AC-220 Gunship

Vulture "The Vulture is one of the UNSC's most powerful units. Basically a highly armed flying assault tank packed to the brim with weapons. The UNSC Vulture is the largest aircraft fielded by the UNSC. It is designed to deliver massive damage to enemy ground troops after air superiority has been achieved. It is slow moving but carries an impressive armament of two twin-autocannons and rocket silos that can be used to deliver a devastating barrage to enemies in a wide area. Crewed by highly trained UNSC pilot and gunners, the Vulture is an expensive unit and is usually reserved for difficult or lengthy battles. Being slow, it is vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire and enemy aircraft, but it is surprisingly resilient."

- Halo Wars Official Site.

The AC-220 Gunship, more commonly known as the Vulture is a heavy gunship used by the UNSC during the early years of the Human-Covenant War.

Description
It is suspended by a series of ducted fans visible near the rear of the aircraft, or jet engines like the D77-TC Pelican. It is slower than other UNSC aircraft, such as the Hornet or the Hawk, but is armed with a number of devastating missile artillery pods for engaging enemy ground and air units, able to fire off huge barrages of missiles, as well as a pair of humm-mounted autocannons. It is considered an "über unit" constructed at the UNSC Airpad, and requires 6 population, 900 resource points, and 4 tech level to deploy. It can be upgraded with the Mega Barrage upgrade, potentially doubling its barrage power; this upgrade is purchased at the Air Pad and costs 800 resource points and requires a minimum tech level of 4.

The Vulture requires highly trained UNSC pilots and gunners, which makes them expensive to use. This, coupled with the amount of time it takes to build one, means that the Vulture is usually only reserved for difficult and lengthy battle situations.

Combat
A slow unit which can take massive amounts of damage before destruction, the Vulture is the largest ground-based aircraft fielded by the UNSC. It is able to fight against both air and ground units due to its weapon configuration (Argent V Missile Pods for aircraft, GUA-23 Autocannons for ground units). Thanks to its "Barrage" ability, it can deliver massive damage to slow and/or static units. The Vulture's main drawbacks are its cost and the large amount of time it takes to build one; it is also vulnerable to fast counter-attacks and very slow to repair. The Vulture should be reserved for buildings and ground units for the greatest effect. It is recommended to get Wolverines for attacks on air units.

Trivia

 * For balance, the Vulture is one of only 2 vehicle units in Halo Wars that cannot be commandeered by SPARTANs. The other being the Covenant Scarab.
 * It is the only UNSC unit in Halo Wars that does not come out of the Firebase upon deployment. Instead, it seems to descend from the Spirit of Fire, decelerating just before touching the ground.
 * The Vulture is the only air unit that isn't immobilized by a single Vampires' Stasis Drain, though it is still damaged and can be immobilized by multiple, synchronous drains.
 * It is possible to make six Vultures at a time, sixteen in Deathmatch, more than enough to take down a Covenant base, regardless of how many Shield Generators it has with a synchronous barrage.
 * The Vulture's "cruising speed" may be much faster than its "attack speed". Given its mass, inertia would make it difficult to maneuver at a high velocity, especially as it does not have rotating segments in addition to vectored thrust in the manner of a Pelican dropship. Such a lack of moving parts increases the structural integrity of the Vulture, as well as freeing up weight for more armaments and armor, but makes it less nimble, necessitating a lower velocity for control reasons.
 * It is known that the AC-220 Vulture was inspired by the modern-day AC-130 Gunships used by the today's United States Air Force, and the AC-47 Gunship developed earlier.