Revision 1

The Ironwing is the Protectorate combat aircraft, a Tier 2 gunship whose AKUTA 40mm Autocannons fire two volleys per second against ground and air alike and gain 50 percent against Medium armour. It is the faction's first real air to air unit and its main answer to enemy harvesters. Figures below describe build ZS.c36778 of 11 September 2026 and move with the weekly patch cadence.

Stat Block

Weapons

Abilities

Upgrades

Role

Twenty two damage per second at 10 range on a unit that can shoot both domains is the Protectorate's flexible air option. Ironwings chase harvesters, trade with enemy flyers, and add damage to a ground push without having to stand in it.

The Medium armour bonus is the reason they are so effective against economy. Since 11 August 2026 every harvester and extractor in the game carries Medium armour, so the Ironwing's +50 percent applies to all of them: 16.5 per shot into a Prospector, a Gatherer or an Xol Harvester.

Sunder Missile changes what a group of Ironwings does to a heavy target. Twenty five area damage is modest, but reducing armor by 2 and slowing by half for 4 seconds sets up everything behind it, and it stacks with the rest of the army's fire. Thrust Boosters adds a flat 200 move speed, taking the unit to 850, which is the difference between catching a fleeing harvester and watching it reach a turret.

With 175 health and no flat armour, an Ironwing dies quickly to concentrated anti air. It is a raider and a skirmisher, not a unit that holds a position.

Faction Context

Ironwings are produced at the Skydock, the same building as the Hauler and the Griffin, and both upgrades sit in the Mechanical Research Lab.

In composition the Ironwing covers the air gap that the Bastion, Sentinel and Hellfire all leave, since none of those can target air at all. The Titan covers the same gap from the ground with its missile; the Ironwing does it while also threatening the enemy economy.

Tier and Armour Interactions

Medium armour with 0 flat armour and 175 health, so the Ironwing is one of the softer Tier 2 units for its cost. Every anti Medium bonus in the game applies to it, and the Flyer tag adds anti air multipliers on top.

Its own +50 percent against Medium is what the 11 August 2026 armour rework left behind. The Ironwing previously carried +100 percent against the Harvester armour type; when that type was deleted the bonus was rewritten as +50 percent against Medium, which is both weaker against harvesters and broader, because it now applies to every Medium armour unit on the field.

Counters

Strong against:

Weak to:

Balance History

• 28 August 2026: upgrades consolidated onto a single tier, both now costing 125 flux with 50 second research, and the Thrust Boosters bonus changed from +30 percent movement speed to a flat +200.

• 11 August 2026: damage bonus changed from +100 percent against the deleted Harvester armour type to +50 percent against Medium armour.

Notes

The engine name is Troop_Prot_Gunship_C, which is why a 2024 development post titled around a Protectorate gunship reveal is describing this unit.

For the rest of the roster and how to read a stat block, see Units. For hexite, flux, supply and the power pool behind unit conversions, see Resources and Economy. For the commanders that lead a Protectorate army, see Heroes and Commanders.

These numbers are the ZS.c36778 build of 11 September 2026. Early Access balance passes land roughly weekly, so check the dated record before relying on an exact figure.