Loach
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Vehicle Info
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| Operators | Western Private Military Contractors |
| Maps Available | N/A |
The Loach Helicopter is a helicopter in Squad, introduced in the 8.1 Update, "Hired Guns." The Loach CAS is the only Close Air Support helicopter currently in the game.
Vehicle Infocards[]
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General Information[]
Officially known as the OH-6 Cayuse manufactured by Hughes, the Loach is a Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) that has been in service since the 1960s. The LOH designation is where the aircraft's nickname, "Loach," is derived.
Variants[]
Loach Scout[]
The Loach Scout is the unarmed variant of the Loach, with an enclosed cabin and higher carrying capacity. It has room for one Pilot and 3 passengers, along with 300 points of ammo, and is worth 5 tickets when destroyed.
Loach CAS[]
The Loach CAS exchanges ammo and passenger capacity for a pair of pylon-mounted Miniguns and Hydra 70 rocket pods. It has room for one Pilot and one passenger, along with 50 points of ammo, and is worth 10 tickets when destroyed.
| Weapon | Model | Caliber | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| MG | GAU-17/A | 7.62x51mm | ? |
| Dumb Fire Rockets | M151 High Explosive Dual Purpose | 70mm | 7 |
| M156 White-Phosphorus Smoke | 7 |
Gameplay[]
The Loach is an extremely fast, nimble helicopter well suited to its scouting and light attack roles. This comes at the cost of being highly vulnerable to enemy fire, relying on speed and agility to survive.
- The Loach cannot be used to place a Radio or to carry build, making it exclusively a transport and attack aircraft. Both variants however retain the full kit selection ability of other helicopters.
- The CAS Variant only holds 7 rockets of each type, requiring careful use and/or frequent rearming. This can be exacerbated by the ability to fire rockets in fully automatic by holding LMB.
- All variants require careful avoidance of enemy fire, as it can be shot down by nearly any ranged weapon.
- The Loach's engine can be destroyed with one or two rounds from any weapon above pistol caliber when struck through the hull. Hitting the rotor hub or exposed cabin shaft directly will disable it with a single shot, even from infantry assault rifles.
- Both the pilot and passengers of the Loach are vulnerable to small arms fire, making it the only helicopter in Squad that the pilot is able to be shot out of.
Flying[]
- See Helicopter flying for hints to setup your joystick and head tracking device.
- The Loach uses analog gauges instead of digital displays for speed, altitude, pitch, and row. Make sure to become familiar with reading them by practicing in the training range.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Loach CAS was not the first CAS Helicopter available in Squad - a CAS Variant of the United States Marine Corps UH-1Y was mistakenly added in Update v3.3, but removed shortly after.
- The rocket pods on the Loach CAS are labeled as being by "Offworld Ordinance", an easter egg for Offworld Industries, the developers of Squad.
- The full label reads "Offworld Ordinance / M260 LWL / FAFO Module".
- As of Squad v8.2.2 there is no dedicated keyboard assignment available for a dedicated "fire helicopter weapon", so those who fly with keyboard cannot double-map any key without causing issues.
External links[]
See Also[]
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