The Attack Helicopter, or "Cobra" by multiplayer announcers, is a seven killstreak (six with Hardline) that is immediately available to the player at rank 1, along with the Spy Plane and Care Package. When activated, the user designates an area on the map near which the Attack Helicopter hovers for a short period of time. This marking comes in handy when the player needs to protect a position, such as a bomb site or flag. On the small maps and many of the medium-small maps, placing an Attack Helicopter in the center of the map will allow it to cover nearly the whole playing field. Due to the function of the Ghost perk, and the rarity of players using its pro version, Attack Helicopters are quite deadly if the opposing team or players do not neutralize it in a timely manner.
Destroying the Attack Helicopter can be accomplished with generous amounts of small arms fire or 2 rockets or missiles from a launcher weapon. Identifying friendly or hostile Attack Helicopters is possible by observing the dorsal stripe and camouflage colors; green markings on tan camouflage for friendly, and red markings on gray camouflage for hostile. It also has the ability to attack enemy dogs.
The Attack Helicopter, while obviously not as efficient as any Chopper Gunner or a Gunship, can be powerful in the right situations. In objective matches, the Attack Helicopter can turn the tables, even if another team is far behind. It would logically force opponents inside buildings, and with talented players, could be removed easily.