Difference between revisions of "AB 205 A-1"
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| − | ''Examine the survivability of the helicopter. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical systems.'' | + | <!--''Examine the survivability of the helicopter. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical systems.-->'' |
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| + | The AB 205 is not very survivable. Like many helicopters at its battle rating, it is prone to exploding into many pieces after a hit from a missile, or from a barrage of AA fire. It does have some armour on the cockpit area, but in battles that won't really protect you from anything you'll face, at most you might withstand some machine-gun fire from ground vehicles. Keep in mind that the helicopter is quite large so at times, some rounds will just go through the helicopter, and if no important modules have been hit, you should still be able to fly as normal. | ||
=== Modifications and economy === | === Modifications and economy === | ||
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== Usage in battles == | == Usage in battles == | ||
<!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in a helicopter, the features of using the helicopter in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | <!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in a helicopter, the features of using the helicopter in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | ||
| − | ''Describe the tactics of playing in a helicopter, the features of using the helicopter in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' | + | <!--''Describe the tactics of playing in a helicopter, the features of using the helicopter in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).-->'' |
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| + | The AB 205 can be a decent helicopter for its battle rating, there are line-up options available to the player, which can be used to pair the helicopter up with. For Ground RB, you can actually choose to first-spawn with this helicopter, as the armament options are quite light, only being able to use rockets and 2 miniguns. As a first spawn you should stick low to the ground, and make the most out of your speed to surprise enemies at the start of the match. Depending on what your targets are, you have a chance to easily get 1-2 kills at the start of the match with ease. Your rockets can be effective at destroying light tanks, and MBT's if hit at the right spot. Your miniguns sadly are not very useful against ground targets, so the best way to use them is either as anti-air, or to help teammates know where enemies are by using your miniguns as a sort of scout tactic. By doing this, you have the chance of racking up some easy assists at the early moments of the match. If however, you chose to not first spawn, it is recommended you bring in a light vehicle able to scout, with access to the "Air strike" modification. This will mean that once you have captured a point, and scouted a vehicle, you'll be able to get into the helicopter with armed with rockets and machines guns straight away, if you happen to get knocked out early. This is one of the most common strategies as if you manage to pull it off in a match that has only just started, you will likely surprise unsuspecting enemies who might think it's still to early to worry about enemy aircraft. At the same battle rating, you have access to the M113A1 TOW, so this vehicle should be the one in which you should use to quickly get inside a helicopter. Thankfully, unlike other helicopters, you won't need to worry about spawn points, as the only load-out on the AB 205 includes 2 x 7.62 mm M134 Minigun machine guns + 14 x SNEB type 23 rockets. You'll easily be able to pick off enemy air from a distance due to the range on your machine-guns. Do keep in mind who exactly you are choosing to engage, as you'll realise soon enough that killing a player with spawn points backed up will usually lead them to spawn in either an anti-air ground vehicle or an aircraft. In that case you'll get overwhelmed with everything you need to watch out for, which will lead you to be less effective in the CAS department for your team, and usually will end up in you being knocked-out. If you run out of rockets during your match (which is pretty common considering you don't have many), it is advised you return to base to get rearmed. You only have access to 14 of them so every shot you take counts. With rockets, you'll need to stay low to avoid any incoming SPAA. You'll need to do that as the helicopter is not very armoured, so most if not all ground targets will easily make short work of you if you are not careful. Generally speaking sticking behind mountains or tree lines will suffice. Once you feel you've gotten close enough to the battlefield, it's time for you to come out, quickly find your targets, and engage. This might pose a challenge as the AB 205, as previously mentioned, doesn't have access to many rockets, so you'll need to pick your targets carefully and make sure most of your shots actually land and hit your targets. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The AB 205 machine guns's are very useful when taking out enemy air, although they aren't be very effective against ground targets, they should be more than enough to defend yourself from incoming enemy air vehicles. Against enemy air vehicles that'll be your only line of defense, as the AB 205 does not have access to air-to-air missiles or flares/chaff, so if you're not careful you could become a very easy kill for them. The main problem with trying to engage at close range is that doing so in most cases will put the AB 205 in huge amounts of danger. Survivability features of the AB 205 are poor, as previously mentioned enemy tanks and SPAAs will be able to quickly destroy the helicopter with their main guns or machine guns, so it is recommended that you only get into the actual battlefield near the end of the battle, once most threats you'll encounter will not be present, or at the very least, threats that can be dealt with safely. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In '''Arcade Assault''', you won't have to worry about going back to base to reload your weapons as they will automatically replenish once every munition has been used up. It's recommended you only bring 2 x 7.62 mm M134 Minigun machine guns + 14 x SNEB type 23 rockets. This is so as to maximize your overall effectiveness for your team. | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Helicopter Battles''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | The AB 205 in helicopter battles can be surprisingly powerful. When playing helicopter battles, your best shot at staying alive and being effective is to bring a load-out of machine-guns and rockets. The machine-guns you have access to are usually able to deal with most helicopters you'll be facing, due to many of them not being very armoured. Use this to your advantage as a quick barrage of your fast firing guns will quickly render most helicopters you'll face unable to fight back. You are also able to take out AI targets such as Artillery pieces with your machine-guns. With rockets, you'll also be able to take out ground AI targets. Usually, they will take 1 or 2 shots at minimum to destroy. Rockets are also quite effective in close range as a last ditch effort to come out on top when fighting a 1-vs-1. Try stay away from any helicopters with air-to-air missiles as you'll more than likely get destroyed, best way to maximize your efforts in this game mode is by trying and flanking the enemy side of the map and getting rid of ground targets undisturbed. | ||
=== Pros and cons === | === Pros and cons === | ||
Revision as of 16:19, 19 July 2021
Contents
Description
The AB 205 A-1 is a rank V Italian attack helicopter with a battle rating of 7.7 (AB/RB) and 8.0 (SB). It was introduced in Update "Hot Tracks".
General info
Flight performance
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 0 m - at sea level) |
Max altitude (metres) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | ||
| Stock | 203 | 193 | 5900 |
| Upgraded | 230 | 217 | |
Survivability and armour
The AB 205 is not very survivable. Like many helicopters at its battle rating, it is prone to exploding into many pieces after a hit from a missile, or from a barrage of AA fire. It does have some armour on the cockpit area, but in battles that won't really protect you from anything you'll face, at most you might withstand some machine-gun fire from ground vehicles. Keep in mind that the helicopter is quite large so at times, some rounds will just go through the helicopter, and if no important modules have been hit, you should still be able to fly as normal.
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Suspended armament
The AB 205 A-1 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- 2 x 7.62 mm M134 Minigun machine guns (3,000 rpg = 6,000 total)
- 14 x SNEB type 23 rockets
- 2 x 7.62 mm M134 Minigun machine guns + 14 x SNEB type 23 rockets
Usage in battles
The AB 205 can be a decent helicopter for its battle rating, there are line-up options available to the player, which can be used to pair the helicopter up with. For Ground RB, you can actually choose to first-spawn with this helicopter, as the armament options are quite light, only being able to use rockets and 2 miniguns. As a first spawn you should stick low to the ground, and make the most out of your speed to surprise enemies at the start of the match. Depending on what your targets are, you have a chance to easily get 1-2 kills at the start of the match with ease. Your rockets can be effective at destroying light tanks, and MBT's if hit at the right spot. Your miniguns sadly are not very useful against ground targets, so the best way to use them is either as anti-air, or to help teammates know where enemies are by using your miniguns as a sort of scout tactic. By doing this, you have the chance of racking up some easy assists at the early moments of the match. If however, you chose to not first spawn, it is recommended you bring in a light vehicle able to scout, with access to the "Air strike" modification. This will mean that once you have captured a point, and scouted a vehicle, you'll be able to get into the helicopter with armed with rockets and machines guns straight away, if you happen to get knocked out early. This is one of the most common strategies as if you manage to pull it off in a match that has only just started, you will likely surprise unsuspecting enemies who might think it's still to early to worry about enemy aircraft. At the same battle rating, you have access to the M113A1 TOW, so this vehicle should be the one in which you should use to quickly get inside a helicopter. Thankfully, unlike other helicopters, you won't need to worry about spawn points, as the only load-out on the AB 205 includes 2 x 7.62 mm M134 Minigun machine guns + 14 x SNEB type 23 rockets. You'll easily be able to pick off enemy air from a distance due to the range on your machine-guns. Do keep in mind who exactly you are choosing to engage, as you'll realise soon enough that killing a player with spawn points backed up will usually lead them to spawn in either an anti-air ground vehicle or an aircraft. In that case you'll get overwhelmed with everything you need to watch out for, which will lead you to be less effective in the CAS department for your team, and usually will end up in you being knocked-out. If you run out of rockets during your match (which is pretty common considering you don't have many), it is advised you return to base to get rearmed. You only have access to 14 of them so every shot you take counts. With rockets, you'll need to stay low to avoid any incoming SPAA. You'll need to do that as the helicopter is not very armoured, so most if not all ground targets will easily make short work of you if you are not careful. Generally speaking sticking behind mountains or tree lines will suffice. Once you feel you've gotten close enough to the battlefield, it's time for you to come out, quickly find your targets, and engage. This might pose a challenge as the AB 205, as previously mentioned, doesn't have access to many rockets, so you'll need to pick your targets carefully and make sure most of your shots actually land and hit your targets.
The AB 205 machine guns's are very useful when taking out enemy air, although they aren't be very effective against ground targets, they should be more than enough to defend yourself from incoming enemy air vehicles. Against enemy air vehicles that'll be your only line of defense, as the AB 205 does not have access to air-to-air missiles or flares/chaff, so if you're not careful you could become a very easy kill for them. The main problem with trying to engage at close range is that doing so in most cases will put the AB 205 in huge amounts of danger. Survivability features of the AB 205 are poor, as previously mentioned enemy tanks and SPAAs will be able to quickly destroy the helicopter with their main guns or machine guns, so it is recommended that you only get into the actual battlefield near the end of the battle, once most threats you'll encounter will not be present, or at the very least, threats that can be dealt with safely.
In Arcade Assault, you won't have to worry about going back to base to reload your weapons as they will automatically replenish once every munition has been used up. It's recommended you only bring 2 x 7.62 mm M134 Minigun machine guns + 14 x SNEB type 23 rockets. This is so as to maximize your overall effectiveness for your team.
Helicopter Battles
The AB 205 in helicopter battles can be surprisingly powerful. When playing helicopter battles, your best shot at staying alive and being effective is to bring a load-out of machine-guns and rockets. The machine-guns you have access to are usually able to deal with most helicopters you'll be facing, due to many of them not being very armoured. Use this to your advantage as a quick barrage of your fast firing guns will quickly render most helicopters you'll face unable to fight back. You are also able to take out AI targets such as Artillery pieces with your machine-guns. With rockets, you'll also be able to take out ground AI targets. Usually, they will take 1 or 2 shots at minimum to destroy. Rockets are also quite effective in close range as a last ditch effort to come out on top when fighting a 1-vs-1. Try stay away from any helicopters with air-to-air missiles as you'll more than likely get destroyed, best way to maximize your efforts in this game mode is by trying and flanking the enemy side of the map and getting rid of ground targets undisturbed.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Rockets are great for ground-pounding
- Miniguns can shred enemy choppers with a good burst
- Fastest starter helicopter
Cons:
- Miniguns are useless against tanks
- Low amount of SNEB rockets
History
The story of the Agusta-Bell AB 205 helicopter begins in the year 1966, in which the "Costruzioni Aeronautiche Giovanni Agusta SpA" successfully managed to get an American licence production permit, allowing the Agusta company to not only modify and produce Bell 205 helicopter in Italy, but also allowed them to export the vehicle if any other countries had interest in also utilizing the helicopter. Like its American relative, the Italian version of the AB 205 differs from the AB 204 helicopter in many ways, such as having an elongated fuselage, allowing the cabin to hold up to 14 people including pilots. The main reason it was chosen was due to the success of Bell helicopters, which Italy also wanted to tap into, but mainly due to them needing to find a suitable replacement to their fleet of Agusta-Bell 204 helicopters, which they had in service at the time. It was the natural choice to go for the successor of the previous model, and since it could be produced inside Italy, it allowed for more jobs to be created and overall helped Agusta get more experience in making helicopters and earning valuable experience, which they'd utilize in future projects.
The Agusta-Bell AB 205 was equipped with an Avco-Lycoming T53 gas turbine engine, which at the time drastically increased the overall output of the helicopter. In order to compensate for the increased power of the engine, the dynamical systems of the helicopter underwent a series of structural changes. Thus, the AB 205 rotor would change to a diameter of 14.63 m, the previous model, the AB 204, only had a rotor diameter of 13.41 m. The engine allowed the Agusta-Bell 205 to reach speeds of up to 222 km/h, which really set itself apart, as it would be one of the fastest helicopters of the Huey family.
The Italian light army aviation (Aviazione Leggera dell' Esercito Italiano) received around one hundred and six AB 205A-1s (serialled MMS0439/S0461, MMS0524/S0561, MMS06S1/ S0725) while the Corpo Carabinieri took delivery of eight AB 205A-1s (MMS0776/S07S3) and a lone AB 205B (MMS0775). The army aviation units which flew the AB 205A-1s were squadrons No.521, 522, 531, and 532 in Aosta, No.541, 542, 543, 544, and 545 in Bolzano, No.425 in Veneto, No.551, 552, 553, and 554 in Casarsa della Delizia, No.521 in Cagliari, No.59S in Verona, and No.526 in Aurelia. In total, Agusta had built a total of 490 AB 205s by early 1988, mainly for military customers, before the production line was halted.
In terms of armaments, the AB 205 would use the M21/MAMEE (Meyer Ammunition Module, Emerson), which consisted of two General Electric M134 Miniguns and two external cylindrical containers containing 3,000 7.62 caliber shots each for the Miniguns. They'd also feature a pair of 70 mm M158A1 rocket launchers. It was also capable of carrying other standard armaments seen on the American versions, but there is no evidence that other armaments besides the aforementioned were fitted. Service-wise, it partook in the majority of Italian involvement in various conflicts, one of the more well-known ones being in Somalia. There, the AB 205 would join the Gruppo Squadroni ITALHELY "IBIS". The group was established at Tommaso Fabbri Airport in Viterbo, seat of the 1st Antares Regiment, on December 7th 1992. This group consisted of about 150 men (120 pilots and specialists and thirty support men) and 13 helicopters. In total there would be five squadrons (three flight and two command/support). There the AB 205 would provide critical support from the air, usually providing intel for Italian troops on the ground, and if needed, also provide CAS thanks to the armaments it had access to.
Media
- Skins
- Images
- AB 205 A-1 Devblog Images
See also
External links
| Agusta | |
|---|---|
| Utility | AB 205 A-1* · A.109EOA-2 |
| Attack | A-129 International (p) · A129CBT · AH-129D · T129** |
| Export | HKP3C |
| See Also | Bell Aircraft Corporation · TAI |
| *Licensed · **Partnership with TAI | |
| Italy helicopters | |
|---|---|
| Utility | AB 205 A-1 · A.109EOA-2 |
| Attack | A-129 International (p) · A129CBT · AH-129D · T129 |
| Hungary | ◔Mi-24D · ◔Mi-24V · ◔Mi-24P |
