Attack Helicopters — Battlefield 3 Premium eGuide

The attack helicopters are the most devastating vehicles in the game, but only when crewed by a capable pilot and gunner. A two-man crew is essential for each attack helicopter to live up to its deadly potential. The pilot can fire the chopper’s unguided rockets, which are ideal for taking out tanks and other ground vehicles. But it’s the gunner who benefits from the awesome firepower provided by the chin-mounted turret. Like the auto-cannons found on the IFVs, the cannons on attack helicopters fire small explosive rounds. The gunner can use this weapon to rack up dozens of infantry kills. Despite their impressive offensive capability, attack helicopters are vulnerable to heavy machine gun fire and heat-seeking missiles fired by engineers or other aircraft. But with some fancy flying and the aid of upgrades and gadgets, it’s possible to minimize the danger posed by these threats. Unlike other vehicles, attack helicopters have six loadout slots—three for the pilot and three for the gunner. This allows an experienced crew to become more powerful with each attained unlock.

Attack Helicopter Unlock Progression

Name	Loadout Slot	Points	Description
IR Flares	Gadget	300	Infrared flare launchers that when launched will distract incoming missiles and cause them to miss their locked target.
Heat Seekers	Pilot Weapon	800	Heat-seeking missiles launched by the pilot that lock on to and track enemy aircraft.
Stealth	Upgrade	1,600	Engine tuning and fuselage coating materials disguise your vehicle’s infrared signature, thereby increasing enemy locking and tracking difficulty and decreasing the time you are revealed to the enemy when spotted.
Autoloader	Upgrade	2,800	An enhanced mechanism decreases the minimum time between firing bursts with your main weapon.
Zoom Optics	Gunner Gadget	4,400	A secondary weapon sight for the gunner position with up to 3x magnification.
Proximity Scan	Upgrade	6,500	External sensors detect and reveal enemy units on your minimap.
Air Radar	Upgrade	9,000	The range of your minimap increases greatly and reveals all friendly and enemy aircraft.
Guided Missile	Gunner Weapon	12,000	Guided missiles launched by the helicopter gunner that lock on to and track enemy land vehicles and can acquire laser-designated targets even if they are out of line of sight.
Extinguisher	Pilot Gadget	16,000	A controlled air pressure release in the engine compartment will extinguish engine fires when activated, helping a disabled aircraft return to normal operation and recover from damage.
Maintenance	Upgrade	20,000	Preventative maintenance procedures improve your vehicles recovery from damage.
Thermal Optics	Gunner Gadget	25,000	A secondary weapon sight for the gunner position using thermal optics that highlights soldiers and vehicles for efficient target identification.
Laser Painter	Pilot Upgrade	30,500	Nose-mounted targeting systems designate an enemy vehicle in your line of sight automatically, painting them as a target for teammates using laser-guided weapons.
Below Radar	Upgrade	37,000	When flying at low altitudes your heat signature is decreased, hiding you from enemy radar and preventing enemy air-to-air missile systems from locking on to you.
ECM Jammer	Pilot Gadget	44,000	Electronic countermeasures including chaff launchers and deceptive transmitters prevent your aircraft from being locked on to by enemy weapon systems for a short time when activated.
Guided Rocket	Upgrade	51,000	The pilot’s rockets are equipped with semi-active guidance systems, increasing accuracy and thereby range of effectiveness.
TV Missile	Gunner Weapon	60,000	TV-guided missiles launched by the helicopter gunner that are flown by direct-feed video.

AH-1Z Viper

Nationality : US

Description : The AH-1Z Viper (also called SuperCobra or Zulu Cobra) is a twin-engine helicopter based on the AH-1W.

Vehicle Performance

Speed
Armor
Firepower

Vehicle Occupancy

Seat	Position	Weapon
1	Pilot	70mm Rockets
2	Passenger	20mm Cannon

Mi-28 Havoc

Nationality : RU

Description : The Mil Mi-28 (NATO reporting name Havoc) is a Russian all-weather day or night, two-seat anti-armor attack helicopter.

Vehicle Performance

Speed
Armor
Firepower

Vehicle Occupancy

Seat	Position	Weapon
1	Pilot	S-8 Rockets
2	Passenger	30mm Chain Gun

Field Notes

The Havoc performs identically to the US team’s Viper, even utilizing the same HUD layout. In the default configuration, the pilot can fire rockets while the gunner controls the chin-mounted chain gun. Both weapons are effective against infantry as well as light and armored vehicles. When not firing, the gunner position is great for spotting targets, particularly when the Zoom Optics or Thermal Optics gadgets are selected.

[ Attack Helicopter Tactics ]

If you’re planning to fly an attack helicopter, discuss loadouts with your gunner before spawning into the game. Make sure you don’t have any duplicate upgrade or gadget loadout slots assigned. For example, there is no benefit for both the pilot and gunner to have the Stealth upgrade selected. So mix up your loadouts to maximize the effectiveness of this powerful vehicle.
With the new vehicle damage system, it’s possible to recover from light damage simply by flying away from danger. If you stay away from enemy fire for a few seconds, you chopper automatically returns to full health. However, if your helicopter catches fire, there are only two ways to repair it. You can land and have an engineer use their Repair Tool or you can use the Extinguisher gadget to put out the flames.
Add Heat Seekers to the pilot’s weapon loadout slot when you’re confronted with enemy jets and choppers.
This gives the attack helicopter the ability to shoot down enemy aircraft. Heat-seeking missiles can only lock on to enemy aircraft in flight.
Once a lock is achieved, fire the missile and watch it streak toward the target.
The Below Radar and IR Flares upgrades greatly increase your chances of survival. Both upgrades make it difficult for heat-seeking missiles to achieve a lock. If you haven’t unlocked these upgrades, stay low to the ground, utilizing nap-of-the-earth (NOE) flight to put objects such as hills and trees between your chopper and hostile missile launchers. By breaking line of sight with a heat-seeking missile, you can prevent a lock prior to launch.
The chin turrets on the Viper and Havoc are absolutely devastating against infantry. So when piloting these choppers, try to give your gunner a stable firing platform to increase the weapon’s accuracy. Instead of dipping the chopper’s nose forward, fly laterally, keeping the nose pointed toward the enemy. Strafing left and right keeps the chopper moving while allowing your gunner to accurately engage enemy ground targets.
The Guided Missile is very effective but requires a laser target designator, such as the recon kit’s SOFLAM, to paint a target. Once the Laser Painter upgrade is unlocked, the pilot of an attack helicopter can paint their own targets, allowing the gunner to fire a Guided Missile. The gunner can fire the TV Missile without having to wait for a lock or laser designation, but it must be manually guided into a target.
As soon as it’s available, choose the Extinguisher unlock for your gadget slot. If your chopper ever becomes disabled, it’s incredibly difficult to control, potentially leading to a crash. But if you immediately deploy the Extinguisher, the controls are restored. Still, you may want to seek cover while the helicopter regenerates health.