The Machine Gun Pod is a secondary weapon which appears in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy, and Ace Combat Infinity.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
A MiG-21bis Fishbed armed with MGPs.
The Machine Gun Pod is a secondary weapon compatible with only two aircraft, the MiG-21bis Fishbed and the Su-25TM Frogfoot. In both planes use UPK-23-250 machine gun pods. Within the game, it is known as "MGP".
When the firing button is pressed, both pods will fire simultaneously. Unlike the standard machine gun, the MGP is not governed by a heat system, but has a limited ammunition pool, with the MiG-21bis carrying 810 rounds in Rookie difficulty, 540 rounds in higher difficulties. The Frogfoot carries 999 rounds in Rookie diificulty and 680 rounds in higher difficulties. Ammo loads can be increased by using the "Extra MGP" skill.
The MGPs are most effective at short range combat, but are considerably inaccurate at medium and long range. They have a firepower comparable with that of main guns, though both can be fire simultaneously to deal tremendous damage to a target. While not a very practical weapon in most instances, the combined firepower of the regular gun and gun pods can cause significant damage to bombers, against whom missiles are somewhat ineffective. This makes the MiG-21 a surprisingly effective bomber killer.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy
In Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy, Machine Gun Pod (named "GPD") is a secondary weapon available to a handful of aircraft: the F-4E Phantom II, X-29A, Su-25 Frogfoot, F6F-5 Hellcat, and the A6M5 Zero.
The weapons function in a different way from those featured in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. Instead of firing as long as the user holds the trigger down, each use of the weapon will cause them to fire on their own for a six-second period before a four-second "cooldown". Like their original incarnation, the pods can be fired simultaneously with default guns to cause maximum damage to most targets.
Ace Combat Infinity
All aircraft use UPK-23-250 machine gun pods.
Trivia
- In the games that is appeared in, the A-6E Intruder is depicted as having two Machine Gun Pods equipped, instead of a single internal cannon. However, it is still labeled "GUN", and not "MGP".
Gallery
Russian MGP in the Hangar (ACAH)
MGP for Su-25TM (ACAH)
