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Welcome to the third season of the official Community Guide video series for Arma 3.
My name is Dslyecxi, and in co-operation with Bohemia Interactive, I'm creating a series of videos
to explain some of the basics of Arma 3. If you're new to the Community Guides,
be sure to also check out the previous episodes, which focus on topics like infantry combat,
multiplayer teamwork, and helicopters. As with Arma 3 in general, helicopter usage
is a deep topic with many facets to it. Today we'll be expounding on how to use them in combat
- more specifically, let's look at how to execute a basic helicopter-borne air assault.
We'll go over this from start to finish, from the initial pickup, to the
extraction phase after the mission's been completed.
The benefits of air assaults lie in the mobility and flexibility that they offer.
Helicopters fly fast, low, and can land pretty much anywhere that you can fit the rotors into.
With sufficient helicopters or multiple flights, you can transport a large number of infantry practically anywhere
you need to in a short period of time, as well as pick them up and reposition them for
new objectives with relative ease. It's a welcome option considering the massive terrain sizes of the Altis
and Stratis islands.
To start out, the person in command of the mission will choose the landing zones for his elements and brief them to the pilots.
The pilots, in turn, will assess these LZs and adjust them as necessary based on their
own personal experiences. When choosing a landing zone, consider what
threats you're likely to be facing. Your mission briefing - whether it's a singleplayer
or multiplayer scenario - should give you an idea of this, but remember that it could
be misleading. Generally speaking, you want to play it safe - it's better to walk
a bit further after landing, than to never land at all. Look for LZs that are in positions
that mask them from the most likely directions of enemy fire or observation. When your pilots
are capable, try to pick LZs close to cover and concealment, such that the dismounting
infantry can immediately take up protected positions to fight from.
Once the main landing zone or zones have been chosen, pick at least one alternate LZ.
This is done so that in the event the primary LZ is unsuitable for whatever reason,
pilots can quickly move to land at an alternate that has been chosen carefully in advance,
instead of as a spur-of-the-moment decision. When flying large elements such as platoons into
an area, picking several different LZs and sending different helicopters to each will
help to spread the unit out and give it more tactical flexibility upon landing.
The vast and varied terrain of Altis and Stratis will make this a constant topic for evaluation - not every location
will have obvious landing zones, you may have to be rather creative when the
terrain seems stacked against you. There are a few additional considerations
to help ensure a safe landing. The most obvious is having a gunship escort and prep the LZ
in advance of the transports arriving. This isn't always possible due to mission design,
but when available, it's a great way to provide security to the landings.
The next best thing is having a scout aircraft, one which can fly into the LZ and take
a look around shortly before the transports arrive. Some transport aircraft, like the Hellcat,
have powerful cameras that can observe an area from a safe distance. If you have
this sort of capability - use it! When these aren't available, a decision
must be made about how to approach the LZ - either by flying directly into it, or
spending a bit of time orbiting it to scout it out before landing. Choosing to land multiple
aircraft at the same time can result in unexpected enemy fire dispersing amongst many targets
as well as having many weapons to return that fire, whereas flying in single aircraft one
at a time can allow the others opportunities to wave off from hot LZs or provide aerial
gunnery support during the landings.
Once all squads and pilots have been briefed on their LZs and objectives, it's time to load up.
A troop load in a helicopter is known as a 'chalk' - due to cargo limitations, an element such as a squad may not all fit on one helo.
It's important to make sure that each chalk has a leader in it - such as
a squad or fireteam leader. These leaders are extremely important. They ensure that
their chalk loads into the correct helo, notifies the pilot when their chalk is loaded, and
provide leadership at the LZ until such time as they can merge back into their parent unit.
The flight from the pickup zone to the landing zone must be carefully planned for.
Avoiding any known enemy locations is of course a key element, and the altitude and path chosen
will be based on known as well as suspected enemy threats. Flying high works well in environments
where the threat is primarily based on machineguns and other such weapons with limited range
and targeting capabilities, but it doesn't work so well when missile systems are present.
On the other hand, flying low makes one vulnerable to machineguns and similar threats, but generally
makes it hard for them or missile systems to engage the aircraft due to low exposure
times and masking terrain, trees, and similar. Of course if you're flying low, it's essential to
have good pilots who know their own capabilities and are able to avoid any obstacles, such as
powerlines, that might present themselves during low-level flight.
The final approach to the LZ requires the utmost in concentration from the pilots as
well as door gunners. A good LZ approach is done in a smooth, controlled fashion.
Being able to promptly land without floundering around is necessary to give any enemies as
little time as possible to react to the presence of the helicopters. Note that pilots have
the final say here and can call for a wave-off or alternate LZ if they deem it necessary.
The pilots are the ones who know their capabilities and can make judgment calls about any threats
or obstacles in the LZs - if they say they can't make it and need to wave off or divert,
that's how it's gonna be. Once an aircraft touches down, the pilot
is the one who calls for a dismount - typically by saying "Go, go, go". This is due to
the fact that only the pilot truly knows when he has fully landed. If embarked troops try
to dismount of their own discretion, they may find that the first step out the door
is unpleasantly long. When the troops have fully dismounted, the chalk leader tells the
pilot he's clear to depart. The helo's crew chief will also observe the interior
of the aircraft - and if he sees that all the troops have debarked, he tells the pilot as well.
The pilot leaves when either the chalk leader or crew chief tells him he's empty.
If the LZ is hot - which is to say that enemy fire is being received during the landing
- the crew chief and door gunner will suppress known or suspected enemy locations. Upon landing,
they'll hold fire to avoid hitting the dismounting troops. After they take off they can resume their fire.
When taking off, pilots communicate their
takeoff directions to each other in order to avoid mid-air collisions. While this direction
should have been planned for in advance and briefed accordingly, unexpected contact at the LZ can cause an
alternate route to be decided on-the-spot. Once all troops have been dropped off,
helos can either return to base in anticipation of ferrying in reinforcements or resupply, or they can
stay in the area as reconnaissance or light air support. This is based on the nature of
the threats in the area of operations - so don't expect the aircraft to stick around with heavy
machineguns, vehicles, or anti-air missiles likely to show up to the fight.
At some point an extraction will be required - as with the initial landing, this too
requires a careful execution to pull off safely. When preparing for an extraction, ground forces
attempt to move away from known or suspected enemy threats, searching for a pickup zone
that fulfills the same criteria as the original landing zone. Once identified, ground forces
move to the pickup zone and establish security around it. Ground leaders establish what order
they'll extract in, with the first element to be picked up staying closest to the pickup
site while the other ones provide security. The pickup zone location is communicated to
the aircraft, and if necessary, the ground commander deploys smoke once the lead aircraft
is thirty seconds out. When operating in night-time conditions, infrared strobes, lasers and such can be used to
covertly mark landing zones, while chemical lights and smoke grenades can be combined
to give a very visible landing zone marker when light discipline is not a concern.
Once the aircraft is on the deck, remember that for any given chalk, the leader will
load into the aircraft last. He may have another person providing security close to the
landed helo while the others load up. Once he knows his chalk is loaded, he communicates this
to the pilot so that a speedy liftoff can occur.
This process is repeated squad-by-squad and aircraft by aircraft until the pickup zone has been completely evacuated.
Now when all is said and done and you've returned to base after a successful mission, congratulations
are in order. What you've conducted or participated in wasn't a staged, cinematic event
- it was a living, breathing, dynamic experience that took skill, knowledge, and coordination
to pull off successfully. This sort of depth is a hallmark of the Arma series, and if you're
anything like me, it's what keeps you coming back again and again.
Now if you'd like to know more about helicopter tactics, I'd recommend checking out my
Arma 3 Tactical Guide, which you can find on the Bohemia Interactive store.
For more Community Guide videos, be sure to subscribe to the official Arma 3 YouTube Channel.
For other Arma 3 updates, keep track of the official website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
If you'd like more in-depth tutorial and multiplayer gameplay of Arma 3 and the previous
Arma titles, I'd recommend you check out my channel, here.
This is Dslyecxi, and may your LZ always be interesting.