Anti-air

[Your Neighbour]

Can main battle tanks (T-55 T70 etc)'s machine gun be used as anti air weapon?

[Chris]

Yes, but not efficiently. Your main anti-air should be missile anti-air and your back-up/defensive AA should mostly consist of anti-air artillery. Depends on map, situation, how worried you are about an air-rush etc.

[Zach]

Yes they can be, but are not very effective like Chris said. Some NATO tanks have autcanons which are much more effective against helos, but still not a replacement for AA. The autocanon is like a mike between a machinegun and a main gun.

[Boomer99]

Tanks also have terrible range firing on helos. I only rely on tank's machine guns to get them into cover or closer to a real AA unit. Also, no every tank has the ability to fire on helos, so if it's a low level tank (i.e. T-55), you're a sitting duck for an air assault.

[Your Neighbour]

Ok thanks all :)

[JC]

Even heavy MGs fitted on IFV or APCs can work against helos. And most French and some American Tanks fit autocannons, which make for decent emergency AA if you force helos to close in. Just retreat your threatened vehicles into a forest.

(Note that NATO helicopters are more susceptible to light arms fire with no armor and 5HP - vs. PACT helos, which are much more resulient. 10 HP and armor.)

One thing you should always consider is that SAMs like the BUK or Roland operates best with free line of sight. Park them in bushes, hedges, or - gasp - in the open, behind your forces.

A missile SAMs at the edge of a forest can only cover one approach vector. A SAM inside a forest however will not defend you against helos at all.

[RealFakeGamerGirl]

I've seen bradleys with their autocannons destroy up to four pairs of air units, but only if there's close to a one-to-one ratio between them, and if they're hidden in the woods or in hedges, so they can't pick them off with airborne ATGMs and rockets.

Two against one is pretty deadly.

I couldn't tell you if it's a viable strategy or not, since I'm not very good at the game, but I have seen it be effective in the defensive role against the AI, so I assume if another player isn't paying the utmost attention to your little exchange, like if you took them by surprise on their way somewhere else, I would think it would work.

Obviously, tanks have weaker machine guns, but if you're in cover and hidden, so they don't see you til they're in range, having several tanks all firing at once should be pretty devastating to most helicopters.

Of course, that's when you'd start getting shelled or pounded by an MLRS...

[Lubyak]

If you've caught helos in a trap (e.g. they've flown right over your tank column) machine guns should do a number on them, however, you can't rely on that as most helicopters primary means of attack is long range AT missiles. So, the machine guns on your tanks can be a nasty surprise to someone who thinks they can just swarm you with helos to win, but they won't do much against an intelligent helicopter assault.