Invulnerable Helicopters

[William Betson]

I am greatly enjoying the new Flashpoint Cold War, and believe that, overall, it is an excellent simulation. There is a significant problem, however, with the play of helicopters. Apparently tanks, Bradleys and Marders cannot engage helicopters with their primary weapons. This is not realistic. I just witnessed a pair of Hinds fly directly over and stop on top of 6 Marders and 2 Leopards without being engaged. I have seen similar things in other scenarios. In fact, a Bradley chain gun or a Marder 20mm would make Swiss cheese of a Hind that came too close. Further, M1's are (and were in 1990) quite capable of hitting Hinds with their main guns. In fact, the training simulator teaches crews to do this. With the automatic lead imparted by the tank's ballistic computer it is an easy shot.
Altitude, of course, might make a difference, but helicopters that fly very high are vulnerable to other systems.
At the time of the late Cold War (and now also) it would have been suicide for an attack helicopter to overfly a tank/IFV defensive position at low altitudes.

[CapnDarwin]

Some clarifications: (we are in the Southern Storm forum, not the Cold War forum, but I'll answer here).
Autocannons on IFVs, like MGs on other AFVs, can engage helos that are stationary or moving towards them directly. Hitting a crossing target is impractical and not something tankers or IFV gunners attempt. That is coming from a Cold War M1 tanker and Master Brad Gunner (and dev). The main gun on the M1 is wasting HEAT or AP trying to hit a moving helo, which is why the M830A1 with airburst fusing was developed in the mid-90s, and work on the AMP M1147 round started in 2012. So we do model weapons with the proper restrictions to engage helicopters.

[William Betson]

I am afraid I must respectfully disagree with the Master Gunner. I commanded an M1A1(HA) tank battalion in Germany from 1990-1992. We routinely trained tank crews to engage helicopters with the tank main gun. With proper lasing and tracking, the ballistic computer on the tank could apply the necessary lead and superelevation to hit a moving helicopter that was flying low and not very fast. In fact, the training simulator presented the crews with numerous helicopter engagements. In my experience it was not hard to hit a Hind in these engagements
The US did later develop an MPAT round with a proximity fuse that could be used against more distant, faster moving targets. I remember upon hearing of that round's development, that I wondered if it was really needed.
At any rate Abrams tanks can hit helicopters with their main guns and in the time period of this game crews were trained to do so.