The M900 is a light helicopter used by both Altian/Tanoan civilians, Syndikat guerilla fighters, and their L'Ensemble successors in ArmA 3. It was added with the release of the Helicopters DLC.
Overview[]
- Roles:
- Civilian transportation
- Troop transport
- Recreational flight
| « | A light single-engine helicopter used in special operations by the US Army since the Vietnam War. It now exists in several variants used by both military and civilian transport. The M-900 is a civilian version. Closed cabin and comfortable interior provides space for two passengers. Field Manual
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Design[]
Comparable in size and appearance to NATO's MH-9, the M900 is the civilian variant of the same xH-9 series of light helicopters.
Features
There are up to seventeen variants of the baseline M900; all are functionally identical to each other, but have their own unique paint scheme or use a custom livery that depends on their owner. Because it shares the same airframe, it retains the superior aerodynamic manoeuvrability of its military counterpart. The main difference between the two is that the M900's cabin is completely sealed whereas the MH-9's one is left open.
Drawbacks
The M900 lacks side benches and is unable to carry any passengers on the outside of the cabin as a result. As with its parent airframe, it also does not have any defensive avionics/countermeasures and lacks armour plating.
Crew Capacity
The M900 has a seating capacity of four personnel. This includes both the crew which consists of the pilot and a co-pilot (who sit in the front two seats behind the bubble canopy), and two additional passengers who sit on two seats located in the rear of the cabin.
Camouflage[]
Civilian[]
- Blue: Pearl white paint scheme with white-outlined two-tone blue stripes.
- BlueLine: White paint scheme with black-outlined blue stripes.
- Digital: Digitised three-tone grey semi-fractal camouflage pattern.
- Elliptical: Two-tone red/white paint scheme.
- Furious: Flat white paint scheme with dark blue stripes.
- Graywatcher: Slate grey paint scheme with white-outlined yellow stripes.
- ION: Pattern-less matte black paint scheme. Custom scheme used by the ION Services private military company.
- Jeans: Dark blue paint scheme with white/taupe brown stripes.
- Light: Flat white paint scheme with grey-outlined dark yellow stripes.
- Red: Beige paint scheme with white-outlined two-tone red stripes.
- Shadow: Dark brown paint scheme with white-outlined three-tone brown stripes.
- Sheriff: Beige paint scheme with black-outlined dark green/wood brown stripes.
- Speedy: White paint scheme with bright orange stripes.
- Sunset: White paint scheme with red stripes.
- Vrana: Pattern-less red paint scheme. Used by M900s owned by the Vrana Corporation.
- Wasp: Matte black paint scheme with yellow stripes meant to mimic the abdomen of a wasp insect.
- Wave: Dark blue paint scheme with dark brown/white stripes.
Guerilla[]
Syndikat/L'Ensemble M900s are restricted to just one camouflage scheme (this scheme cannot be applied to civilian helicopters):
- Syndikat: Mud brown paint scheme with light/dark brown-coloured stripes.
Protection[]
The M900 has a base armour value of 30.
Hull[]
Hull damage is calculated based on the integrity of other components on the M900. Until all other parts of the helicopter have been critically damaged, the hull itself can never be "destroyed".
Engine[]
The M900's engine can survive just a meagre 7.5 points of damage before failing. It receives 200% additional damage from high-explosive (HE) type munitions.
If damaged: Reduced power output and makes it difficult to gain both speed and altitude.
If destroyed: Can potentially blow up the M900 instantly if overall status of helicopter is at critical.
Fuel tank[]
The M900's fuel tank can resist only 12 points of damage before rupturing. It takes 200% additional damage from HE-type munitions.
Rupturing the M900's fuel tank will not result in a total loss unless the helicopter's damage levels are already at critical.
Instruments[]
Consists of the pilot's flight instruments and Multi-Functional Displays (MFD). They can incur 30 points of damage before failing.
If damaged: Occasional flickering of MFDs. Other instruments unaffected.
If destroyed: Causes MFDs/instruments to malfunction completely. Some gauges may not display consistent readings.
Main rotor[]
The main rotor can take up to 90 points of damage. It incurs a 250% increased damage penalty from HE-type weapons.
A disabled main rotor makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the M900's lift. Unless the tail rotor has also been disabled however, the M900 can still be (reasonably) controlled at low airspeeds.
Tail rotor[]
The tail rotor can take 60 points of damage before failing. It suffers an additional 600% damage penalty from HE-type munitions.
A disabled tail rotor will drastically increase torque from the main rotor. At low airspeeds, the M900 will become extremely unstable and almost impossible to control due to constant yaw shifting.
Stealth[]
Like its military counterparts, the M900 retains the same semi-stealth aspects of both parent aircraft:
RCS[]
The M900 has a radar cross-section rating of 0.7, which lowers the maximum detection range of active radars by 30%.
IR[]
The M900 has reduced visibility on the infrared spectrum, and can only be tracked at 80% of an infrared-based sensor's maximum range (factor of 0.8; reduction of 20%).
Visual[]
The M900 is much more difficult to spot visually and cannot be identified by visual-based sensors until it flies within 80% of the sensor's maximum range (factor of 0.8; a 20% reduction).
Sensors[]
The M900 does not have access to any kind of sensors nor defensive avionics.
Slingloading[]
- Main article: Slingloading#M900
The M900 has a maximum weight capacity of only 500 kg like its parent helicopter. It can slingload some small vehicles and crates but is heavily restricted to the types it can carry. As with its baseline model, this renders the M900 largely redundant for logistical duties and is far outstripped by other light helicopters in its class.
Trivia[]
- The M900's airframe is based on the real-life McDonnell Douglas "MD-500D" series of light helicopters. It is visually similar in almost all respects, with one notable difference being the addition of vents at the base of the tail boom.
- Although included as part of the Helicopters DLC, the M900 is not considered as premium content and can be freely used regardless of whether the player owns the DLC.[1]
- At launch, the M900 would become invisible at certain distances due to a visual glitches with its model's LODs (Level of Detail). This was fixed after the release of Game Update 1.40.[2]
- Prior to Game Update 1.70, the M900 still had basic defensive avionics that warned the pilot whenever they were locked onto by anti-air missiles. However, they were removed after the Jets DLC was released with the introduction of the new Sensors systems.[3]
- The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content.
- There are two unused (and hidden) variants of M900 that are suffixed as "Luxe" and "Stripped" respectively in-game.[4]
- The "Stripped" variant is simply a barebones variant of the M900 that has all optional components such as the doors, rear two seats, holding frame, and skid treads removed completely.
- On the other hand, the "Luxe" variant is visually identical to standard M900s with the exception of always having the same components as the "Stripped" variant attached. It is possible that this variant was intended to be a V.I.P transport that would have had extended features, similar to how the CH-49 Mohawk has an unused "Luxurious" variant with a unique passenger cabin.
- It should also be noted that like the Mohawk, the M900 and its parent vehicle are upgraded ports of the Light helicopter model[5] from Take On Helicopters, an earlier flight simulator title released by Bohemia Interactive.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ van 't Land, J.J. et al. 2019, Arma 3: DLC Restrictions, Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3:_DLC_Restrictions>.
- ↑ Kolar, P 2015, SPOTREP #00039, Arma 3, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00039>.
- ↑ Kovařič, V 2017, SPOTREP #00067, Arma 3, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00067>.
- ↑ Pettka et al. 2013, Arma 3: CfgVehicles CIV, Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3:_CfgVehicles_CIV>.
- ↑ Bohemia Interactive a.s., 2011, Light, Take On Helicopters, viewed 8 October 2023, <http://web.archive.org/web/20130919182925/http://helicopters.takeonthegame.com/about-the-game/helicopters/light/>. (archived link)
External links[]
See also[]
Variants[]
- MH-9 Hummingbird (Unarmed NATO counterpart)
- AH-9 Pawnee (Armed NATO counterpart)
Aircraft of comparable role and configuration[]
- PO-30 Orca (CSAT counterpart)
- WY-55 Hellcat (AAF counterpart)
 Syndikat - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
| |
|---|---|
| Wheeled | MB 4WD • Offroad* • Quadbike* • Truck • Van |
| Rotor-wing | M900 |
| Fixed-wing | Caesar BTT |
| Aquatic | Assault Boat • RHIB |
| * denotes vehicles only used in the Apex Protocol campaign. Apex DLC | Laws of War DLC | |
| L'Ensemble - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
| |
|---|---|
| Wheeled | MB 4WD • Offroad • Quadbike • Truck • Van |
| Rotor-wing | M900 |
| Fixed-wing | Caesar BTT |
| Aquatic | Assault Boat • RHIB |
| Apex DLC | Laws of War DLC | |