Helicopter machine gun
Helicopter machine guns are machine gun weapons equipped by helicopters. Introduced in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, they are scaled-down versions of guns used by fighter aircraft.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
The Machine Gun, alternatively called "MG" in the aircraft selection menus, is the central weapon of the playable helicopter-type aircraft. The weapon used depends on which helicopter is used; the AH-64D Apache Longbow uses the M230 chaingun, the Mi-24 Hind uses the dual-barreled Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L autocannon and the downloadable Ka-50 Hokum uses the 2A42 autocannon.
In combat, helicopter guns have a high firing rate, which is slower than that achieved by fixed-wing aircraft MGs. They have relatively average strength, destroying small vehicles such as AA weapons and technicals with short barrages, while demanding more effort to defeat stronger targets, such as tanks and Mi-24 helicopters. As expected, a single shot is enough to dispatch ground infantry.
The MG has a feature that allows it to rotate horizontally and vertically on a 45° degree arc, allowing one to track (or "obtain") enemy targets with the left shoulder button (LT on X360, L2 on PS3). It can be also used to destroy missiles and falling bombs within range. As with standard machine guns, its performance can be augmented with skills.
Skills
- Enhanced MG: increases gun firepower.
- MG Cool Down: upgraded cool-down process.
- Wide Range MG: increases bullet spread to increase probability of impact.
- Wide Angle and Zoom: increases tracking range and arc.
- MG Cool Down+: upgraded version of "MG Cool Down".
- Sharp Shooter: increases probability of fatal shots.
Trivia
- Destroying 10 missiles/bombs with the autocannon in multiplayer grants the player "Interceptor" trophy/achievement.
- The Ka-50, unlike the AH-64D and the Mi-24, has limited gun mobility. The Apache Longbow and the Hind can turn their gun 360° and can move their gun down and up with limited mobility, but the Hokum has very limited range of movement of the gun.