Cargobob

The Cargobob is Grand Theft Auto V's heavy transport helicopter — a large-frame rotorcraft with vehicle-hook capability that has become one of GTA Online's most-used utility aircraft across the game's lifecycle. Where the Buzzard is V's combat helicopter and civilian helicopters fill the basic-traversal register, the Cargobob fills the heavy-lift utility slot — the helicopter players reach for when they need to move vehicles, deliver heist payloads, or coordinate large-scale ground-and-air operations.

What's confirmed

Class: Helicopter — heavy transport / cargo lift, with vehicle-hook pickup capability
Game: Grand Theft Auto V (2013 original, 2014 PS4/Xbox One re-release, 2022 PS5/Xbox Series X|S "Expanded and Enhanced") and GTA Online
Operational role: Heavy transport — vehicle pickup-and-delivery via cargo hook, multi-passenger transport, heist support, coordinated multi-player operations
Pegasus / Online utility infrastructure: The Cargobob has been a recurring vehicle across V Online's heist content (Heists Update onward) and Pegasus Lifestyle Management vehicle-delivery infrastructure; specific update appearances and acquisition path deferred to verifiable archive review
Variant catalog: The Cargobob nameplate has carried multiple variants across V's lifecycle (Cargobob, Cargobob Jetsam, and others added in later Online updates); specific variant differentiation deferred

What this entry doesn't yet include

Deferred until verifiable:

In-game manufacturer brand (the Cargobob's V manufacturer label is deferred to verifiable archive review — V's vehicle catalog has multiple potential brand candidates for heavy helicopters)
Exact top-speed / acceleration / lift-capacity / armor stats
Specific real-world helicopter aesthetic inspiration (Sikorsky CH-53 / Boeing CH-47 Chinook / similar heavy-lift platforms are plausible; specific Rockstar-canonical reference deferred)
Customization catalog (paint variants, additional cargo-system modifications, weaponization options for variants)
Specific GTA Online purchase price and unlock-progression beat
Specific mission appearances in V's main story
Variant-specific differentiation (Cargobob Jetsam, Cargobob (V Online ammo-restock variants), etc.)
Cargo-hook / Magnet mechanics specifics — vehicle weight limits, lock-on behavior, release timing
Specific introduction-update history (whether the Cargobob was a 2013 V launch vehicle or added in a subsequent Online update is deferred to verifiable archive review)

Why it's catalog-worthy

The Cargobob is GTA Online's clearest example of a vehicle whose value comes from infrastructural utility rather than combat or speed. Most player-purchased helicopters serve traversal or combat roles; the Cargobob serves operational coordination — moving cargo, ferrying vehicles to mission start points, supporting heist setups, enabling multi-player coordinated logistics that the player base couldn't execute without a heavy-lift platform. That utility role is structurally important: V Online's heist content depends on the Cargobob being available to players, because many heists' setup phase involves vehicle delivery the Cargobob mechanic enables.

The cargo-hook mechanic is also one of V's clearer examples of a vehicle-design choice driving emergent player content. Players have used the Cargobob for purposes Rockstar likely didn't anticipate at launch (vehicle stunts, multi-vehicle setups, freemode chaos) — the hook mechanic gives the helicopter player-defined utility beyond its mission-design role. That kind of mechanic-as-emergent-content-driver is rare in mainline AAA vehicle catalogs.

For GTA VI's eventual aircraft catalog, the question of whether Rockstar preserves the heavy-transport-helicopter slot is one of the trackable design questions. The Leonida coastal / Keys geography and the Bonnie-and-Clyde framing both suggest mission-design space for similar utility aircraft; whether VI ships a Cargobob equivalent or rebuilds the heavy-lift utility role is meaningful.

What's connected

Buzzard — V's combat helicopter; the Cargobob is the transport-utility counterpart in the broader V aircraft ecosystem
HVY Insurgent — V's military SUV; the Cargobob is the air-vehicle counterpart in the broader Online combat-and-utility ecosystem
The Big Score · The Merryweather Heist — V heists where heavy-air-utility is part of the operational architecture

Sources

Grand Theft Auto V (2013) — base game, primary source
GTA Online update history — Cargobob variants and Heists-Update-related content
Rockstar Newswire archive — Cargobob context across V's lifecycle

Skeleton entry. Specific manufacturer brand, stats, customization catalog, variant differentiation, real-world helicopter inspiration, and Online introduction-update history land when sourced.