I noticed that no one had an aircraft guide, so I kind of just made one. It only goes over the details of the aircraft that you can take your WSO President (Prez for short) in. Yes I am a simp. This information comes from my own first and only (so far) play through of the game on Hard difficulty, which was actually surprisingly difficult in some missions.

As for any additional two seater aircraft that I hope get added to the game, I'll continue doing tests on hard difficulty and update the guide accordingly

Kind of jealous that none of the Ace Combat games had a voiced/acknowledged WSO

This is probably the first aircraft your going to choose if you want to have Prez with you. Really you'll only be able to equip the UGB or an empty hardpoint if you're taking this thing out. But you really won't have it for long once you upgrade to the non-trainer F-4.

Not much to talk about here. To be honest, just take the UGB whenever your use this aircraft, there's not reason not to, even when there are no ground targets.

This will most likely be your next aircraft after the trainer F-4. It's a really nice aircraft for when you're in between the trainer F-4 and the F-14. But I believe that it can be better than the F-14 in some situations. The heavy gun pod (HGP) is something that the Tomcat doesn't have, and it rips right though naval ships if you come in at a vertical approach. I even used it on some of the later missions even though I had the Tomcat.
Minor level design spoilers if you want to avoid it: I actually took this aircraft as a joke to Red Sea (Mission 19) instead of the Tomcat. Needless to say, I was impressed and scared at the efficiency of HGP against ships.

• SAA + HGP + MLAA is a nice load out for both air and small amounts of ground forces.
  
• HISM + HGP + MLAA is good for a mix of ground targets and air.
  
• HISM + UGBL + MLAA is good for mostly ground targets.

You can swap the bombs and the heavy gun pod as needed. Both can shred though ground targets and ships, but I prefer HGP over UGBL

I didn't know this was a two seater aircraft when I was starting the game, but I sure wish I had. The CF 105 is kind of like a mixture of the F-4 and MiG 31. It's really fast and still offers a good variety of armaments unlike the MiG 31. It also has a good amount of maneuverability that allows it to keep up in some missions in the mid campaign. I'd recommend this if you felt bored F-4 but didn't want to be bottle-necked by the Su-25's low maneuverability.

One more thing to mention: if you like the cockpit camera, good luck.


This is an aircraft that I didn't mind taking SAA on, it's fast enough to get away from enemies so that you can use SAA.

• SAA+MLAA+SAA is what I'd recommend for air to air. You should boom and zoom in order to effectively use this.
  
• SAA+UGBL+UGBL for a mix of ground and air targets.
  
• UGBS+UGBL+UGBL for ground targets if you aren't taking the SU-25

Oprindeligt skrevet af Kuronan32:

"This ship handles like a comatose patient, but it's ATG firepower would make a Dreadnought look like a kid with a squirtgun."

To be honest, I kind of neglected this plane a lot. It's noticeably slower in both turning and speed than the rest of the aircraft in the game. But when you have more ground forces than air targets, this thing can tear right through missions. Especially when it's equipped with heavy gun pods (HGP), MLAGS, and possibly even anti-ship missiles (ASM) if you're dealing with the occasional airship.

This thing gives you enough ground munitions to arm a small country. You can swap MLAG and MLAG-2 if you want.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Kuronan32:

Specifically, I recommend MLAG-2, CGP-1, and ASMs (in whatever order you have to get them for that to work) Only thing you'll be fighting is your controller, everything else can take a ticket because you'll be sending them to hell in a straight and orderly line.

• MLAG + HGP + ASM is my go-to if I know that there will be airships.
  
• MLAG + UBGL + HGP is great if there are ground targets or naval targets.

To be honest, I'm kind of heavily biased towards heavy gun pod. Not only does the Frogfoot come with one attached, but you can also carry extra ones as well. If you're really good at guns then ground targets don't stand a chance.

I never really tried out rockets yet, but I'll update this when I do.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Kuronan32:

Also, should REALLY try the Canister Gunpod if you haven't. Who needs to aim when you throw an entire wall of bullets at your target?

I had a mixed feelings about this aircraft after I failed one of the earlier missions with it. The overall maneuverability of the MiG 31 isn't as good as the CF-105, which would be the comparable aircraft to this one. I'll admit, I had a problem getting used to it until after I played the CF-105. Again, you want to use Boom and Zoom tactics when flying interceptors. The MiG-31 feels really different from the F-14, but once you can get used to flying it you can even take down crimson squadron with it.


The MiG is kinda limited on its armament, with a quick glance you'll notice that there are no ground weapons. SAA is still really nice on the MiG as you can run away from targets.

• SAA+MLAA is a good air to air loadout, its useful when damaging boss aircraft from long range
  
• STDM+MLAA goes great if there are a lot of targets or if you feel like you run out of missiles too quickly Cold War + Double Time Modifier = Bad Time
  
• MLAA+MLAA is circumstantial, but when there are clusters of enemies it is a good loadout

For all those who played Ace Combat 5 with only F-14, this will be a familiar experience. This plane can get you through the entire game once you buy it, and it's a good all around-er that you can take on all your missions.

This is honestly my favorite aircraft in the game, and I've taken it through most of the missions on Hard difficulty.

Oprindeligt skrevet af sd501st:

Quick note, the typical(Combat Air Patrol and such) real life loadout for the F-14 would be SAA on the wing hardpoint and MLAA on the first body hardpoint, with the second body hardpoint empty.
The wartime or "crisis" loadout would either be STDM,SLAA,MLAA,MLAA or STDM,MLAA,MLAA,MLAA.

• HISM + MLAA + MLAA for a regular air to air loadout
  
• HISM + MLAA + UBGL for ground oriented missions if you aren't using Frogfoot or Phantom
  
• MLAA + MLAA + MLAA is also cool too as you can fire off 6 at once. Really useful for taking down large amounts of air enemies Cough...Cough...Cold War

You can also substitute SAA for one of the MLAAs if you want more range on missiles. But if it's close air-to-air, then MLAAs are the better choice.

I never really liked HVSM and UGBS-3, HVSM doesn't do as much damage as HISM or STDM, and UGBS-3 is a bit tricky to use. Even though HVSM reloads faster, i found that just using STDM is simpler and more effective.

Kinda bullied Crimson Squadron using this...