| “ | Gunship reporting in. - Comanche reporting for duty. |
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The Comanche is the USA's chief attack helicopter in the war against the GLA. Used primarily for the close support of ground forces, the Comanche is armed with a chaingun and missiles by default; the chaingun can fire continuously, while the missiles fire 4 at a time, with a brief recharge time.
Background[]
A staple combat helicopter in the USA's arsenal, the RAH-66 Comanche is fitted with multiple weapon systems capable of quickly destroying ground targets. Its nose-mounted chaingun is deadly to enemy infantry, and its homing missiles deal good damage to vehicles and buildings. For even more firepower, it can gain rocket pods via the Rocket Pods upgrade.
Abilities[]
| “ | Unloading rockets - Comanche preparing Rocket Barrage |
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Fire Rockets | Orders the Comanche to empty its rocket pods at the target location. The rockets don't track targets, but scatter randomly across a wide area, damaging everything that happens to be within the scatter radius. |
Upgrades[]
| “ | How 'bout those rocket pods? - Comanche |
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Rocket Pods | Unlocks the Rocket Barrage ability. | Purchasable at any American Airfield for $800 |
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Countermeasures | Allows the Comanche to defend itself against missile attacks. | Purchasable at any American Airfield in Zero Hour for $1000 |
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Stealth Comanche Upgrade | Makes the Comanche difficult to detect. | Purchasable at any Malcolm Granger Airfield in Zero Hour for $1000 |
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Advanced Training | Allows the Comanche to gain rank twice as quickly. | Purchasable at any Strategy Center for $1500 |
Game unit[]
| “ | Gunship reporting in. - Comanche |
” |
The Comanche's chief purpose is close air support for ground units on the offensive. Highly maneuverable, it is effective against ground units of most types, especially infantry and light vehicles, which are easy prey. In groups they are potentially very dangerous, particularly in the case of General Granger's 'Stealth Comanches'. They make very good base guards, as they are immune to Rebel Ambushes, infantry drops, tank drops and a large enough group can destroy a Sneak Attack tunnel before it is fully deployed.
The Rocket Pod upgrade enables a Comanche to fire a staggering amount of rockets in a given area, and was capable of being used to destroy buildings or a large group of units, making them effective for demolition duty in a pinch. Interestingly, if a Comanche using the rocket barrage ability is ordered to stop before expending the rocket supply and another target is within range, it will fire the remaining rockets on said target (provided it's an enemy unit or base defense) before using its gun and primary rockets.
Groups are capable of destroying most anti-air units. Most anti-aircraft units are effective against the Comanche, notable examples being the GLA's Quad Cannon and China's Gatling Cannon. Rogue MiGs and Raptors are also quite dangerous to it. Comanches in general suffer from poor armor.
EMP weapons are also capable of causing the Comanche to crash by disabling it. Pilots parachute as normal.
They are also the only aircraft among General Granger's forces to not have a Point Defense Laser system, most likely for balance of gameplay, as a large swath of Comanches with single PDLs would be extremely lethal to almost every single ground unit.
Selected Quotes[]
| “ | Gunship reporting in. - When emerged from the Airfield |
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| “ | In the field. - When selected |
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| “ | Frequencies open. - When selected |
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| “ | Need a little ground support? - When selected |
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| “ | Comanche here. - When selected |
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| “ | Yes, sir. - When selected |
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| “ | Moving to new AO. - When moving |
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| “ | Nav systems set. - When moving |
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| “ | Visibility clear. - When moving |
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| “ | Flying low. - When moving |
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| “ | Air cover's on the way. - When moving |
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| “ | Hose 'em down. - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | Search and clear! - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | Making a sweep. - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | We're goin' in. - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | Got their position. - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | Operation underway! - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | Got their position! - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | Gotcha covered! - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | This one's mine! - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | Unloading rockets! - When ordered to use Rocket Pods |
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| “ | Time to strike! - When ordered to use Rocket Pods |
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| “ | All accessible targets! - When ordered to use Rocket Pods |
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| “ | Finish 'em off! - When ordered to use Rocket Pods |
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| “ | How 'bout those rocket pods? - When ordered to use Rocket Pods |
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| “ | I'm hit, I'm hit! - When being shot down |
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| “ | I've lost control of her! - When being shot down |
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| “ | Eject, eject! - When being shot down |
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| “ | I can't hold her! - When being shot down |
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| “ | Going down! - When being shot down |
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| “ | Rocket pods are now available, sir. - When the Comanche Rocket Pods upgrade is completed |
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Cut Laser Comanche quotes[]
| “ | Who needs rockets when we have lasers? - When selected |
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| “ | Laser Comanche ready to strike. - When selected |
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| “ | Comanche laser systems online. - When selected |
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| “ | Light 'em up! - When ordered to attack |
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| “ | Poke some holes through 'em! - When ordered to attack |
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Unused Stealth Comanche quotes[]
| “ | Stealth Comanche here. - When selected |
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| “ | They won't see this Comanche! - When selected |
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| “ | Gunship ready for covert ops! - When selected |
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| “ | Looking out for enemy scouts! - When moving |
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Gallery[]
Videos[]
Behind the scenes[]
The real RAH-66 Comanche helicopter was intended to replace the Apache helicopter. It was to have stealth characteristics, which, in the game, only General Granger's Stealth Comanches possess. The Comanche was ultimately canceled in favor of UAVs, with remaining funds used to upgrade existing attack helicopters; only two Comanche prototypes were ever built. The Bell 360 Invictus, which somewhat resembles the Comanche visually except for the lack of an enclosed tail rotor, is slated to become the army's future attack helicopter.
Hammerheads and Venoms from the Tiberium Universe were very similar to it (provides air support for troops) only it uses guns and rockets. The Soviet Twinblade bears a striking resemblance, being different in function only in that it doubles as a transport.
The Comanche has two rocket pods on each wing which contradicts the fact that the 4 anti-tank missiles fired by the Comanche are based on Hellfire missiles which are exposed in their missile pod of 4. Interestingly the rocket pods upgrade's cameo are actually the Hellfire missiles that the Comanche comes with already. Additionally, the helicopter in the Rocket Barrage ability cameo is an AH-1 Cobra.
Laser Comanche[]
The Laser Comanche
| “ | Who needs rockets when we have lasers? - Laser Comanche Unused Quote |
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According to the sound files, General Townes was supposed to have a variant of the Comanche which would've probably used laser cannons instead of rocket launchers. It was scrapped for unknown reasons, although it was restored in some mods (Shockwave, Beta, Etc.) The same thing happens with the Paladin Tank.
See also[]
- Comanche (Renegade): Nod attack helicopter.
