Contra 009 USA: Generals Ironhand, Granger, Townes and Alexander

The Contra 009 USA side has four generals instead of three: Granger, Townes and Alexander are joined by General Ironhand with an army of robots. He took the slot of the base US army, so in this mod you can't play the USA without a general. Below are each general's units with numbers from the files of Contra 009 Final (Patch 3), the main buildings and the real hardware behind the new units.

How the Contra 009 US army differs from Zero Hour

Almost every unit carried over from the original has new numbers. The most noticeable changes:

• The Command Center costs 2500 and takes 6500 damage. In Zero Hour it cost 2000 with 5000 health.
• The Ranger went up from 225 to 250 and lost some health (150 instead of 180), but it builds in 2.5 seconds instead of 5 and hits for 9 instead of 5.
• Colonel Burton costs 2000–2500 and takes 850 damage, while in Zero Hour he had 200 health for 1500. Ironhand has the Terminator in his place: 2500, 1000 health and a BFG-9000 dealing 600.
• The Avenger costs half as much, 1000 instead of 2000.
• No general has the wheeled Tomahawk. In Ironhand's files its slot went to the walking Dominator (1800, missiles 200 / 360).
• Townes's Aurora Bomber costs 3500 and drops a 550 bomb; in Zero Hour it was 2500 and 400.
• All four generals get the Amphibious Transport: an unarmed transport for 800 with 1000 health.

At rank 5 each general unlocks a super unit of their own: the Seraph and the Widow for Ironhand, the B-3 Wyvern bomber for Granger, the Omega Cannon for Townes and the Saturn for Alexander.

Contra 009 US generals

Costs, build times and health are taken from the mod's INI files. Damage is per shot of the main weapon, range is in game units. Builders, supply units and the Amphibious Transport are left out of the tables.

General IronhandRobotsGeneral GrangerAir ForceGeneral TownesLasersGeneral AlexanderSuperweapons

General Ironhand: Robots

Ironhand is a new Contra general, and in the skirmish menu he stands where the regular USA used to be. He has no real infantry: the Cyborg Factory turns out Cyborgs, Missile Cyborgs and the Terminator, while robots from the War Factory do the main work. The mod's dossier says his robots are fast and immune to toxins, radiation, neutron weapons, snipers and hijackers. The weak spot is the small machines: the tooltips of the Trackhound, Guardian Droid and Lancer say it outright, "Vulnerable to ECM weapons".

Unit	Type	Cost	Time, s	Health	Weapon: damage / range
Cyborg	infantry	350	3.5	165	rifle 9 / 110
Missile Cyborg	infantry	400	4	130	missile 80 / 150
Terminator	infantry	2500	25	1000	BFG-9000, 600 / 175
Medic Droid	infantry	300	3	170	machine gun 5 / 100, heals infantry
Cyber Dog	vehicle	600	10	150	bite 6000 / 8, lives 45 seconds
Trackhound	vehicle	600	6	220	machine gun 12 / 150
Guardian Droid	vehicle	600	6	220	cannon 30 / 150, missile 105 / 170
Lancer	vehicle	600	6	220	anti-air machine gun
Leech	vehicle	600	6	250	disables vehicles at close range, 20
Repair Droid	vehicle	600	6	220	unarmed, repairs vehicles and buildings
Robo Avenger	vehicle	1200	12	300	anti-air laser 180 / 175
Crab	vehicle	1000	10	325	saw 200 / 225
Phobos	vehicle	950	9.5	300	mortar 80 / 275
Spider Tank	vehicle	1200	12	420	cannon 115 / 175
Dominator	vehicle	1800	18	360	missiles 200 / 360
Remiel	vehicle	1200	12	630	7.5 / 170 and 65 / 170
Uriel	vehicle	1600	16	650	65 / 170 and 40 / 170
Hadriel	vehicle	2000	20	600	60 / 360 and 40 / 360
Drone Controller	vehicle	3000	30	800	swarm of missile drones, 300
Widow	vehicle	6000	60	2000	railguns 320 / 320
Seraph	vehicle	7000	70	3200	railgun 400 / 250, missiles 120 / 250
Raven	aircraft	800	8	150	cannon 8 / 175, missiles 45 / 175
Pegasus	aircraft	1300	13	200	missiles 200 / 250
Robo Raptor	aircraft	1600	16	200	missiles 133 / 300

General Granger: Air Force

Granger has 12 aircraft, more than any other general in the mod. Instead of a regular airfield he builds a Levitation Pad, while the B-3 and B-4 bombers and the C-27 transport come from the Special Levitation Pad. His ground army is weak: the light Coyote tank and two spotter vehicles, the SLID and the Eye Designator, and targets they mark take 30% more damage. Pilots for 400, 800 and 1200 pass their experience on to aircraft crews.

Unit	Type	Cost	Time, s	Health	Weapon: damage / range
Ranger	infantry	250	2.5	150	rifle 9 / 100
Missile Defender	infantry	400	4	100	missile 80 / 150
Pathfinder	infantry	700	7	120	rifle 300 / 250
Colonel Burton	infantry	2000	25	850	rifle 40 / 125
Pilot	infantry	400	8	100	unarmed
Humvee	vehicle	700	8.5	260	machine gun 15 / 130, missile 75 / 120
Coyote	vehicle	800	8	300	cannon 70 / 150
Avenger	vehicle	1000	10	300	anti-air laser 180 / 175
SLID	vehicle	1000	10	280	target marker 180 / 175, shoots down missiles
Eye Designator	vehicle	950	9.5	300	laser designator, 400
Sentry Droid	vehicle	600	6	300	machine gun 12 / 150
Bobcat	vehicle	650	7	300	unarmed, clears mines
Combat Puma	aircraft	1500	15	520	grenade launcher 50 / 200
RAH-66 Comanche	aircraft	1100	11	200	cannon 10 / 175, missiles 22.5 / 175
Pave Low	aircraft	1800	18	700	missiles 180 / 210
Dark Star	aircraft	600	6	160	unarmed, detects stealth units
F-16XL	aircraft	900	9	175	missiles 180 / 550
F-18 Hornet	aircraft	900	9	200	missiles 100 / 275
F-22A King Raptor	aircraft	1000	11	220	anti-air missiles 125 / 350
F-35 JSF	aircraft	1800	18	300	missiles 119 / 340
C-27 Spartan	aircraft	2000	20	400	unarmed, drops paratroopers
Aurora Alpha Bomber	aircraft	3000	30	90	bomb 500 / 300
B-4 Chimera	aircraft	3500	35	350	cruise missiles 150 / 800
B-3 Wyvern	aircraft	5000	50	660	bombs 320 / 400

General Townes: Lasers

Townes fights with lasers: the Laser Crusader for 800, the Paladin for 1600 with a 135-damage laser, the Laser Avenger against aircraft and the plasma Libra with range 325. Laser vehicles draw power, from 1 unit for the tank to 5 for the Omega Cannon, but they don't shut down when power runs short. For power Townes has the Tokamak, which gives 60 units. The Omega Cannon for 5500 unlocks at rank 5: a mobile beam cannon dealing 600 at range 440 that stays invisible while it stands still.

Unit	Type	Cost	Time, s	Health	Weapon: damage / range
Ranger	infantry	250	2.5	150	rifle 9 / 100
Laser Defender	infantry	400	4	100	laser 40 / 150
Colonel Burton	infantry	2500	25	850	laser rifle 20 / 125
Ambulance	vehicle	600	6	240	unarmed, heals infantry
Humvee	vehicle	700	8.5	260	machine gun 15 / 130, missile 75 / 120
Laser Crusader	vehicle	800	8	400	laser 90 / 170
Paladin	vehicle	1600	16	600	laser 135 / 170
Libra	vehicle	950	9.5	250	plasma 78 / 325
Microwave Tank	vehicle	800	8	300	disables buildings, 155
Laser Avenger	vehicle	800	8	350	anti-air laser 20 / 250
ARV	vehicle	800	8	340	unarmed, repairs vehicles
Sentry Droid	vehicle	600	6	300	cannon 75 / 150
Omega Cannon	vehicle	5500	55	2500	beam 600 / 440
Laser Thor	aircraft	1400	17	280	lasers 45 / 175
F-6 Attack Jet	aircraft	1200	12	190	shell 250 / 300
Aurora Bomber	aircraft	3500	30	80	bomb 550 / 300

General Alexander: Superweapons

Alexander has the most superweapon buildings in the mod: the Particle Cannon, the ICBM, the Weather Manipulation Device and the Tomahawk Storm, while the SDI Cannon shoots down missiles and shells from enemy superweapons. Her defenses are mobile: the Ion Defense Core and the Patriot Defense Core drive out of the Command Center and deploy into turrets wherever you need them. Her standout vehicles are the Centurion hovercraft and the Saturn battle fortress for 6000 with 4600 health. The army is small, 14 units, so she relies on striking from behind her walls.

Unit	Type	Cost	Time, s	Health	Weapon: damage / range
Ranger	infantry	250	2.5	150	rifle 9 / 100
Missile Defender	infantry	400	4	100	missile 80 / 150
Pathfinder	infantry	700	7	120	rifle 300 / 250
Colonel Burton	infantry	2000	20	850	rifle 40 / 125
Humvee	vehicle	700	8.5	260	machine gun 15 / 130, missile 75 / 120
Centurion	vehicle	900	9	450	cannon 63 / 175
Avenger	vehicle	1000	10	300	anti-air laser 180 / 175
AMOS	vehicle	950	9.5	300	mortar 80 / 275
Sentry Droid	vehicle	600	6	300	unarmed, scouting
Bobcat	vehicle	650	7	300	unarmed, clears mines
Saturn	vehicle	6000	60	4600	beam 15 / 250, vs air 8 / 200
Thor	aircraft	1400	17	280	missiles 32.5 / 175
F-117 Stealth Fighter	aircraft	1000	10	180	missiles 200 / 250
Aurora Beta	aircraft	3500	30	100	bomb 600 / 300

Main buildings and superweapons

Alexander's Particle Cannon is cheaper than Ironhand's and Townes's and doesn't need rank 5. The catch is that she has to build the Tomahawk Storm first.

Real-world prototypes of Contra 009 US hardware

Units carried over from Zero Hour (Ranger, Burton, Humvee, Avenger, Paladin, Comanche, F-22, F-117, Aurora) are covered on the page about the USA army in the original game. Here we look only at what the mod adds.

• F-16XL. An experimental F-16 with a double-delta wing. It first flew on July 3, 1982, two were built, and in 1984 the US Air Force picked the F-15E instead.
• F-18 Hornet. The F/A-18 Hornet, a US Navy carrier fighter since 1983. In the mod it only attacks ground targets.
• F-35 JSF. The Joint Strike Fighter; the model in the files is called F-35A. It has served in the US Air Force since 2016.
• Combat Puma. The model and the name come from the SA 330 Puma, a French transport helicopter. Its prototype first flew on April 15, 1965.
• Pave Low. The MH-53 Pave Low, a US Air Force special operations helicopter. The last Pave Lows retired in September 2008, and their missions went to V-22 tiltrotors.
• Dark Star. The RQ-3 DarkStar, a stealthy reconnaissance drone by Lockheed Martin and Boeing. It first flew on March 29, 1996, and the program was cancelled in January 1999.
• C-27 Spartan. The Italian Alenia C-27J Spartan military transport. In June 2007 the Pentagon picked it as the light cargo aircraft for the US Army and Air Force.
• AMOS. The Finnish-Swedish Patria AMOS turret with two 120 mm mortars, fitted to Patria AMV and CV90 vehicles.
• No prototype: Ironhand's robots, Townes's laser hardware, Alexander's Centurion and Saturn, the B-3 and B-4 bombers.

How to play the USA in Contra 009 on a phone

Contra 009 Final with Patch 3 works in ZeroFront, and you can get the mod in our Telegram bot under "Game files & mods". How to connect it is covered on the Contra 009 on Android page. A few tricks for a touch screen:

1. Granger's army is almost all in the air. Save his aircraft to group "1" on the left bar: a double tap on the group selects them and moves the camera there.
2. Ironhand's small robots are easier to grab with a double tap on one of them, which selects every unit of that type on screen.
3. If Alexander's superweapon is aimed at the wrong spot, a long press or a two-finger tap cancels the target.

The other gestures are on the ZeroFront controls page. To compare the US generals with the rest, see the overview of all 12 Contra generals.

FAQ