Helicopter
OVERVIEW
Steam and Team17’s official descriptions present helicopters as a way to ferry supplies to teammates. This establishes a logistics role, not an exclusive purpose or the absence of armed variants. The studio’s announcement of 21 May 2026 also claims real-world flight models; that is a published claim, not a flight test by this site.
HISTORY
There is one piece of first-hand evidence about what this actually looks like, and it is the most quoted observation anyone has made about this game. PC Gamer, reporting on 11 August 2026 after playing a test build, described a transport pilot finishing near the top of the money standings across a long match without a single kill. That is one journalist’s account of one test build, not a confirmed property of the shipping game, and we mark it as reported for that reason. But it lines up exactly with what the publisher states about the economy — that every teamplay action pays, including transporting friendlies to the zone — and the two together are the clearest published picture of why anyone would spend a match flying. BULKHEAD’s Steam notes of 30 September announce a fix for a Havoc bug that increased damage taken from cannon fire. This does not establish the helicopter catalogue, damage values or measured survivability. In a separate Steam post dated 2 October, BULKHEAD said it had overcorrected the CIWS-versus-Havoc balance in the previous patch and hotfixed it that morning: the CIWS now destroys a Havoc in around six seconds, compared with twelve before. Those are the studio’s published balance figures, not an independent measurement by this site.
WHAT IT CHANGES IN PRACTICE
The published transport rewards make flying useful to the team, not merely a way to move your own character. The official Season 1 changelog published on 9 September 2026 also names the Little Bird with miniguns and the Z20 Lakota, with announced price changes. The earlier claim that no variants, prices or armament had been published is therefore outdated. These patch notes establish announced changes; this article does not establish seating capacity, spawn locations or measured flight performance in the released version.
WHAT PLAYERS GET WRONG
Do not infer that every helicopter is an unarmed transport: the official Season 1 changelog names a Little Bird with miniguns. Equally, that name does not establish its effectiveness, survivability or the best way to counter it. Keep announced equipment and prices separate from tested tactics. Transport rewards support coordinating with teammates; the logistics and supply page explains the sourced transport mechanics.
Launch balance changes
Selected changes announced in the official changelog dated 9 September 2026. These are published changes, not a complete price list or an independent check of the current game build. Item and progression-track names retain the English spelling used in that source.
Little Bird with miniguns · Pilot — Price (in-game money)
Before : $25,000 → After : $50,000
Z20 Lakota · Pilot — Price (in-game money)
Before : $50,000 → After : $35,000
Player kill using an air vehicle — XP
Before : 300 → After : 250
Selected changes relevant to this page; see the source for the complete announcement.Official changelog.
THIS ENTRY WAS LAST CHECKED 2 OCTOBER 2026