SAM Turret

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

Tactics
thumb|300px|right|How a SAM Turret could cause a suicide
 * 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.


 * It was once possible to reroll a SAM turret crate with Hardline Pro, allowing the player to have the possibility of getting a higher-end killstreak with just three kills. This is no longer possible as of the December 15th patch.


 * 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.
 * Alternatly, 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.
 * If no friendly players are collecting the packages however, make sure to capture them, as the turret can be stolen by an enemy and used against the team.

Trivia

 * The player can kill themselves by standing near the rocket explosion. The rocket will pass through yourself or an allied player without detonating, but if it impacts a wall or it's target and you are too near the explosion, it will kill you.
 * SAM Turrets can destroy enemy Valkyrie Rockets.
 * The SAM Turret seem to reload itself and fire more than 2 missiles, though it only has 2 missile pipes.
 * The killstreak selection menu background seems to be Nuketown.