Centurion C-RAM

The  Centurion Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar, abbreviated C-RAM or Counter-RAM, is a system used to detect and/or destroy incoming artillery, rockets and mortar rounds in the air before they hit their ground targets, or simply provide early warning.

C-RAM is effectively a land version of weapons such as the Phalanx CIWS radar controlled rapid-fire gun for close in protection of vessels from missiles.

Battlefield 3
In Battlefield 3, the C-RAM functions as the American anti-air emplacement. It is typically placed near the runway at the main base (US Deployment), watching the nearby airspace but generally out of sight of the rest of the map. The Russian counterpart to the C-RAM is the Pantsir-S1.

The C-RAM has Zoom Optics and Air Radar enabled by default, but cannot unlock specializations.

On maps where the USS Essex functions as the US airbase, the Phalanx weapon system is also referred to as a C-RAM for statistical purposes. It is also used in Damavand Peak in Rush mode, located at the first U.S. base. Other examples include Operation Firestorm, Caspian Border, Kharg Island, Gulf of Oman, and Wake Island.

Patch history
Various patches have been made to adjust damage to infantry and air vehicles. A patch also increased the projectile velocity, which increases its range and decreases target leading.

A patch made to many maps removed or relocated the C-RAM and Pantsir. One notable change was to Noshahr Canals, where the C-RAM could fire on much of the Conquest maps, killing infantry as far away as Train Yard.

Trivia

 * If someone watches the C-RAM shooting from a third person view, they can see that it fires with a very slow rate of fire. But this can also just simply be the extreme speed of the bullets which are fired so fast, that only every 20th shot can be seen with the human eye. This also occurs with the Pantsir-S1.
 * The fact that the C-RAM and Pantsir S-1 are almost always placed behind hills or mountains makes them pretty useless unless some helicopters or jets are flying close enough to the base.
 * Using the Centurion C-RAM or the Pantsir-S1 does not count toward anti-aircraft upgrades on mobile vehicles; use of the weapon is essentially pointless, unless the enemy is spawn camping the base with aircraft.
 * The 1.04 patch gave the C-RAM and Pantsir S-1 Air Radar.