Iron Eagle Gyrocopter

One of the few gyrocopters in Warhammer 40k.

The Iron Eagle Gyrocopter was a Squat aircraft and its primary flyer. It was notable of being one of the two flying units in WH40K back when air vehicles were unheard of. Used for ground attack missions against enemy artillery positions and headquarters in lightning fast raids, Iron Eagle's were piloted by daring Squat Guild pilots. The Iron Eagle achieved its unprecedented maneuverability by combining traditional gravitic thrusters with high-powered turbofans, giving it extra power and lift. The Iron Eagle had a crew of two: a gunner and a pilot. And like everything else in Epic, it looked fucking ridiculous.

Overview

By using dense terrain to cover their approach, daring Guild aeronauts can spring upon enemy artillery and HQs in lightning fast raids, swooping through them with their cannon blazing. The exceptional maneuverability of a Iron Eagle attack gyrocopters means that they can fire in any direction, not just their forward 180 degree arc.

All Iron Eagles are armed with a battlecannon and an autocannon which makes it great against infantry and light to medium vehicles.

Due to the shortcomings of the Iron Eagle when dealing with large formations of infantry or armored vehicles, Squat engineers mounted new weapons configurations on the aircraft to deal with such foes. These variants are:

Steel Hawk

The Steel Hawk was specialized in anti-infantry duty, and was armed with pods of Battlehammer short range rockets and a Multi-melta in place of the Iron Eagle's Battle Cannon. Steel Hawks thus, act as an attack craft with the melta being used for anti-tank or anti-armor.

War Hawk

The War Hawk was a dedicated tank hunter, equipped with advanced laser-guided armor-piercing Doom Anvil missiles, and bolters for self-defense. The laser guided missiles on the War Hawk means they can provide excellent supporting fire. When the missiles are launched, they ride a laser beam to the target.