If you hate the HV ACs that much, you can just replace it with an ERLRM launcher. We could call it, oh, the S-9 or something.
That sounds more like an H-10 derivative, actually.
Both concepts lose the key virtues of the H-7 to overemphasize a single aspect-the H9X loses versatility and gains random expolsions-it maybe should've been named the "Suicide Vest", while your ELRM ends up dumping flexibility to overemphasize the SAME single aspect. (iirc, neither the HVAC, nor the ELRM can fire variant munitions and in neither case do you gain the ability back to carry a secondary weapon and thus, secondary roles that VTOL units tend to perform rather well... when properly equipped.)
Here's the t'ing, 'kay?
in both cases, you have a huge range you don't really need, with light damage you already had off of another variant, the H9X picks up the speed that was game-ruled out by the math-nerf in the 3039 book-the engine change would have been enough, imho, given the in-universe existence of Precision Ammunition and Inferno SRMs.
The result is a net loss of capability, plus the introduction of a system that will randomly blow out your rear armor, knock out all offensive capability, and stun the crew for 3+ rounds of combat, to get a machine gun with a 1 mapsheet range on an airframe that most often doesn't have the room on the map to make use of its speed.
As for the ECM bubble? You're using an HVAC, you're already out of range of everything else, and you're too far back from the front lines for that bubble to be worth bringing-you have to get CLOSE for ECM to do any good, (as in to interrupt line of sight).
It's the kind of design, like the Yellowjacket, that expresses a designer who's really kind of unfamiliar with how VTOLs WORK in the game, and likely never uses them (or only rarely), to the point of really not having much interest in HOW to use them, what they SHOULD bring to a force, or the way the capabilities match up to boosting the effectiveness OF a given force on the map.
The old, prenerf model of the H-7 from the now-obselete 3026 book was hell on wheels in at LEAST three roles-those being scouting, light firesupport/harassment, and Vulturing damaged ground units (using Infernoes). It was also a superior dogfighter against the Donar (3058 model), a CLAN unit with all advanced tech-an Old-model H-7 packing the right ammunition could hunt/kill other VTOLs right up to and including 30 ton models, and stand off against lighter choppers with some good measure of success.
The essential trait of a VTOL (or other vee) in this game, is it's a cheap weapon to fill certain roles that it does slightly better than a light 'mech of comparable tech level-the original stats of the H-7 made it good for hunting the "bug mechs" of the 3rd succession war, especially in terrain, it was also good for killing most light to medium ground vehicles (or some Heavy tanks) if armed appropriately for the era.
Come to think on it a bit further, that explains the mathematics-"resolution" that cut the original's speed by 10kph cruise-it was too good against too many "Successors".
A chopper is ALREADY a fragile unit-less fragile since the MUNCHTEK rules were instituted to create the 50+Point ROTOR SHIELD OF DHOOM, but still fragile enough that strapping a bomb to your chassis and calling it okay because "The chances are really small" that it will explode and take your chopper out of the fight...they're there AT ALL is the problem. How often have you (or Kit, or anyone defending this thing) rolled a 2 on your to-hit rolls? Seriously? or a MASC check (for Grognards out there, the BMR version with the "Now you can't walk" result?)
as I said before, it's less of a problem putting an HVAC on a tank-tanks don't fall out of the sky, Tanks have armor, the crew can bail out if they need to, and a crew-stunned only results in a crew-dead if the enemy continues shooting at the spot where they stalled.
This thing, it's not just "QWERKY" bad design choices, it's "BAD DESIGN", period. Like putting MASC and IJJ's on an Urbie at the cost of armor bad.
Here's the tactics for VTOLs-their role on the battlefield...
They're scout/screen and harassers, vultures and hunters, when alone they are going after vulnerable light targets, when working as part of a team, (Say, in double-blind, because that's always fun) they're the "Eyes" of the force, and they occasionally take the risk to backstab.
To fill those roles, you need speed (Okay, it's got speed), you need some range (It's got LOTS of range) and you need EYES. 30 ton weight limit means you have to 'streamline' to get the best results. I don't really get the fetish for cramming ECM on fast units-it works better with slow, heavy, otherwise easily targets Assault units, nor the fetish for putting Active Probe on 80+ton units that can't get out of their own way. You put ECM in the TANK, you put Active Probe on the Chopper, this works MUCH better than the other way around.
You need enough range in your main gun, to be hard to target with things that will kill you easily and quickly-iow, you need to outrange most LBX autocannons, which means you need to outrange a base-model oldtech PPC, which also lets you outrange a Large Laser and sit at 'long' for LRM fire. That's it.
You need enough speed to regularly pull +5 THM at CRUISE-again, this is protection from things that kill you frelling quickly- LBX's, anything with a bonus against flyers (see HAG, LBX, FLAK). If you are relying on Jet boosters, you're already in trouble here-sideslip is a nasty thing. "Routinely" means being able to turn, climb, or descend and still retain that TMM...at CRUISE speed. Flanking screws with your targeting, it also draws in a high risk of sideslipping into the weeds, trees and rocks.
Nice-to-haves for a VTOL is a heavy (or relatively heavy) punch if you surprise someone at close range -it doesn't matter what, an ATM-3 is as good as an SRM-4 for this, but the SRM can use munitions that the ATM can't, some of which are decidedly more potent against vehicles, BA, and Protomechs, and can cook a platoon to death rather quickly-if your TMM was high to begin with, you might even survive the experience.
The problem for game-developers, is that the mass constraint, and the existence of your basic 'food groups' for ammunition, made certain old designs still better than the NEW and SHINY designs. the tactics that worked in BMR days for VTOLs...still work. Even with rules changes to salvage newer concepts, those older designs keep up rather better than their cousins in the 'mech, tank, or infantry classes. It comes from the basic limitations on how choppers are constructed for the game-the effective curve plateaus quickly and drops off well short of the mass limit-a 30 ton VTOL isn't going to perform as well, at the same tech level, as a 21 to 25 tonner does, and even the lighter engine tech doesn't fix this, it merely highlights it-the same XL or XXL engine that can push 30 tons to 10/15 will get a 21 to 25 tonner a considerable margin of TMM, esp. with the changes to the TMM 'cap' and the open-ended modifiers.
Hit, and not BE hit is always the name of the gme with mass-limited units like VTOLs.