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 Vulture is a heavy gunship used by the UNSC during the early years of the Human-Covenant War. 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 Sparrowhawk, 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 "überunit" constructed at the UNSC Airpad, and requires 6 population, 900 resource points, and 4 energy units 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 4 energy units. A slow unit which can take massive amounts of damage before destruction, the Vulture is the largest ground-based aircraft fielded by the UNSC.



Trivia

 * Given its slow speed, the major threats will most likely come from Covenant Anti-Air units and rapid counter attacking units, such as Banshees.
 * For the sake of game balance, the Vulture is the only UNSC unit in Halo Wars that cannot be commandeered by friendly Spartans. It is unlikely that it can be hijacked by enemy Spartans.