Twinblade

Krasna KA-65 "Twinblade"
A Twinblade on patrol
Faction	Soviet Union
Unit Type	Multirole Helicopter
Designation	Anti Surface/Transport
Prerequisites	Unknown
Production Building	Airfield
Secondary Ability	Disembark Cargo File:AbilitySovietTwinblade.png
Cost	$1000
Production Time	0:10
Heroic Upgrade	Tesla Canister Rounds •HMGs gain a weak EMP effect that reduce a mechanical target's speed and ROF over time, eventually disable it completely.
Dev. Status	RA3 Original Unit

Country of Origin	Russian SFSR
Manufactured at	Krasna Aerospace, Moscow
Key Features	» 60mm "Oduvanchik" rocket pod (x4)  » PKX 14.5mm heavy machine gun (x2)  » Passenger cabin w/ reading material  » Towing cables fit most vehicles  » Dual contra-rotating rotors for a stable ride

"This is our premises."

- Twinblade Pilot

Tactical Analysis

• Bristling with weapons: Twinblades can overwhelm most terrestrial targets ill-equipped to retaliate against aircraft. Their machine guns may fire continuously without overheating, while their rockets deliver a powerful punch. Twinblades have so many rockets, they never have to resupply in battle. However, the rockets are slow to rearm, so Twinblade pilots tend to favor brutal hit-and-run attacks.

• Beware of fighters: While the Twinblade's machine guns can be used to attack helicopters and flying infantry, they are useless against faster moving fighters. As such, the Twinblade remains highly vulnerable to Allied air superiority fighters. The Soviet Military Affairs Bureau strongly recommends that Twinblades always travel with MiG fighter escort.

• Passenger room: Surveys indicate that, when it comes to vehicular combat transportation, Soviet infantry divisions generally prefer flying in a Twinblade cabin under the strict supervision of a commissar to being packed into a KDB-2 Bullfrog and forcefully ejected into the combat zone.

• Towing cables: A remarkable power/mass ratio gives the Twinblade the ability to pick up and tow most other combat vehicles, although the towing system and the passenger compartment use mutually-exclusive systems. This means a Twinblade can airlift a vehicle or some troopers, but not both at once.

WWIII Operational History

The Soviet Union is internationally reviled for its "zero-tolerance" policy toward battlefield deserters, in what many critics deride as an unethically ruthless attitude toward warfare. This policy is widely enforced by the Soviets' emblematic combat helicopter, the KA-65 Twinblade, due to its ability to hover over the battlefield in an optimal position to quickly identify and deal with those attempting to flee from the front lines. In a recent release, however, the Soviet Military Affairs Bureau announced that battlefield desertions recently dropped to a record-low zero percent (rounded to the nearest whole number), and thanked the Soviet people for their unwavering devotion to the elimination of their nation's enemies. Nevertheless, the Twinblade is expected to continue to see heavy use in ongoing conflicts between Soviet and Allied forces.

Soviet poster depicting a Twinblade in action

This sturdy, well-armoured mainline combat helicopter features swivel-mounted dual heavy-duty machine guns in addition to four rocket launchers slung under the wings. Further, its three-rotor design (two main rotors with one in the tail) gives this gunship unparalleled stability among similar aircraft. It bears mentioning that the Twinblade's machine guns, which pack more than enough punch to chew through an enemy squad in no time, are ill-suited against armoured vehicles--though, of course, that's what the rockets are for.

This is a deliberate trade-off to reduce the mass of the Twinblade, which helps make the gunship remarkably quick, yet muscular enough to transport a Tesla Trooper fire team or even a V4 rocket launcher to and from the front. Because of all this, Soviet battlefield commanders often quip that the Twinblade is "very, very Russian", in the sense that this helicopter is considered to be direct and uncompromising. Even still, it is not without vulnerabilities.

All that ammunition carried on board, and the relatively delicate engineering needed to make the thing somehow fly straight, means the Twinblade is quite susceptible to anti-aircraft fire. In one incident, an entire Twinblade squadron carrying a Soviet Hammer tank platoon was ambushed and decimated by a wing of Allied Apollo fighters, causing the Soviet Union to fervently re-declare war against France, Germany, and Great Britain in a harshly-worded announcement. Considering the Twinblade may be carrying precious cargo, the loss of even one can put a heavy toll even on the vast riches of the Soviet Union. This, along with the Twinblade's ability to hover watchfully over a battle, gives the aircraft a uniquely important and authoritative role within the Soviet military.

Today, Twinblades all carry Soviet commissars on board as copilots, men well-versed in the Soviet doctrine who do not hesitate to goad their enemies or motivate their brethren by any means necessary.

Post-War Operational History

Fanmodel of the Twinblade, made by V.Metalic.

After a series of disastrous crashes that resulted in the loss of several Twinblades and vehicles, which were caused by complete engine failures due to mechanical stress, a directive was sent out mandating that Apocalypse tanks were no longer to be carried by Twinblades, and that rockets were not to be fired during carrying operations for risk of backflash damage to the carried vehicles.

During the last war, an improvised rocket type, the S-7A "Siegebreaker", became popular among Twinblade pilots flying support in cities besieged by the Japanese. These rockets, which are tipped with the shaped explosive caps from Schardin mines, are extremely effective at breaking through bunkers or walls, and can quickly turn occupied civilian structures into rubble and clear the way for landing troop. The demand for this rocket was so high that most production lines simply switched over entirely. In addition, the mount for the Twinblade's machine guns has been modified, allowing the gunner to use the machine guns as anti-air weapons, allowing Twinblades to take down other helicopters and flying infantry, though they are entirely ineffective against faster moving aircraft.

However, "Siegebreaker" rockets are significantly less effective against armored vehicles, which many Commissars find frustrating as their prestige among tank divisions are rapidly diminishing. In response to Commissars' petitions for installing anti-tank rockets on Twinblades, Premier Davidova ruled that blasting apart friendly tanks is a Stalinist barbaric act(and a waste of resources) and should have been banned long ago. A more humane alternative, inspired by Allied Cryocopters, is offered: small caliber Tesla Canister Rounds, capable of disrupting electronics piece by piece and eventually completely incapacitating without dealing any real damage to a ground vehicle. Obviously, the same cannot be said to helicopters, which will definitely crash if disabled. However, given the experimental nature of these rounds, the Premier decreed that only a fraction of Commissars, supposedly the most seasoned and outstanding ones can retrofit their Twinblades with them. Fierce competitions ensue and soon Commissars become fully occupied with outperforming and framing each other, while the proposal about anti-tank rockets has been dropped into the memory hole.

Just the Stats

Twinblade
Transport(5/1 Vehicle)
Multirole Helicopter
Cost	1000
Build Time	0:10
Health	100
Speed	190
Armour Type	Thin Skinned

Machine Gun
Units Only, Firing Arc(120° Front)
Gun
Range	25/250
RPS	4
Damage	5
Suppression	8
DPS	20

Machine Gun(AA)
Helicopters/Flying Infantry Only, Firing Arc(120° Front)
Bullet
Range	25/250
RPS	4
Damage	5
Suppression	N/A
DPS	20

Rocket Pods
Structures Only, Firing Arc(Front)
Siege
Range	100/250
RPS	4
Damage	5
Suppression	N/A
DPS	20