Rust Airborne
Adds a player-flyable Attack Helicopter purchasable at Bandit Camp, with a gunner seat carrying a turret and rocket pods. To counter it, the update introduces a lock-on Homing Missile Launcher, plus parachutes for silent high-altitude descents.
What's new in Airborne
Release date
Airborne released on 7 September 2023. Named Rust updates ship on the first Thursday of the month and land alongside a force wipe, so this is also the day every server's map reset. If you're working out when the next one lands, the wipe timer tracks it.
Read the original devblog
Everything on this page came from Facepunch's own Airborne devblog. It has the screenshots, the full changelist and the developer commentary — worth reading if you want the detail behind the summary.
Sourced from the official Airborne devblog. This page records what the update shipped on release day. Facepunch rebalances after launch, so any figure quoted above is a launch-day value rather than current game state — for live numbers use our raid calculator and item data.
Related guides
What a Rust wipe is, force wipe vs weekly vs blueprint wipe, the schedule, what actually resets, and how to find fresh servers. PC and console.
A wipe-day-to-endgame Rust progression roadmap: scrap first, WB1 to WB3, first gun to AK, then C4 raids. Do it in this order.
New to Rust? Here's exactly what to do on your first wipe — gathering, your first base, tools, scrap and staying alive. Real numbers, no fluff.