Gunships (showcase)

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Learn how to operate gunships in Arma 3. Repel the enemy assault with your heavily armed attack helicopter. Mission Description

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Gunships
Time	06:00 PM
Date	28-07-2035
Location	Selakano, Altis, Republic of Altis and Stratis

Gunships is a playable showcase mission in ArmA 3.

Overview

The player controls Griffin Regiment aviator Corporal Yousuf, callsign Hydra. Allied forces have succeeded in recapturing the city of Pyrgos but NATO troops are mounting a counteroffensive upon the capital. They need immediate air support to help repel the encroaching hostiles before they get overrun.

Role/class:

• Air / Helicopter Pilot

Default loadout:

• Primary weapon: Sting (4× magazines)
  • ACO SMG (Green)
• Secondary weapon: None
• Equipment: NV Goggles (Black), Smoke Grenade (Orange) (1×), Smoke Grenade (Red) (1×), Smoke Grenade (Yellow) (1×), Chemlight (Red) (2×)
• Backpack: None

There are no alternate pieces of equipment to choose from.

Objectives

Primary

• (1) Board the helicopter
• (2) Defend Pyrgos
• (3) Destroy the Naval Base
• (4) Destroy the Artillery
• (5) Rescue Viper Team
• (6) Return to Pyrgos

Optional

• (7) Rearm

Mandatory

• Avoid collateral damage/friendly fire
• Your helicopter must not incur critical damage
• Pyrgos must not be captured by NATO forces
• Do not leave the AO

Walkthrough

Primary 1: Board the helicopter

You start off in the back of a truck being transported to the airfield at Selakano. Disembark once you arrive and get in the marked gunship as pilot.

Primary 2: Defend Pyrgos

Once you hop into the gunship, spin up its rotors and head straight for the capital Pyrgos. You have exactly five minutes (300 seconds) to repel the incoming NATO forces, with the bulk of your opposition consisting of:

• An enemy gunship approaching from the north-west (air).
• One light attack helicopter assaulting the far north-west (air).
• Three attack boats sailing in from the gulf to the west and north-west (sea).

The waterborne threats are easy enough to handle. One or two bursts of 30 mm HE cannon fire is more than sufficient to destroy the boats. Allied ground forces and naval assets will also be backing you up so it's not even necessary to turn your attention on them most of the time.

However, the enemy gunship (not the light attack helicopter) does pose a significant threat as its air-to-air infrared-guided missiles and 20 mm HE shells are highly effective against your helicopter. When HQ informs you of several inbound radar contacts, switch to Manual Fire, load up HE shells, then order your gunner to lock the gun turret onto the gunship (Hotkeys: 2 - Target - AH-99 Blackfoot). As soon as it gets within firing range (2 km or less), start firing periodic bursts of shells until it blows up.

When fighting the gunship, try to remain out of harm's way by staying constantly on the move. This will help you to avoid getting locked onto by the gunship's A2A missiles which have a lock-on cone/field of regard of 90°/120° (respectively).

Avoid overly sharp mid-air turns or steep dives as this will cause you to lose speed and leave your helicopter a sitting duck. Flying at an altitude greater than it also helps since its turret can't elevate high enough to shoot at targets from above.

If you run out of time you will fail this objective and the showcase itself, so don't spend too much effort on duelling with the enemy gunship. Get rid of it as soon as possible so that you can focus on the incoming amphibious forces.

Primary 3: Destroy the Naval Base

NATO forces have established a forward outpost due west of Pyrgos (across the gulf) and south of Sagonisi island at grid coordinates 142-130. Fortunately, it's only manned by a squad of marksmen and an MRAP. Bombard the base with Skyfire rockets or pepper it with 30 mm HE shells, any method will do. Once all enemies are eliminated, the objective will be completed.

Primary 4: Destroy the Artillery

You must now destroy the three NATO howitzers that are shelling Pyrgos. They are on the other side of the gulf deep behind enemy lines, parked in the open fields between the towns of Zaros and Therisa. Begin flying west and drop altitude immediately, ideally 20-30 metres above the water/ground (less is better depending on your flying skills).

LEGEND
Red: Artillery batteries
Violet: Patrolling IFV initial location
Pink: IFV patrol route
Orange: Possible AA spawn points (randomised)

Double check that your Active Radar is switched off and watch your Passive Sensor closely until you see a red blip appear. This marker denotes the electronic emissions of the AA vehicle protecting the artillery batteries. It can spawn at one of three possible locations but will always remain in a static position (randomised per playthrough):

• The hilltop of Riga south of Zaros (grid 092-114).
• Near the crossroads at the village of Drimea (grid 109-108).
• Along the road leading east out of Poliakko (grid 112-135).

Its combination of twin 35 mm autocannons/surface-to-air missiles will shred you in seconds if you get detected. Until it's eliminated, you will stand no chance at getting close enough. Save your game if you haven't unless you're feeling confident enough to avoid detection.

You can toggle a live feed of the seeker's camera to visually verify if it struck the target properly.

Arm your Skalpels and then switch to Manual Fire again. Now fly as close as possible from Makrynisi island without attracting a lock-on from it. Spam your lock-on key until the missile's seeker gets tone on the vehicle's engine, then fire away once you've locked onto it. Do not attempt to get any closer until its radar blip disappears (or becomes greyed out) on the Passive Sensor.

Alternately, it is technically possible to engage the AA vehicle from across the Gulf of Pyrgos as your gunship's Skalpel ATGMs have a maximum range of 6 kilometres. Simply ascend to an altitude that's high enough to give you a clear view of the other side of the island. Once the AA vehicle is in sight, lock-on and fire away when ready.

However, keep in mind that you will need to increase your view and object distances in your graphics settings in order to be able to acquire lock-ons at such distances. Additionally, be aware that this applies to the AA vehicle as well. If you opt to take this approach, be careful not to stray within 5 kilometres of the target. If your sensors start alerting you to an incoming missile, your chances of survival are going to be slim at best at this altitude - made worse by the fact that you don't have the luxury of hiding behind the terrain.

Regardless of whatever approach you took, you can safely fly in and destroy the howitzers with either Skalpels or 30 mm APDS shells once it's destroyed (ignore the trucks). Be careful not to fly too close however (1.5 km or less), as the vehicle commanders can still damage you with their 12.7 mm heavy machine guns.

In addition, a patrolling IFV will also drive around the sector on a fixed patrol route between Zaros/Therisa/Poliakko and can potentially bring you down with its 40 mm autocannon. Avoid the latter at all costs by simply remaining out of its firing range (roughly ~ 1,800 metres).

Primary 5: Rescue Viper Team

A recon squad, callsign Viper-Green, have been compromised are pinned down by NATO forces at the castle ruins in the south-west of Vikos. Mechanised infantry are approaching their location and they require immediate extraction.

Once you arrive near their location, destroy the attacking MRAPs and the IFV with Skalpels (if you have any left) or 30 mm HE shells. You can suppress the infantry with rockets if needed but it's not necessary to do so. Once the vehicles are eliminated, land near Viper-Green's position (there is more than enough clearance for you to fit) and wait until the entire squad boards the helicopter.

Primary 6: Return to Pyrgos

Once Viper-Green's squad leader has confirmed that his troops are mounted up, fly straight to Pyrgos and land at the heliport in the military base. The mission will be over once you and the squad are safely on the tarmac in one piece.

Should Viper-Green be overrun for whatever reason before they hop into your helicopter however, you will get the alternate ending where you technically achieve a "victory" but get reprimanded for failing to save the squad.

Optional 7: Rearm

If you run low on ordnance you can rearm at the military base at Pyrgos. Should you take too much damage, you can also get repairs/refuelling support.

Tips

• Keep in mind that missiles like the Skalpel will not be able to lock on at their maximum range if your view/object distances are too low.
  • Be sure to increase the settings for both to 5,000 metres or more (or to whatever your PC's specs can handle) so that you can safely lock onto the Cheetah SPAAG without needing to risk getting up close (the Cheetah's Titan SAMs have a maximum range of 4.5 km).
• Be careful when making steep dives/turns with the Mi-48. Unlike your NATO counterpart, the Mi-48 has rather ungainly handling and you can quickly find yourself crashing into the ground or water, especially if you're tunnel visioned whilst engaging the Blackfoot.
  • If you prefer using the Advanced Flight Model (AFM), pay close attention to your thrust to avoid getting trapped in a Vortex Ring State (VRS). The Mi-48 is heavy and bulky enough to avoid VRS most of the time but that doesn't mean that it's outright impossible for it to happen.
• The enemy Blackfoot does not have radar-guided air-to-air missiles, so it doesn't matter if they spot you (electronically). You can safely utilise your Active Radar to spot them from afar before getting into range to attack them with the 30 mm cannon.
• Remember to fly low when moving to get within range of the Cheetah batteries and keep your Active Radar switched off. Their radars are not able to distinguish your helicopter from the terrain clutter if you remain below their coverage limits.

Trivia

• Because Gunships was released prior to the main campaign's addition, the AAF are noticeably absent as allies for the entirety of the showcase.
  • The recon squad, Viper-Green, should also not be confused with the actual Viper SOF sub-faction as the Gunships showcase was released long before the Apex expansion pack.
• Prior to the inclusion of the platform updates bundled with the Jets and Tanks DLCs, the showcase was notoriously difficult to attempt due to the AI anti-air vehicle being capable of engaging the player's helicopter from well beyond visual range.
  • It could detect the player even if they were flying behind hills that would normally obscure their vision.
  • As the Sensors update was not included upon ArmA 3's release, detecting the AA vehicle depended entirely on which side was able to detect the other first. More often than not, the AI had the clear advantage as they would not be hampered by view/object rendering distances unlike the human player; a problem that was exacerbated on the (preset) higher difficulty settings.
  • Attacking the batteries was similarly just as difficult due to the lack of a top-down attack mode for the Mi-48's Skalpels. Missiles would often strike the power lines or trees instead of their intended targets, forcing the player to get even closer to reliably score a hit (and therefore leaving them vulnerable to the patrolling IFV).
• After the release of Game Update 1.84, finding the location of the Cheetah SPAAGs and Scorcher SPGs was made significantly easier since the player's Mi-48 is now Data Link-enabled (specifically for the showcase only; the Mi-48 does not have data link in regular gameplay).