Chopper Gunner

Chopper Gunner is a killstreak reward in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
The Chopper Gunner is a ground-controlled Killstreak reward which gives the player the ability to control an armed Helicopter. While the Rangers, SEALs and Task Force use the AH-64 Apache, the Spetsnaz, OpFor and Militia use the Mi-28 Havoc. Contrary to popular belief that the Chopper gunner lasts for 40 seconds, it lasts for approximately 58 seconds (including the time flying to the battlefield).

Shots from the Apache's/Havoc's cannon are explosive and can penetrate light cover. It does not have any aim assist feature. The steady stream of shots allows the user to easily kill many enemy targets, especially in outdoor levels. The pilot will occasionally call out targets, and will either orbit the map as an attack helicopter would or stop at points where enemies often spawn. The latter of these flight paths is noticeably more effective, and occurs at Afghan, Invasion, Skidrow, Favela, Scrapyard, Highrise, Terminal, and Trailer Park.

The chopper has one flare that is automatically deployed to divert guided enemy missiles. After this flare is spent, it can be hit with any missile. It is possible to shoot down a Mi-28/Apache with an unguided missile, since they are not affected by flares. It is also possible, although difficult, to shoot a guided missile from right below the chopper and if the distance is short, the flare will not have time to divert the missile. This is easier with Pave Lows, but is also possible with Chopper Gunners.

When first activated, the user sees, from the gunner's point of view, the helicopter taking off some distance from the battlefield and flying towards it. The user can begin firing almost immediately, but hitting targets at this distance is usually impossible because the gunner cannot shoot anything at such an angle.

If the user is killed while using the Chopper Gunner, they may finish using it before respawning. One exception is in Search and Destroy where it stops after the player dies, which applies to other user controlled killstreaks such as AC-130 and Predator Missile. Another exception to this rule is if the player reaches the team killing threshold in Hardcore Team Deathmatch, which causes them to suicide and sit out per the friendly fire penalty. Using a Flashbang on users of the Chopper Gunner is more useful than killing them in respawn gamemodes as it impairs their Gunner vision.

Evasion/Destruction
The Chopper Gunner is easily destroyed by Stinger missiles, as only two are needed; the helicopter has one flare. If an enemy player has a Harrier Jet in the air, the Harrier Jet can be used to kill the Chopper Gunner, as it is placed below the Harrier Strike. Bullets are seen easily by the Chopper Gunner, and therefore shooting at the helicopter is less useful than firing missiles (although Stinger rockets/smoke is more easily visible than bullets). The Predator Missile is also useful to take down a Chopper Gunner, as it can simply slam into it to destroy it. It is possible to destroy the Chopper Gunner with ONE missile, if the player is directly underneath as they fire a Stinger Missile at the Chopper Gunner, but this is difficult to do.

Cold-Blooded users are still somewhat easily seen on dark maps like Underpass as their body is still white, and are distinguishable from teammates because they have no name above their head.

With the KillCam, pausing the game while watching a Chopper Gunner's cam shows their position among the enemy team. This allows them to easily be killed by flanking maneuvers. Also, the users' position without pausing is seen by the green "+" symbol on the regular vision.

The user is extremely vulnerable to enemies while using the Chopper Gunner. Finding a hidden position, placing claymores, and using the Chopper Gunner to cover the player's position help when trying to achieve higher killstreaks.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The Chopper Gunner makes a return in Call of Duty: Black Ops, however only requiring a killstreak of 9 (8 with the Hardline perk).

After attaining the killstreak, the user takes control of a machine gun emplacement on a UH-1 Huey helicopter. It takes a short amount of time for the helicopter to reach the boundaries of the map; and while this happens, the player's character opens the side door of the chopper and takes the controls of the Minigun. Unlike the Modern Warfare 2 version, the Chopper Gunner in Black Ops flies around the edges the map instead of hovering over a particular zone for a few seconds and then moving to another. This Chopper Gunner also uses real first person imaging, unlike Modern Warfare 2's thermal imaging.

When the helicopter is above the map, the user is able to fire the minigun constantly for as long as the helicopter is being controlled; if shot down, the user can still fire the minigun, albeit much less accurately as the chopper spins out of control towards the ground. There are no ammo limits or overheating to worry about, therefore most players simply hold the fire button down for the chopper's entire duration.

The Chopper Gunner lasts for 60 seconds unless shot down. It has one set of flares which deter enemy thumb|300px|right|The Chopper Gunner in action.missiles attempting to bring down the vehicle. The player controlling the gun can be killed but can continue using the killstreak reward. Like all other helicopter-based killstreaks in Black Ops, the UH-1 will appear differently based on whether it is controlled by friendly or hostile forces. "Friendly" Hueys will be painted in a tan camouflage with green markings, while "Enemy" Hueys will be painted in gray camouflage and have red markings.

The Chopper Gunner is devastating in wide, open maps like Jungle and small maps, like Nuketown but is highly ineffective in maps with many buildings, such as Cracked, where people will hide indoors, and the Chopper Gunner will be fortunate to scrap up a couple of kills.

Another use for the Chopper Gunner is acting as an eye in the sky, pointing out enemies in locations where the chopper cannot reach.

The helicopter flies in a consistent circle around the map, making it the easiest aircraft to shoot down with a free-fire rocket. The Attack Helicopter and the Gunship both strafe when faced with an incoming rocket, but Hueys continue flying in the same pattern and do not change course.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 * The pilot will sometimes call out and mark targets in the language of each faction.
 * Calling in a Chopper Gunner gives the player 400 XP reward, while shooting down a Chopper Gunner rewards the player 300 XP.
 * Completing the challenge Chopper Gunner I (calling in 3 chopper gunners) will unlock the title "Get to the Choppa!" (a reference to the film "Predator").
 * Humorously, the entire gun assembly on the Apache/Havoc rotates on its mounting, clipping through the mounts that attach it to the fuselage.
 * This helicopter cannot be used while any other helicopters are in the air (except for the Care Package Little Bird), yet it can still be used if a plane is in the air such as Harriers and AC-130's. Presumably, this is because Harriers hover relatively low over the map, while AC-130's fly above the ceiling of the map, where bullets stop.
 * When a Chopper Gunner is called in by the Navy SEALs, Task Force 141 or the US Army Rangers, the announcer for either team will say "Friendly Apache incoming/inbound." When the Brazilian Militia, OpFor, or Spetsnaz call in a Chopper Gunner, the announcer will simply say "Friendly Chopper incoming/inbound," not referring to the type of helicopter, a Mi-28 Havoc, although chatter sounds for both helicopters were recorded for every team, no matter what helicopter team uses.
 * In levels with tall buildings, such as Skidrow, the Chopper Gunner can actually move through some buildings.
 * The front of the Apache has a "shark teeth" design painted on the nose, resembling the AH-1 Cobras of the same paint design that were deployed in the Vietnam War.
 * Not only can Harriers shoot down the Chopper Gunner, they will target it immediately upon its entry into their field of view. Players calling in a Chopper Gunner should ensure that there are no enemy Harriers before doing so. This does not apply to the AC-130, which can easily shoot down enemy Harriers due to its higher flight altitude.
 * If an enemy player throws a Stun Grenade at the player controlling the Chopper, his vision will also be stunned or flashed with white light.
 * Chopper Gunner is the only point in Modern Warfare 2 where the AH-64 Apache is seen and used in combat. In Single Player, the player could only catch a few seconds' glimpse of it before it would leave the player's line of sight.
 * The Chopper Gunner prestige challenge is strangely named "Cobra Commander", which does not seem to make sense seeing as the chopper is not a Cobra but an Apache or Havoc. This was likely done due to the opportunity to make a reference to the lead villain from G.I. JOE - Cobra Commander - and since the Chopper Gunner killstreak offers a top-down (command style) view of the battlefield to kill enemies. The killstreak console codename is "Cobra Gunner".
 * The Chopper Gunner's firing sounds different in split-screen than online multiplayer, as the sounds from both third- and first-person of the Chopper Gunner's fire are heard through the same sound system.
 * When controlling the Chopper Gunner, in the bottom left side of the screen the caliber of the cannon is displayed as 25mm, but actually the cannons on the Apache and Havoc fire the 30mm shell.
 * On Terminal, the helicopter will sometimes fly under the map, out into the pavement.
 * On Vacant, the Chopper will usually fly through the tall buildings on the outskirts of the map. These buildings are not solid, and therefore can be shot through to kill players.
 * On Terminal, it is possible to attach C4 to the chopper by climbing on top of the building with the large propane tank and waiting for it to hover in front of the building.
 * On Highrise, the Chopper will sometimes (very rarely) fly inside and below the map. This may be annoying because the helicopter is inside the building, and the player can see all enemies, but the player cannot fire at them.
 * It is possible to get a headshot with a Chopper Gunner.
 * When the player using the Chopper Gunner attempts to shoot the enemy player, the victim tends to be dragged and pulled to the impact, stopping him to flee. This could be due to make it easier for the kill.
 * Chopper Gunner rounds will only penetrate thin materials like sheet metal, plywood, and other materials susceptible to bullet penetration. This was most likely done for balancing reasons.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

 * The Chopper Gunner character model is a man with the perk Flak Jacket, but he is lacking a face.
 * There used to be a glitch where if the player called in a Chopper Gunner the moment they finished using the Gunship, it would show the door and the minigun, but the screen would black out and it would immediately go back to the player's screen, with them losing their Chopper Gunner, as seen in this video.
 * The interior of the Chopper Gunner is highly detailed, lacking only the minute detail on the gauges and dials.
 * This Killstreak is unavailable on the Wii version of Black Ops due to the fact that it has low RAM capacity.
 * If you were to view a person using the Chopper Gunner in a kill-cam or a game winning kill-cam, the red squares surrounding enemy players would not appear.
 * In theater mode, it is possible to see no one piloting the helicopter.
 * It is possible to shoot down a Strela-3 missile that has been shot at you while in the Chopper Gunner.
 * It is possible to get a headshot with a Chopper Gunner Kill.
 * The picture of the Chopper Gunner in the Killstreaks menu shows it in Summit.
 * Regardless of what faction you are it will always be a Huey despite the fact that Spetsnaz don't use Hueys but instead they use Mi-8s which are not in Multiplayer.
 * If you are in the either Spetsnaz, NVA, or Tropas, the communications from the pilot will be in their language such as in the Huey when the pilot instructs the player to open the door and get ready to fire and for the Mi-24 gunship in the radio instructs the player that he is free to move.
 * On the minigun's ammo box, here are the words "7.62 CAL TR3Y" and on the next line "ARCH==342098".
 * The soldier in the Chopper Gunner shooting can not be killed like a natural player from primary weapons. He takes damage as a part of the helicopter.
 * Calling in the Chopper Gunner earns the player 300 XP.
 * It's possible to destroy a Care Package Helicopter with the Chopper Gunner.