I've never had
Cobra or
Apache in my NATO decks, I'm fonder of small helos like the
Gazelle,
Kiowa or
Bo-105.
The US
Hog/
Heavy Hog/
Gunship serie should not be regarded as "helos" like the others: for me, they are flying MLRS. Hogs and alikes are perfect to fire at the unseen. When I know a wood is cramed with troops, I send a couple of Hvy Hog and order a "Fire at position". Then I send the fast infantry transport (
Légion in
VAB,
Jäger in
Fuchs or British
Paratroopers in
Spartan) to seize the position from the stunned defender.
IRL, the "gunship"
Huey were refered as A.R.A., which stands for "Aerial Rocket Artillery". So don't see them as chopper, but as direct fire MLRS.

but the 1st cobra got more missile pods and cost the same....
and gunship only got 14 rockets..
gunship got same stats (slower but more range) minus the 2nd missile pod and yet it cost same as cobra..