Are attack helicopters usually more well-armored than fighters, but less armored than bombers? How so, and why?

Question

Are attack helicopters usually more well-armored than fighters, but less armored than bombers? How so, and why?

In: 470

Answer 1

To add some history, in the WW2 era armour in aircraft was a big thing, especially US aircraft that could be surprisingly durable. When dogfighting was mostly done with regular machine guns armour was a very viable choice, especially as better engines made the weight more manageable. This led to a period of heavier cannons being used over machine guns and heavier armour being employed.

However when missles became a thing armour became functionally meaningless as missiles could pack enough power to overcome any reasonable amount of armour. So what remains is mostly only in aircraft exposed to small arms ground fire, being the only case where any value really is left.