How to counter a jet-sniping attack helicopter

battlefield-3

I was playing Conquest at Kharg Island, where my jet repeatedly got shot out of the sky by a hovering Viper attack helicopter with heatseekers. Whenever I tried to take it out, it would usually lock and fire at me before I could destroy it. If it didn't destroy me on the first try, it would just spin around and finish me off before I can loop back.

I eventually destroyed it a few times by kamikaze'ing into it, but that's hardly the most efficient technique.

How can I counter this tactic?

Best Answer

1 on 1: Heli's dont stand a chance against a good jet pilot.

A few (generalised) tips for taking out choppers however:

It can't shoot you if it can't see you:

  • If the pilot has to go nose up to get a shot at you, they are (or will be) moving backwards or downwards, and will avoid doing this for too long.
  • The gunner also acts as lookout in a good pairing, but only has limited view upwards.

Know where it is:

  • Dropping flares is far easier when you know how long the missile will take to get to you.
  • Allows you to get longer gun-runs.
  • Lets you know how far you have to run to lose the lock (Flares are valuable!)

Pick your moment to attack: If you get two or three hits on the heli, it knows your on to it, and will pull evasive maneuvers. Watch the pilot as he turns to pull a straight run against a target, close in then land as much of a cannon run as you can. One full burst of cannon fire -will- destroy a chopper

Also:

  • There is little point using AA missiles. Against a pilot-gunner combo, they are merely an annoyance, you may pull the occasional kill against a lone pilot... but it's far better to make yourself useful to groundforces.
  • ECMs can be tricky to use, I still opt for flares, they are usefull for SOFLAM's and throwing Air-radars off, however they seem to have a much lower success rate.

As with the answer above, please don't kamikaze!

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