Missile turret

"I hate these things. They can sense me even when I'm cloaked. We should take these out."

- Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan

The missile turret is a terran defense building designed to destroy air units and detect invisible and burrowed units.

Overview
"That missile turret can detect our impalers when burrowed. Take it out first."

- Kerrigan

Missile turrets are inexpensive structures that fire the Longbolt missile. The system may be computer controlled to automatically engage aerial targets. A secondary manual control mode allows the system to fire at ground targets as well (by the Second Great War, manual control was apparently the de facto method of operation). Turrets are also equipped with a tracking scanner that allows powerful sensors capable of detecting cloaked vessels to center in on an identified target. Running on a set of power cells, a missile turret is able to operate independently for at least forty years.

The characteristic diffusion of information between the terran factions, frequently through clandestine or illicit methods, made the missile turret a standard defense system in the Koprulu sector. Refinements to the system continued to be disseminated in a similar fashion.

By the Second Great War, Enlightened Dynamics had developed a new titanium housing for missile turrets, allowing turrets to absorb more damage before failing. By this stage, Hellstorm batteries could also be fitted to turrets, each battery firing waves of short-range missiles for a saturation effect.

StarCraft
The missile turret is a detector and has no ground attack. Unlike the photon cannon and spore colony that deal normal damage, missile turrets deal explosive damage making them less effective against small targets like s.

In the early game, missile turrets are a cheap and effective means of air defense. In the late game their lack of upgrades makes upgraded goliaths more attractive. Upgraded goliaths deal damage faster and, most importantly of all, have the mobility to concentrate against enemy air fleets.

Missile turrets are only a serious threat against a determined air attack if built in clusters. Otherwise their immobility means they can be destroyed piecemeal.

Development
In the StarCraft beta, missile turrets fired two missiles simultaneously, three times in rapid succession, during each volley.

StarCraft: Ghost


In StarCraft: Ghost, Nova was able to manually operate missile turrets in singleplayer.

StarCraft II
The missile turret may strike protoss colossi, which are considered air units due to their height.

Heart of the Swarm Notes
An "anti-air turret" file was found in the Heart of the Swarm beta.