Air Vehicles — Battlefield Bad Company 2 eGuide

The air vehicles include attack helicopters, the AH60 transport helicopter, and the UAV. Helicopters allow you to cross the battlefield quickly without regards to terrain—just don’t fly outside the area of operations.

In the case of attack helicopters, the pilot not only does the flying but can also fire rockets that are effective against vehicles, infantry, and even structures.

The gunner mans a chaingun in a chin turret that is good for attacking infantry and vehicles. But all helicopters (including the UAV) are vulnerable to heavy machine gun and rocket fire.

So when piloting a chopper, keep moving so it’s difficult for the enemy to shoot you down.

AH60

Nationality: U.S.

Speed: Very Fast

Armor: Moderate

U.S. troop transport and utility helicopter armed with two 5.56mm miniguns, one on each side of the aircraft.

Vehicle Occupancy

Seat	Position	Weapon
1	Pilot	None
2	Gunner	5.56mm Minigun
3	Gunner	5.56mm Minigun
4	Passenger	Troop Kit
5	Passenger	Troop Kit

Field Notes

The AH60 is the only vehicle capable of carrying five players, making it ideal for transporting squads to any point on the battlefield. This is a good way to reach neutral control points or undefended M-COM stations at the beginning of a match. Instead of landing, have your passengers bail out and parachute down to the ground. The miniguns on the chopper’s port and starboard sides are impressive offensive weapons, capable of eliminating infantry, light-skinned vehicles, and even structures. However, slowing down to give the gunners a better shot leaves the helicopter vulnerable to ground fire. So don’t hover over enemy territory, or else you’ll find yourself spinning out of control on an earthbound flight path.

AH64

Nationality: U.S.

Speed: Very Fast

Armor: Moderate

U.S. Army anti-armor chopper armed with a 30mm high explosive chaingun and 70mm FFAR rockets. Aircraft skin resistant to small arms fire up to .50 caliber.

Vehicle Occupancy

Seat	Position	Weapon
1	Pilot	70mm FFAR Rockets
2	Gunner	30mm Chaingun

Field Notes

The AH64 is the primary attack helicopter of the American forces. Always take off with a two-man crew to take advantage of the chopper’s full complement of weapons. The rockets are great against tanks and other vehicles while the 30mm chaingun is effective against everything. When piloting, try to keep the chopper level and side-slip around the perimeter of the map, keeping the weapons facing toward your enemies.

MI24

Nationality: Russia

Speed: Very Fast

Armor: Moderate

A large helicopter gunship operating as a flying IFV, it performs both fire support and infantry transport missions. It has a crew of two and is capable of transporting two fully armed troops.

Vehicle Occupancy

Seat	Position	Weapon
1	Pilot	None
2	Gunner	30mm Auto Cannon
3	Passenger	Troop Kit
4	Passenger	Troop Kit

Field Notes

The MI24 is a hybrid attack/transport helicopter. It can’t fire rockets, but its chin-mounted turret is more than capable of wiping out enemy infantry and light-skinned vehicles. The MI24 can also carry two passengers in the cargo compartment, so load this chopper before taking off and use it to drop friendly troops over enemy territory.

MI28

Nationality: Russia

Speed: Very Fast

Armor: Moderate

Russian equivalent of the AH64 attack chopper. Also armed with a 30mm auto cannon and 80mm anti-tank rockets. Armored against small arms less than .50 caliber.

Vehicle Occupancy

Seat	Position	Weapon
1	Pilot	None
2	Gunner	30mm Auto Cannon

Field Notes

As expected, the MI28 performs similarly to the AH64, but the pilot’s HUD layout is a bit different, providing a red targeting reticle for the rockets. Still, the rockets are unguided and most accurate when fired at close to intermediate range. Prioritize enemy tanks and IFVs to give your ground troops the upper hand.

UAV1

Nationality: U.S. and Russia

Speed: Fast

Armor: None

Vehicle Occupancy: None

Remote-controlled light air vehicle capable of guiding air strikes. Also has the possibility to be fitted with countermeasures and machine guns.

Field Notes

While UAVs aren’t new to the Battlefield series, this is the first time you can control one. The UAV is little more than a remote-controlled helicopter fitted with an advanced camera and targeting system.

It’s a very fragile aircraft, so keep it hidden behind hills, trees, or other forms of concealment as even pistol shots can knock this bird out of the sky.

Target tanks and other vehicles with the laser designator to initiate a Hellfire missile attack. Once you’ve “painted” the target with the laser, keep it focused on the desired point of impact until the missile steaks down from the sky and explodes.

After an air strike, seek cover until a new Hellfire comes online. The UAV is also great for tagging enemy infantry for your teammates to take out.

Air Vehicle Tactics

Helicopters are valuable assets to any team, so take good care of them. If you take heavy damage, retreat and land at your base for repairs. Play as an engineer so you can make your own repairs with the repair tool. If you can’t make it back to base, bail out before the chopper is destroyed and deploy your parachute before you hit the ground.

It takes a few seconds for a chopper’s rotor to spin up before take-off. Watch for enemies lurking about during these vulnerable seconds as you can die fast if you get hit with a rocket or tank round.

The AH60 can be used to quickly capture control points during conquest matches. Hover over the flag to convert it. The more players onboard, the faster it will be captured. However, watch out for defenders below. A hovering chopper makes a juicy target.

Use the AH60’s miniguns to blow apart walls and rooftops. This is a great way to expose M-COM stations located inside buildings, making them vulnerable to attacks by friendly tanks and Hellfire strikes.

The chin turrets on the AH64, MI24, and MI28 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.