[Werewolf13]

Is there a way to get the helo that belongs to a player controlled FFG-7 and starts the mission in the air to patrol a fixed area ahead of the frigate that moves as the frigate does?

Kind of like the patrol areas one could set up in Harpoon that moved as the group moved.

I've experimented with this a bit. If you give the Helo a starting tactic of area waypoints it follows those regardless of where the frigate is or goes. I want the helo to scout an area ahead of the ship and move along with it. Can't figure out how to get that behavior.

What am I doing wrong?

As an aside how does one control the altitude and speed of a helo when it is not player controlled?

[Molon Labe]

You're not doing anything wrong, the tactics available unfortunately do not support moving patrol areas. It's sort of a bummer. It's been a problem ever since "Against All Odds" from 688I, yet we still don't have it...

There may be light at the end of the tunnel, though. If LW's helo dipping mod has any success, you could use waypoints to get the helo to dip at certain intervals, or perhaps even use triggers and scripts to get the helo to dip at a certain range in front of the ships.