Gunship

Gunships are large flying machines that are used to patrol the surroundings of Automaton Gunship Facilities and scan nearby activity. When Helldiver activity is detected, Gunships will quickly be dispatched to scan and investigate the area. Gunships will shoot with a turret mounted on their underside and a barrage of rockets when spotted.
Gunships resemble smaller, weaker versions of Automaton Dropships, missing the "arms" that hold the Automaton troops for deployment.
== Tactics ==
* They can be quickly dealt with via a well-placed shot from any High-Explosive Anti-Tank type support weapon like the LAS-99 Quasar Cannon to any part of the ship.
** The FAF-14 Spear is particularly effective as its homing missiles are very likely to take shoot a gunship down. A coordinated Spear gunner-loader team can dispatch a gunship wave before they have a chance to retaliate.
*The LAS-98 Laser Cannon can quickly down gunships if aimed at the engines; a single heat-sink is frequently enough to down 3-4 gunships with sufficient accuracy.
* The AC-8 Autocannon can shoot them down with 2-3 shots to one of the engines.
* The Autocannon Sentry and Rocket Sentry are capable of shooting down gunships. But should be deployed in their blind spots so they don't get immediately destroyed by rocket barrages.
* The EXO-49 Emancipator Exosuit's autocannons can easily rip through gunship squadrons.
* The APW-1 Anti-Materiel Rifle is capable of taking down the gunships by firing 3-4 shots into a single engine. By leading the gunship's path in the direction its moving, and hitting a single engine, you can take them down. Not the most effective method, but good to know in a pinch.
* If a support weapon is unavailable, shots from the PLAS-1 Scorcher can damage a Gunship's midsection just behind the turret.
* It is recommended to run for cover as they lay heavy fire.
* It is recommended to shoot down every Gunship before arming the Hellbomb on a Gunship Facility, as they will shoot the Hellbomb to disable it if spotted.
* Using smoke stratagems and getting out of their sensors is one way to break contact with gunship packs. Although this may be difficult if surrounded.
== Notes==
* They were added in the 1.000.200 Patch, on April 2nd 2024.
* Emergence of Automaton gunship vessels, alongside the first sights of Factory Striders, was a direct result of Bots successfully defending Tibit planet during the third stage of Operation "Swift Disassembly", where their major production capacities were located, as was stated in dispatches.
* As of update 1.000.400, packs of gunships will now start patrolling the map and their size will depend on difficulty, and will continue as long as gunship facilities are active. Additionally, a certain mission modifier will cause gunships patrols to spawn from the edge of the map indefinitely, even if no gunship facilities are on the map.
Category:Automatons
Category:Enemies (Helldivers 2)