft, the **Rockwell B-1 Lancer** boasts equally impressive bomb load and even better speed. It's a somewhat rarer sight on the battlefield. Being only used to drop level 2 carpet bombing for General Alexander, carpet bombing for General Granger and the EMP bomb for General Ironside.

Originally, the B-1 Lancer was also used to drop the Mother Of All Bombs (MOAB) General's Power, but the ability to upgrade the High-Explosive Bomb to MOAB was cut in Contra 009 FINAL's first patch.

In General Ironside's challenge, a B-1B will fly in circles around the map, it serves only as background decoration and AA units will not attempt to fire upon it. Ironside will also send in B-1Bs to drop EMP bombs at the player's base an units.

B-1B render.B-1B Lancer of the USAF.A B-1 dropping of the MOAB.
## B-2 Spirit

With a look similar to the B-4 Chimera, the B-2 Spirit is the United States's stealth strategic bomber. It uses an unusual design: a flat, thin but heavily armored chassis formed by various combinations of triangles. Besides, it uses two jet engines hidden near the cockpit to move quickly in a more silent way. Thanks to its shape, the radar waves rubbing against the bomber can be reflected to various directions instead of reflecting back in a straight line back to the radar. Radar-absorbing paint is also used to absorb the emitted radiowaves in order to increase its stealth capabilities. While the bomber's flat look seemingly indicates it has less cargo capacity, it actually has big bombing bays to store enough gravity bombs for strategic bombing run.

Compared to its rendition in vanilla *Zero Hour*, the B-2 in Contra flies notably slower. However, true to its real-life rendition, the bomber is now stealthed, making it invisible to enemy radar and harder to take down.

The B-2's primary purpose is to drop cluster bombs over the enemy. General Alexander can summon 3 B-2 bombers to carpet bomb an area once her Carpet Bombing power has been upgraded to level 3. General Granger's super weapon, the Strategic Command Uplink, is also capable of summoning 3 B-2s to carpet bomb an area with even more explosives.

B-2 render.B-2 of the USAF.
## Hong-6

The **Xi'an Hong-6** (or H-6, 轰-6, lit. meaning: Bomb-6) is a license-built version of the Soviet Union's Tupolev Tu-16 "Badger", and is currently the PLAAF's only strategic bomber. Thus it was utilized for a large variety of tasks. The bomber's chassis is quite slim and uses two jet engines near its main body to provide lift with "bumps" on its wings.A connecting line also can be seen connecting the main body and its tail wing. The Hong-6 performs much like the USA's B-52, fairly slow, but very durable. However, the Hong-6 is capable of using its tail-mounted dual 23mm autocannons to strafe enemies while it passes over.

* General Tao utilizes the Hong-6 to carpet bomb enemies with large quantities of low-yield tactical nuclear bombs, as well as a potent neutron bomb which is capable of annihilating all life within the blast radius.
* General Fai also uses the Hong-6 to deliver the neutron bomb or carpet bomb the target area with conventional high-explosive bombs.
* General Kwai uses the Hong-6 to deliver a potent magnetic bomb. The bomb affects an area which disables enemy vehicles and deflect missiles.
* General Bao uses the Hong-6 to deliver the magnetic bomb and the thermobaric bomb.
* General Leang has authorization to call in a Hong-6 for carpet bombing, magnetic bombing, and neutron bombing.

Hong-6 render.Hong-6 bomber of the PLAAF.
## A-10 Thunderbolt

Introduced in the 1970s, the **Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II** (nicknamed the "Warthog" or simply the "Hog") is designed as a close-air support aircraft for counter insurgency purposes. This bizarre looking aircraft, which is shaped like the Chinese Word "士" (lit. meaning: Soldier) and powered with two conventional turbofan engines near its horizontal stabilizers, is different compared to fast and nimble strike fighters; instead it's slow and sluggish. However the A-10 is known for its incredible resilience and its low speed allows it to linger over the battlefield for longer periods of time and provide firepower for USA ground-based troops.

A-10 Thunderbolt's design looks very "boxy" and only uses two turbofan engines located near the tail wing in order to take flight. Because of the hefty weight and turbofan engines, the plane moves rather slow and only can fly in lower heights, this resulted in various jokes being directed at the plane ("The A-10 doesn't have an airspeed indicator, it has a calendar."). The A-10's signature weapon is its 30mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon. The Avenger fires depleted uranium shells that can easily reduce infantries to red mist and light vehicles to scrap metal. Against tougher nuts to crack like tanks, the A-10 carries several highly explosive AGTM missiles on its wings.

General Granger and General Ironside have clearance to call in A-10 airstrikes. Ironside's Target Designator Base can also call in A-10 airstrikes. Originally, General Granger's Colonel Burton can also call in A-10 airstrikes, however, it was eventually replaced by...

A formation of three A-10 Thunderbolts.A-10 Thunderbolt of the USAF.
## B-Fighter

The B Fighter is a strike fighter that's called in by the Air Force General's Colonel Burton to bombard enemy positions. This strike fighter is issued only to Granger's best pilots due to the fact the plane needs to get very close to a target to eliminate it. This fighter has a standard design for a fighter jet but is notoriously smaller than an A-10 Thunderbolt. What's special about this fighter it its very light weight and high-efficiency jet engines on its back to perform even the hardest aircraft maneuvers such as hurdling the aircraft close to the ground in a steep descending angle before quickly rising in altitude again. The fighter jet is armed with six AT missiles which are effective against tanks and infantries but mediocre against structures. The B-Fighter becomes stealthed when the Stealth Covering upgrade is purchased.

The "B Fighter".
## Corvus

The **Corvus** is a small, twin engined cargo plane utilized by the GLA to drop off smaller objects, such as cluster mines, tunnel drilling rigs, demo traps, etc. The airplane is notable for its twin-broom design (engines with small "bodies" that are connected to a tail wing with the cockpit being independent from the tail wing), similar to a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (although the fuselage ressembles that of a Short SC.7 Skyvan) and for using two propeller engines to move. Unlike most cargo airplanes, this cargo plane can lift down safely with a nearly straight vertical line from higher areas. This aircraft is added to balance out the GLA's various "spawn" support powers, such as Juhziz's demo trap spawn, Dr. Thrax's chemical contamination or the Sneak Attack ability. By having the Corvus deploy these powers by air (airdropping demo traps, tunnel drilling rigs or chemical filled containers etc) so the opposing player can have the ability to intercept the power. However, doing so is not very easy, as despite the Corvus' low armor, it spawns out of thin air, much like the B fighter summoned by Air Force Burton or the A-10 called in by the Target Designator.