UH-10 Chippewa

The UH-10 Chippewa is a light attack helicopter in Just Cause 2.

Description
The helicopter serves as the most frequently used type of air support for the Panau Military.

It is armed with dual miniguns but from heat level 3 to 5 there is a chance it will also have 2 rocket pods attached. The rocket version is by far the best attack helicopter for leveling military assets and it's advisable to keep one. In terms of dog fighting however, it is only surpassed by a fully upgraded Sivirkin 15 Havoc.

The design is a cross between a Eurocopter EC135 and Mil Mi-24, with maybe a little AH-6, but its name accords to the US armed forces tri-service designation system. The helicopter has the Eurocopter nose design and the Mil's above-cockpit air intakes, weapons pylons, as well as the rear body and tail. It's about the size of the Eurocopter.

The UH-10 is likely made by the Mullen helicopter company as it shares its forward fuselage with the Mullen Skeeter Eagle and the Mullen Skeeter Hawk, two other models produced by Mullen in Just Cause 2.

The name might be a mix between the American utility helicopters Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk and Bell UH-1 Iroquois.

It can spawn in jungle, snow and desert camouflage. In Into the Den and A Just Cause, the Panau Secret Service version spawns in black.

Performance
This helicopter certainly has a few good reasons for its use as the preferred air-support vehicle by Panau's finest. It has possibly the best turning circle and maneuverability of all the default attack helicopters. It can change direction and ascend and descend faster than the other standard attack helicopters.

Their pilots seem to be trained in dog fighting as well and will engage Rico's helicopter with rather dead on accuracy, and will put the target helicopter out of commission quickly if you don't do some evasive flying. Some tactics to take them out include circle strafing them, which they will also do to you as well. Doing this will cause the crosshair for your mounted guns to be off center, so don't rely on them. After a bit of circling, they will sometimes drop down, for an unknown reason so take this opportunity to hunt them down. They will also cease firing their guns for a little while as well, so stop strafing for a bit and try to kill the pilot. Another tactic is to ascend quickly and backup ever so slightly, letting them follow you. Their guns cannot aim upwards beyond a certain elevation, but your guns can aim downwards at them. This leaves them defenseless as they futilely try to to get up your level while you rain bullets on them. This tactic works doubly well with the Havoc, as the gun can aim downwards at an almost 90 degree angle since it's chin mounted and not on hard points. Bear in mind that the former tactic is best for 1 on 1 dog fighting, while the latter is better for multiple helicopters. When you have rockets, always remember to lead your shots if you're strafing them.

Unlike the Sivirkin 15 Havoc, its seats are configured to be side-by-side so that an escort can sit next to the pilot and shoot at whoever dares cling to the front of the chopper. The extra seating can be useful in certain missions that require transporting an ally. The only slight disadvantage is that its speed is 5 points below the slowest traditional attack helicopter, the AH-33 Topachula, but even that will not matter much to the military, it seems; this is probably because they are more practical and easier to produce. There's also not much use for a fully equipped attack helicopter on a tropical island anyway.

When taking on an enemy base with this helicopter, it is advised that you first scout the base out for any on SAM sites before doing so, as the Chippewa is not as sturdy as the Havoc or Topachula and will be set aflame quickly if hit by a SAM missile or two. The maneuverability of the Chippewa can be used to swiftly evade the missiles.

The Panau Military AI is less than perfect, and sometimes the chopper's pilot may randomly crash into, well, anything, blowing up the vehicle and saving Rico the trouble of downing it.

Weapons
The UH-10 Chippewa is armed with two miniguns one on either side. After reaching a high enough heat level, they can spawn with rocket pods as well, and function like the AH-33 Topachula. The miniguns can tear up the Gunung Gila Pangkat facility's destructible objects quite easily. However, most armored cars can resist the damage.

Ground enemies are no match for a Chippewa, as the miniguns can destroy any vehicle and mow down any infantry. Even if they do pose a match, rockets will teach them a lesson.

There is a 33% chance for a Chippewa to spawn with rocket pods at heat level 3, 66% chance at heat level 4, and finally at heat level 5, every Chippewa sent after Rico will have rocket pods. However, there is still a small chance one could run into a rocket-armed Chippewa at heat level 1. This can happen at any communication outposts. However, for the ones that have a minigun, they might call for an additional Chippewa for backup, and this one might still have rocket pods.