SAM Turret

The SAM Turret (Surface-to-Air Missile) is a 4-killstreak reward item featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Overview
The SAM Turret is an unmanned weapon which automatically locks onto any aircraft killstreaks and fires missiles to destroy them. The turret is capable of taking down any airborne killstreak (With the exception of the Blackbird). However the SAM Turret has a limited amount of missiles and is completely defenseless against ground targets. The SAM Turret will fire at aircraft from any location it's placed, even if it means firing at a wall.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The SAM turret can shoot down all enemy airborne killstreaks, including Valkyrie Rockets, but not the Blackbird and rarely Airstrike-class killstreaks such as Napalm Strike and Rolling Thunder (confirmed on the PS3 with the Napalm Strike). Like the Sentry Gun, this killstreak must be called in by airdrop before placing it. The SAM turrets only fire a limited number of missiles, and then self destructs. The player can only place two SAM turrets at once. Placing a third turret will destroy the first one. Like the Sentry Gun, the SAM turret can be destroyed by the enemy team. The SAM turret picks its targets based on how long they've been active, not by how dangerous it is. For instance, a SAM Turret would first destroy a Spy Plane that's been active for 20 seconds then attack a Gunship that has been up for 10 seconds. The rocket from it travels fast, even faster than the Valkyrie rocket. One knife slash will destroy it. SAM turrets last 1 minute and 30 seconds - thrice the time of Counter Spy Planes.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
The SAM Turret returns in Modern Warfare 3 as an eight point Support Strike Package.

Tactics
thumb|300px|right|How a SAM Turret can cause a suicide
 * Until being patched on December 4, 2010, SAM Turrets could be rerolled via Hardline Pro, along with Sentry Gun. Given that for only 3 kills without dying a player could earn a "Care Package", the fix was done for gameplay balance.
 * Placing this killstreak in an open area is a good idea, as placing it in the way of a building or another object will cause it to explode before it destroys the vehicle.
 * The SAM Turret can actually (although unlikely) score kills on enemy players, or even cause a suicide by the player who placed the turret, should the missile explode close enough to them. This is seen in the video attached.
 * Placing it where the enemy is likely to see it is a bad idea, because the SAM Turret is easy to destroy, especially because, unlike a Sentry Gun, it has no way of defending itself.
 * The Sam Turret can easily pay for itself by shooting down much more valuable enemy killstreaks. This tactic can prove efficient and effective because the SAM Turret can do it multiple times before its supply of missiles are exhausted.
 * The In-Game Announcer will inform players if an enemy SAM Turret is on its way. It is advised to keep this information in mind, and withhold calling in any aircraft or packages until the Turret is destroyed. The most likely location for it to be deployed is somewhere around the enemy team's spawn area. Using the Hacker perk is also useful, because this will make the Turret glow red and be very easy to locate. With Hacker Pro it is possible to capture the SAM Turret and turn it against the enemy team.
 * It is wise to keep several SAM Turrets in the inventory, while only placing one down at a time. This way, enemy air support can be effectively rendered useless due to a near continuous stream of turrets. Make sure however to call in the actual package as soon as possible as players are much more vulnerable waiting for the crate.
 * Alternately, it may be useful to call in the turret, but let friendly players take the crates. That way, more players on the team can set up turrets and the player can also get some points. This is also a good solution if the player is trying to complete the challenges for Hardline Pro.

Trivia

 * The turret can kill its owner if its owner is standing near the rocket explosion. The rocket will pass through friendly players without detonating, but if it impacts a wall or its target and its owner is too close, it will kill him.
 * SAM Turrets can destroy enemy Valkyrie Rockets.
 * The SAM Turret seems to reload itself and fire more than 2 missiles, though it only has 2 missile pipes.
 * The killstreak selection menu background is Nuketown.
 * It takes 1 missile from the SAM Turret to destroy Spy Planes, a Care Package Helicopter, and a Valkyrie Rocket.
 * It takes 3 missiles from the SAM Turret to destroy an Attack Helicopter, a Chopper Gunner, and a Gunship. It will take 1 missile to deploy the helicopters flares and 2 more missiles to destroy the helicopter itself
 * It's wise when using a controllable helicopter to destroy the turret as soon as possible to avoid being shot down. Unlike Gunships and Chopper Gunners, Attack Helicopters cannot attack SAM Turrets.
 * On the First Strike map Berlin Wall you can place them in the red zone and they won't be destroyed by the turrets but enemies trying to take the SAM Turret out will be shot acting as a defense.