The Command Center and Tactical Center give your team access to powerful support options beyond buying units — from coordinated artillery barrages to a ballistic SCUD strike launched from a captured carrier offshore. Most of these cost the commander personal Funds to fire, even after the supply investment to unlock them.
Command Center (CC)
Build a Command Center for 1,200 supply. It unlocks the upgrade tree for support abilities and is also the delivery destination for supply runs. Everything below either requires a CC or is upgraded through it.
Artillery
Artillery is called from the Tactical Center panel (accessible to the commander and team leaders). Your side's gun battery fires at the map position you designate.
Ammo types
Standard HE — always available once you have artillery units. Area burst against infantry and soft vehicles.
Special ammo — unlocked with the Artillery Ammo upgrade (2,500 supply):
| Shell | Effect | |---|---| | White Phosphorus (WP) | Incendiary burst, area denial | | SADARM | Top-attack anti-armour; each round acquires targets within 200 m | | Laser-guided | Precision strike; each round homes within 175 m of target | | Smoke | Obscurement | | Illumination (Illum) | Night lighting |
BLUFOR fires from M119 howitzers, M252 mortars, and MLRS. OPFOR fires from D30 howitzers, 2B14 mortars, and GRAD rocket batteries.
Cooldown
The default cooldown between fire missions is 550 seconds (~9 min). The Artillery Time upgrade reduces it across six levels down to a minimum of 250 seconds (~4 min) at level 6.
| Level | Cooldown | |---|---| | 0 (base) | 550 s | | 1 | 500 s | | 2 | 450 s | | 3 | 400 s | | 4 | 350 s | | 5 | 300 s | | 6 | 250 s |
Upgrade costs (supply per level): 800 / 1,400 / 2,200 / 3,700 / 6,100 / 10,000.
A map marker labelled ARTY [name] shows the impact zone to your team and clears after 80 seconds. Maximum scatter radius is 300 m.
ICBM / Nuke
The ICBM is the most expensive single ability in the game and a match-turning threat.
Unlock requirements
- Aircraft Factory level 5 — prerequisite.
- ICBM upgrade — costs 49,500 side supply (the second value in the upgrade array, 80,000, is the minimum supply balance required to purchase it; verify this on the live server before firing).
Each launch costs
$75,000 commander personal Funds per shot.
Effects
- Damage radius: 800 m
- Radiation zone: 900 m — persists after impact; players inside take ongoing damage.
- Both teams receive an audio and text warning 1 minute before impact.
- The ICBM is disabled during Air War events.
Use the ICBM to destroy a heavily fortified enemy base complex or force a team-wide retreat from a critical area. The radiation zone lingers, making the area dangerous to retake immediately.
SCUD TEL (land-based strategic weapons)
When the SCUD research is unlocked, a deployable Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) becomes available. The TEL is a vehicle that carries conventional SCUD munitions — it can be destroyed before or during launch, so you need to guard it or keep it mobile.
All five conventional munitions share one cooldown — firing any one of them locks out the others until the shared timer expires.
TEL munitions
| Munition | Effect | |---|---| | Saturation | Area saturation strike | | Recon Flash | Airburst reveals all enemy units in an 800 m radius for ~45 seconds as temporary map markers | | FASCAM | Scatters 24 AT mines across a 150 m radius; self-clear after 20 minutes; max 2 live fields per side at once | | Steel Rain | Rolling airbursts across a 300 m area; effective against infantry in the open | | Bunker Buster | Precision single warhead; destroys the nearest enemy structure within 30 m of impact; most expensive shot |
The nuclear option requires SCUD research level 2 and launches with a 5-minute countdown. The countdown can be stopped by destroying the launcher before it fires.
The TEL is separate from the carrier SCUD — see Naval HVT below.
Paratroopers
The Paratroopers ability drops AI infantry at a map position you designate from the Tactical Center.
- Cost: $8,500 personal Funds per call.
- Cooldown: 20 minutes (1,200 seconds).
- Requires: Paratroopers upgrade (3 levels, costs 1,500 / 2,500 / 3,500 supply). Higher upgrade levels drop more and better units.
- An aircraft spawns at a random map edge and flies to the target at altitude.
Ammo paradrop
Drops a supply crate at the target position from an AI aircraft.
- Cost: $9,500 personal Funds per call.
- Requires: Supply Paradrop upgrade (1 level, 2,000 supply).
Vehicle paradrop
Drops a vehicle at the target map position.
- Cost: $3,500 personal Funds per call.
- Requires: Supply Paradrop upgrade.
HALO jump
Any player can perform a high-altitude jump without a commander action — no upgrade needed.
- Get into an aircraft and climb above 200 m altitude.
- Use the scroll-menu action while airborne. You eject and the HALO parachute fires automatically.
Useful for deep insertions behind enemy lines or reaching a cut-off town quickly when no fast travel is available.
AWACS
AWACS is an airborne radar asset that gives your side a ground-movement picture. While a pilot flies the AWACS aircraft above 150 m, it sweeps all moving enemy ground vehicles (faster than 5 km/h) within 6,000 m and places fuzzed orange ellipses on allied maps every 30 seconds. It does not track air contacts — those ride the AAR system.
BLUFOR operates a dedicated AWACS aircraft. OPFOR fields a captured C-130J in the AWACS-support role.
AWACS is most useful for the commander and team leads who are watching the map. The fuzzed ellipses show direction of movement and approximate position without being precise — they indicate threats, not exact grid references.
Supply helicopters
Once the Supply upgrade reaches the right level, Support-class pilots can run supplies by air instead of by truck.
| Supply upgrade | Helicopters unlocked | Cargo multiplier | |---|---|---| | Level 1 | Trucks only | ×1 | | Level 2 | Light helicopters (UH-60 / Mi-17 series) | ×1.5 | | Level 3 | Heavy helicopters (CH-47 / Merlin) | ×2 (+20% for heavy) |
A heavy helo pilot with Supply upgrade 3 can convert a run to a cash run — the cargo value is credited to the commander team as player Funds instead of side supply.
Heli pilots earn 25% more personal Funds than truck drivers on the same run. Supply upgrade costs: 2,700 / 4,800 / 8,000 supply.
See Supply missions for the full delivery loop.
Naval HVT — offshore LHD carriers and the carrier SCUD strike
Three capturable LHD carrier platforms sit offshore on the Chernarus east coast. These are live objectives, not cosmetic — capturing them is worth doing.
The three carriers
- Khe Sanh Alpha — NE sea
- Khe Sanh Bravo — SE sea
- Khe Sanh Charlie — Skalisty Island sea (the SCUD platform)
All three start under GUER (Insurgents) control. GUER runs air cover: within 1,800 m of any GUER-held carrier, a Mi-24 Hind and An-2 biplane spawn as patrol. They despawn 120 seconds after no player is in range.
How to capture
Carriers are captured exactly like towns — reach the deck and hold it until the SV flips. Standard capture rules apply; you'll need to clear the air cover first.
Carrier SCUD strike (Charlie only)
Once your side owns Khe Sanh Charlie, team leaders on the carrier deck can call a SCUD strike from the launch pad. This is separate from the land-based TEL and has its own cooldown.
- Cost: $25,000 team Funds
- Cooldown: 5 minutes (300 seconds)
- Range: any map position
A Chukar drone launches from the platform at 350 m altitude and flies ballistically (~140 m/s) to the target. On arrival it delivers a mixed payload across a 300 m radius:
| Warhead | Count | Effect | |---|---|---| | HE | ×3 | Area burst vs infantry / soft vehicles | | SADARM | ×2 | Top-attack anti-armour | | White Phosphorus | ×3 | Incendiary / obscuring burn |
Unlike the ICBM, the carrier SCUD fires silently — no warning is broadcast to the enemy. The SCUD-B launcher on Charlie's deck is a permanent visual landmark.
Quick reference
| Ability | Requires | Cost to fire | |---|---|---| | Artillery (HE) | Command Center | — | | Artillery (special ammo) | CC + Artillery Ammo upgrade (2,500 S) | — | | ICBM | AF level 5 + ICBM upgrade (49,500 S) | $75,000 Funds | | SCUD TEL (conventional) | SCUD research L1 | varies by munition | | SCUD TEL (nuclear) | SCUD research L2 | varies | | Paratroopers | Paratroopers upgrade (up to 3,500 S) | $8,500 Funds | | Ammo paradrop | Supply Paradrop upgrade (2,000 S) | $9,500 Funds | | Vehicle paradrop | Supply Paradrop upgrade | $3,500 Funds | | HALO jump | None | Free | | AWACS sweep | AWACS aircraft + pilot above 150 m | — | | Supply heli (light) | Supply upgrade 2 (4,800 S) | — | | Supply heli (heavy) | Supply upgrade 3 (8,000 S) | — | | Carrier SCUD strike | Own Khe Sanh Charlie | $25,000 team Funds |
S = side supply. Costs above are in player Funds unless marked S. TEL munition costs vary by type and are displayed in the Tactical Center.