LX-3 FX Super Cobra Helicopter

Heroic Vehicle
Full Name	LX-3 FX
Alias	LX-3 Super Cobra
Origin	Thunderstorm / Cobra Command
Transportation	Attack Helicopter
Creation	Cobra Command
Location	New York City Grand Canyon The Pacific Easter Island Small Enemy Fortress Rome Desert Jungle Cave Main Enemy Fortress
Users	Unnamed Pilot (Player)
Usage / Powers	Flight VTOL Armaments Vulcan Gun Missiles
Purposes	Eliminate the terrorist threat
Status	Determinant
Type of Heroic Vehicle	Offensive Aircraft

The LX-3 FX Super Cobra Helicopter is the main protagonist of the 1984 first-person interactive shooter Thunderstorm (known outside of Japan as Cobra Command). It is a specially designed attack helicopter sent by the Cobra Command in order to eliminate a terrorist organization from conquering the globe.

History

Across the globe, an unnamed terrorist organization has amassed a large army and is threatening the world by causing havoc wherever they go. To prevent this diabolical force from reigning supreme, the Cobra Command plots a counteroffensive to eradicate their forces. To accomplish this task, an unnamed pilot is enlisted to fly the LX-3 FX Super Cobra, an armed helicopter that is capable of packing a punch against the enemy. Though LX-3 is a very capable attack helicopter, its durability is sacrificed for the sake of high speed and maneuverability. So only the pilot with excellent skill and the nerve of steel is able to operate LX-3.

The LX-3 FX Super Cobra travels to New York City and the Grand Canyon, where it confronts and battles the terrorists' forces. It eventually makes its way to Easter Island, where it locates the enemy's hidden base and destroys it. Following this, it then engages against more of the terrorists in Rome, a Desert, and a Jungle, before making its way to a Cave where it pinpoints the main base of the terrorists, there it tracks down the core of the base and destroys it, before escaping out of a natural opening to the fortress, narrowly escaping the self-destruction of the fortress as the pilot's commanding officer declares the mission completed.

Crossover Appearance

The helicopter makes a cameo in Double Dragon II: The Revenge inside the garage of the Dragon Brothers as they depart. The game designer Yoshihisa Kishimoto who developed Thunderstorm during his employment under Data East later moved to Technos Japan and put his LX-3 creation into his new game project.

Weapons

The LX-3 FX Super Cobra is armed with two vital weapons: a vulcan gun, and missiles. Both weapons will be fired wherever the crosshairs on the HUD appear at, and must be fired quickly, otherwise the helicopter will be shot down.

• Vulcan Gun - fires a continuous stream of bullets in the direction of the crosshair. The weapon has unlimited ammo and has an incredible fire rate, but can overheat if fired for too long, rendering it inoperable for a period of time.

• Missiles - fires a missile that tracks down the enemy within the helicopter's crosshairs. It has unlimited ammo and can destroy enemies must quicker than the Vulcan Gun, but has a slower fire rate as a counterbalance.

Gallery

NA front box cover

European front box cover

Japanese arcade flyer

iOS screen

Cockpit screen from arcade

LX-3 in Double Dragon II: The Revenge

Trivia

• The design and name for the LX-3 FX Super Cobra are based on the Bell AH-1 SuperCobra.