An attack helicopter, or helicopter gunship, is an armed rotorcraft designed primarily to destroy ground targets like enemy infantry, vehicles, and fortifications, typically wielding autocannons, rockets, and anti-tank missiles such as the AGM-114 Hellfire. These aircraft excel in two main roles—providing close air support for ground troops and conducting anti-tank missions against grouped armored vehicles—and are projected to destroy targets worth about 17 times their own production cost. The concept traces back to World War II with ad hoc fixed-wing aircraft, most famously the U.S. Army's Piper L-4 "Rosie the Rocketer," which used bazookas to knock out German armor in September 1944, alongside the German Bü 181C-3 armed with Panzerfausts. In the 1950s, armed transport helicopters like the Sikorsky H-34 and Mil Mi-4 emerged, but the dedicated attack role was solidified during the Vietnam War with the deployment of armed Bell UH-1s and Mil Mi-8s. Notably, Bell Helicopter employee and Vietnam veteran Billy "Bill" Frank Perkins holds the official certificate as the first person to ever fly an attack helicopter. Today, modern attack helicopters also serve as escorts for transport helicopters and in armed reconnaissance, often carrying air-to-air missiles for self-defense against other aircraft.