The grunts called the AH-1 cobras "sharks," circling overhead, looking for prey. When the gunship pilots were given a target, they would dive straight for it, like a shark going in for the kill.

Technically, the gunships were "attack" helicopters or "aerial rocket artillery." Their rocket pods carried 2.75" rockets loaded with high explosive or fleshettes (nails). A mini-gun was mounted in the nose, and later was adapted to carry an automatic 40mm grenade launcher as an option.

The enemy feared the gunships. Often working in teams with a "loach" or OH-6 cayuse light observation helicopter (LOH, therefore the name was pronounced "loach"), the gunship would loiter high overhead while the loach scouted close to the ground. The enemy learned to hide from the loach, which they called the "up" bird, because when the loach went "up" the "down" bird (gunship) would come "down," which meant they had been sighted and were about to come under attack.