Assault Horizon FAQ - Guide for Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

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                     ACE COMBAT: ASSAULT HORIZON
                     ---------------------------

-This is a FAQ for Ace Combat, Assault horizon. It is intended to assist in the
completion of the campaign, and to achieve many of the unlockables in the game.
This is my first FAQ attempt, so I hope you will enjoy it!

                             Contents
                             --------

1.Campaign Strategies -minimal spoilers-

2.Free Mission Strategies and Unlockables

3.Mission Co-Op Strategies and Unlockables

4.List of Unlockable Special Aircraft Skins

5.List of Unlockable Aircraft Skills

6.Copyright and Mandatory Information.


                         LET'S GET STARTED!
                         ------------------
-------------------
SECTION 1: Campaign
-------------------


Campaign Mission 1 and 2:Nightmare/Shockwave
----------------------------------------

     This is simply a tutorial mission. You will be piloting an F-22 Raptor as
you learn the basic fundamentals of gameplay. You will start the mission with 
a prompt and instructions on entering DFM (Dog Fight Mode). You will be taken 
on the rails through a series of buildings, leading to a scenario shortly after
where your pilot does a series of 'checks' to make sure his plane is ok. 
What this part really is for is to teach you how to fly your aircraft.  The 
instruction is different, depending whether you are using 'Optimum' or 
'Original' controls. After all that, you will start engaging more aircraft
on the rails, through a series of tutorials about switching targets, using your
special weapon, using your machine gun, and counter-maneuvering. After the 
series of tutorials and enemies, you meet your antagonist,and a cutscene will
follow...leading you into the next part of the mission-shockwave.

    In Shockwave, you are the door gunner in a Blackhawk helicopter, with a 
nice mini-gun at your disposal. This part is basically you flying through an
area of the desert shooting at enemies while the opening credits roll. Towards 
the end of the mission, you will be shooting at a number of enemies while 
trying to protect a downed Blackhawk from them. And then a big boom happens.
This mission requires little or no strategy, since it is on the rails and the 
other helis will pick up any slack you leave. On to the next mission...

Campaign Mission 3:Inferno
----------------------------

This is your first real dogfight mission. You will be given a nice small  group
of low tier fighters/multiroles to choose from. I would recommend taking one 
with SAAMs or QAAMs to quickly dispatch the enemies. I like the F-16C in this 
mission, but if you get shot down alot, try using a jet with ECM abilities to
avoid getting hit with missiles. Your primary enemies will be MiG-21s, so they
shouldn't be terribly difficult to catch for a DFM kill. Take out the regular
red TGTs before taking on the LEAD_TGTs, because the LEAD_TGT are on-the-rails
dogfights. When engaged in on-the-rails dogfights, do not use special weapons 
on them, it is a waste. You can only shoot down the on-the-rails enemies after
they have flown through specific areas. In this level, the aircraft will lure 
you through the Oil Refinary, and you will be able to shoot them down after 
they cause some destruction on the facility while you are chasing them. Nothing
special in this mission, just waves of low tier fighters to shoot down, and a
special pilot gets shot down during this mission, setting up the next mission.

Campaign Mission 4: Red Moon
--------------------------------

This mission begins much like Nightmare. You start out by piloting an awesome 
Apache helicopter and going through a series of 'checks', meaning a tutorial on
piloting a helicopter. After the tutorial, you will begin the mission. The 
first part of the mission can be tough at first, but it is not bad, really, 
after you are used to it. You will start by flying towards a small 'base' on 
the horizon as a SAM is launched at you. You will recieve a brief, but 
important, tip on evading missiles. There will be alot of them, so keep this 
tip in mind! The trick to eliminating the various groups of hostiles around 
you is to ALWAYS stay MOVING. if you stay still to attack enemies, you will 
be flying swiss cheese in no time. Slowly fly around the targets, holding the
left trigger to zoom in and target the ones closest to your gun reticle.  Every
time you engage a group of enemis, I would recomend you start with a volley of 
rockets.  You get plenty of them, so don't be bashful to use a volley or two
on every enemy group! After the first few groups of enemies you need to quickly 
dispatch, you will visit the building that the now captured Red Moon is being
held in. Remove the small number of threats, and be prepared to take out some
vehicles threatening your troops. Now you will continue to fly around taking 
barricades of enemies with a ton of missile launchers, AA guns, and trucks at 
every one. Enter each fight with a salvo of rockets on the vehicles, and then 
circle the rebels with machine gun fire. After the threat has been reduced,
it will be time to revisit the big building again. This time there will be a 
large number of hostiles on the roof, and in the front of the building. 
Salvo the entrance with rockets and immediately circle the roof, taking out 
the missile launching bad guys. As you are doing this, on the ground on the 
side of the building, a TANK and a few rebels will exit a large tent. Salvo 
the tank and KEEP MOVING or the tank will kill you in one hit! after this, 
you will have to stop the rebels in pick up trucks from getting to the 
building and killing your special forces. After this, you will be taking on
some big bad HiND helicopters. If you chose AAMs, now is the time to use them.
The hinds can take massive damage, so only use 2 or 3 missiles on each one if 
you have them. To kill them with machine guns while they are moving, zoom in
on them and move the reticle in all the way over in the direction they are 
headed. Basically, you need to lead them with your gun fire. If you can get 
close or catch them not moving sideways, hit them with your rockets! After 
a few HiNDs, the final phase begins. Red Moon will be seen being lead out 
to a row of trucks by 4 guards. Salvo the trucks right away, and then 
CAREFULLY snipe the guards around Red Moon. If he is hit by you, the mission 
fails, so do this: Single fire your gun at each one seperately, while zoomed
in. After saving Red Moon, a last series of targets appears in a convoy with
a major cargo. Destroy them all and find out what it is!

Campaign Mission 5: Spooky
-----------------------------

This is a fun mission. There is really not much to explain here, you are a 
gunner in a AC-130. You have a 120mm a 40mm, and a 25mm Gatling Gun at your 
disposal. Use the 120 to clear out large groups of targets, and your 40 to 
take out smaller groups and mortars. The 25 is useful for taking out enemy 
troops that cant be easily seen from the other weapons. Generally, the pilot
and ground forces will tell you what you need to do throughout the mission.
The mission starts with alot of chatter, and then eventually you will be 
watching a road. After 2 sets of vehicles, you will be asked to take out 
some soft targets near the ruins. after that, another couple of vehicles, 
and then they will recommend to use the 120 on a large group of hostile 
vehicles. After taking out the vehicles, you will have to take out a few AA
and ground troops. The 25 is recommended, but the 40 works fine, too. After
eliminating all of the hostile AA and the helicopters land the special forces,
you will need to swithch to the 25 and take out enemy troops as they attack the
group of allies. After this part, you can switch to the 40 until you need to 
take out the snipers. Use the 40 where you see the snipers shooting from, 
and sometimes it will be helpful to use the 25. You will need to watch out for 
a missile launcher here, and to take some vehicles. After they make it to past
thesniper ambush, you will make way towards 4 bunkers arranged in a square 
pattern. Use the 120, followed by the 4 on each of the remaining bunkers. You
can use the 25 to target any remaining troops attacking your forces. After the
special forces arrive at thier destination, they will be attacked by mortar 
fire. Attck the mortar that has a missile launching soldier by it first, and 
then quickly dispatch the remaining ones, from nearest to furthest. Now there
will be a large number of vehicles trying to attack the soldiers, take them out 
quickly and be immediately preparedto dispatch 2 to 3 missile launchers. Watch 
for the telltale missile trails to deal with these. Now there will be several
MiGs trying to take off from a runway. Use the 120 ahead of the first one to
destroy them all. Now you will circle the airfield on the way to the next part.
Here, you will have to generally use the 40 and watch out for missiles. After
a short time, a downed airman will be seen running away from some enemy fire. 
You will need to swithch between the 40 and the 25 to protect him, as soft 
targets and vehicles with both be attacking him. After they say 'we did it!' 
you will start getting assailed by missile launchers near some bunkers by the 
top right of your screen. Use the 120 or the 40. The last part is A first and 
second attempt to recover the airman with a fulton recovery. Quickly dispatch 
any vehicles and areas missile trails are coming from. As you descend for your
final approach on the fulton recovery, align the 25 like this: on the right 
side of your HUD, line the marker just below center. On the bottom line, line 
it up far left. Boom, mission accomplished!

Campaign Mission 6: Blue on Blue
-----------------------------------

This mission begins with more lower level aircraft at your disposal. It is 
another dogfight mission, so pack up with a QAAM or SAAM jet, or even a ECM 
aircraft is particularly nice, as you will be targeted by groups of missiles 
CONSTANTLY. As the mission begins, you are approaching the runway to land, 
when suddenly a large number of friendly aircraft take off from the base in a 
hurry. There will be a small wave of red targets to take out. Eliminate them 
quickly to engage the next scenario. In the next sequence of events, Big Bear
squadron returns to the melee, only this time, they are attacking YOU! Take 
them down as quickly as possible, and if you don't have ECM, you will need to
sometimes disengage DFM to avoid a missile. Keep at it until Big Bear is gone
to get your first real look at Akula. He will go after Guts, so you need to go
after Markov and engage DFM ASAP. He will counter maneuver you and then...

Campaign Mission 7: Power Play
--------------------------------

Yet another anti-air mission. This time you will want to use a 4AAM or 6AAM
carrying aircraft, because you will be taking on some relatively durable 
bombers and large numbers of aircraft.ECM is another nice option, as you can
deflect missiles away while ripping up the bombers with standard missiles and
machine gun fire.  The aircraft here are highly maneuverable, so I would pick
a relatively slow fighter with decent mobility and stability. If you go too 
fast, you will lose your targets. There is nothing but waves of fighters and 
bombers in this mission. Take out the red target fighters as quickly as 
possible at all times. When goingafter the bombers, it may sometimes become a
necessity to dispatch a few aggressive green targets unless you have an ECM
aircraft. You will deal with a large wave of fighters, a wave of bombers you 
need to take out FAST, another wave of fighters, a final wave of bombers, and 
finally, a last bomber with a large escort. There is a fun trophy you can opt 
to get here, called 'Checking In'. In order to get it, find the area that looks
like a giant palm tree. At the very top of the 'tree' there is a pinkish red
hotel with a large opening in the center. Fly through the opening for the
achievement.

Campaign Mission 8: Lock and Load
---------------------------------

This is a on-the-rails door gunner mission. The strategy here is very simple.
Watch out for the good guys with blue cursors over thier heads. If you hit them 
the mission is over. There will be 3 ships you attack. Lets begin! In the first
part of the mission, all you will need to do is take out soft targets and RPGs
throughout the boat. After the first boat, a small number of missile wielding
boats will need to be dispatched en route to the next ship. Upon arriving at 
the next ship, you will immediately take out some RPGs followed by many soft 
targets attempting to attack the SEALS. After making it through this ship, you 
will be getting attacked by a HIND. Just keep on it, firing constantly until it
blows up. If that wasn't enough, you will be taking out something like 20 
missile boats at the same time attacking you on the way to the final ship. 
Don't panic, they are dispatched easily enough, and the Apaches help you, too.
On the 3rd ship, mostly soft targets and an occasional RPG. After taking out 
most of the enemies, you will wrap around to the end of the ship. Here, you may 
see a AA gun pop up out of a container. This is where the end begins. Take out 
the AA as it pops up and keep on it, they take awhile to destroy. As you wrap
around the side of the ship, you will see a SAM, and an additional AA. Take one
out, and then the other. Finally, there are two hinds to take out, and they are 
aggressive. No problem, take em out easily, but make sure you shoot the rockets 
before they hit you.

Campaign Mission 9: Pipeline
----------------------------

This is a pure multirole mission. I recommend using the F-15, but any plane 
should be fine. If you plan on using ASM alot, pick a plane with 4AGMs. 
Personally, I stay away from ASM as much as possible in campaign mode and take 
out the targets freelance. ASM will always leave you highly vulnerable to 
missiles. To start the mission, you are engaged in a dogfight with some 
relatively pathetic enemies. After the small melle, you will be asked to 
support the ground troops, and you will be introduced to ASM for the first
time. Go agead and ASM this time, there is no danger of missiles or fighters.
After taking out the beach head threat, there will be another series of ASM 
events. I strongly recommend taking out most of the targets without engaging
in ASM mode, or you will get attacked by missiles. Now, your wingmate Guts is 
in trouble, take out the ground targets attacking him immediately or the 
mission will fail. After saving Guts, some enemy aircraft will soon start 
attacking the ground units. Take em out, then move on. Now you will begin the 
final phase of the mission. You will assist the ground units by taking out a 
castle fortress with a ton of SAMs and AA fire. It's really no proble, just 
fly in high speed figure 8's ant use hit-and-run tactics. After the fortress
is down, you will be chasing a Trinity missile. Engage in DFM and spam it with
missiles until it is destroyed.

Campaign Mission 10: Siege
-------------------------

Siege begins in a dogfight with a few SU-27s. Easy enough to take out to begin
the next part. I prefer to use a plane with 4AAMs or 6AAMs to protect the 
transports later, but you may prefer to focus on ground targets. Either way, 
I will highly recommend a plane with high mobility, AND stability, especially 
at low speeds. The F-35 is a decent choice for this mission. After the initial 
dogfighting part of the mission, you will enter an anti-ground segment. Don't
be shy to ASM here, and standard missiles will work perfectly as well. After
this part, you will need to protect Guts again, as he tries to land for a 
refuel. Take out the two sets of enemy planes attacking him and now it is your
turn to land. When you are landin, you will be attacked and shot at on the way
in. You can either use your yaw to avoid them or put the control settings to
'optimal' and weave by them easily. After you are refueled it is time to save
some transports. For the final phase I like having the 4AAMs and 6AAMS, it 
makes life MUCH easier. You will save 4 transports as they land, and then it's
time to take out the final wave of ground targets, mixed in with optional but
highly annoying fighters. Mission Accomplished!

Campaign Mission 11: Hostile Fleet
----------------------------------

Hostile Fleet is a brutal but short anti-ship attacker mission. I personally 
largely recommend using the F-2 with LAGM missiles. You definitely will fare
better with a fast aircraft in this mission. LAGMs are good for sinking the
larger ships you will encounter. Let's begin! The first target is a sitting 
duck, ASM it, and sink it with a volley of regular missiles. Next is an 
aircraft carrier. Enter ASM and spam your LAGMs or whatever specials you have.
after the first ASM do not re-enter ASM again. Instead fly in full speed 
figure 8 patters, using a hit and run tactics. From here on, when I say 
'figure 8 them' this is what I mean. When you do high speed figure 8's, you 
become difficult to target and shoot down, it will save you! After the 
carrier, there is a large frigate accompanied by two corvettes. Target the 
larger ship with 1 standard missile. Your team will discover that the ship 
is invulnerable to a single attack, so they decide you all have to attack at
the same time. When it is time to ASM, fire two LAGMs immediately, followed 
by a volley of regular missiles. You must succeed in 1 attempt. After the
ships guns are largely out of action, its time to figure 8 the ships until all
3 have been sunk. Now it's time to save the yacht. Do not ASM or you will be 
missile bait. Instead, just fly around and target them with standard missiles 
until they are destroyed, saving the yacht. The next part is very fun and very
easy! Enter ASM and spam your standard missiles like crazy, every ship should 
be destroyed in a single pass, woo! Now it is time for the final big boat. Fly
towards it at full throttle and hit it with a standard missile. Now you will
have to wait again for an opportunity to ASM it. When you ASM, use 2 LAGMs 
right away, and then salvoit with regular missiles. You will need to ASM it one
last time from a different angle, with the same strategy. Now it is time to 
figure 8 again, using your remaining special weapons and then your missiles
until the ship becomes a fish home. Woo!

Campaign Mission 12: Motherland
-------------------------------

This mission will require a lot of patience, so you are warned. There are quite
a few HinDs here, so take an Apache with AAMs. To start the mission, easy 
ground targets. Take out the launchers first, always. Then tanks. After that, 
meet your first HinD. Fly low and focous on the ground targets will moving the 
entire time around the buildings. Use your rockets initially and then clean up 
with the machine gun. Then focous on the Hind, use you MG and rockets, but 
SAVE your AAMs for times when there are pairs of HinDs, trust me on this. Up 
next, it is time to take out groups of launchers, move quickly and take the 
launchers out with rockets as fast as possible. Now you will be confronted by
a new series of ground targets near the tall buldings again. There is a TON of 
AA here and a pair of HinDs. Take out at least one of the HinDs here with AAMs. 
Now concentrate on the ground units, while flying low to the ground whenever 
possible. The AA here is absolutely brutal! Next phase, you will be looking to 
take out groups of mobile radar, SAM, and AA vehicles. The first two are easy, 
use rocket salvos and pick off the strays. Now you get to fight another HinD. 
It's a single HinD, so use your MG and rockets only. Now the final convoy. 
Fly behind it so you are lined up with it, and fly through them with a salvo 
of rockets and then forget about them until later, you have bigger problems
now. First there is a fighter targeting you, barrel roll and shoot at him as he
passes. It doesn't matter if you miss, hes gone. There are two HinDs though, 
and they are mad at you. Use your AAMs and then clean up the ground targets. 
Now you have to stop a convoy nearby before they go under a bridge for cover.
If they get under there don't fret. Use a rocket salvo and/or hover close to 
ground and shoot under the bridge. Next is the final part of the mission. 
Immediately fly to the right lower corner of the Kremlin and salvo the ground
forces as the first HinD takes off. Don't worry if a few survive, the HinD is 
your biggest worry now. Use your MG and rockets or if you want, use your last 
AAMS, but remember, there is one more HinD surrounded by a TON of AA. I would 
save the AAMs for that one unless you are really brave or skilled and can take 
it out before it starts moving. After that, just focus on the ground troops 
while constantly moving around the Kremlin and occaisionally taking cover 
behind buildings. There are lots of things that make HUGE explosions near where
the second HinD was, so that is a fun part! Target the fuel trucks and clean 
the mess with your MG. Watch for missile wielding soft targets as you make your
way around the Kremlin using rocket salvow in the groups of hostiles. Mission
Accomplished.

Campaign Mission 13: Aftermath
------------------------------

You begin this mission chasing down cruise missiles before they hit the 
civilian areas of Moscow. Start with the nearest missiles and work your way
back to the furthest ones. After the cruise missiles, it's bomber time. You 
will need to stop 5 of them while evading a swarm of fighter pilots. A plane 
with either ECM or 4/6AAMs is particularly handy. I use ECM alot in this one.
After the 5 bombers, it is time to take on the last one. It is flying at low
altitude accompanied by Markov and 4 SU-35s. On top of that, the bomber is VERY
fast, and likes to squirm and shoot flares ALOT, not to mention, you will 
almost always be targeted as soon as you attack the bomber. This is why I like
ECM so much on this mission. After the bomber is down, it is time to take on 
the ace, Markov. After a semi-short DFM on-the-rails sequence, it is time to 
shoot him down. I'll bet you feel good about that! 

Campaign Mission 14: Homefront
------------------------------

Hey! THIS area looks familiar! Ok, in this mission, all you need is a highly 
maneuverable and stable plane, with a lot of QAAMs. The first part of the 
mission is a huge dogfight, and it seems to take forever. Take 'em down with
QAAMs or whatever specials you have. After all this, you will see a familiar 
event. Thats right, you are reliving the events of the first mission, 
Nightmare, all over again, starting with chasing a seemingly invulnerable
fighter (so don't wast ammo) through downtown Miami. The strategy here is 
IDENTICAL to the Nightmare mission, but without the tutorials appearing on your
screen. Everything is still the same, EXCEPT for the final event. Guts gets 
shot down taking Markovs missile on to save you. All you need to do now is help 
Guts bail out by shooting his canopy open. Be very careful and precise, or you 
will blow his plane up. Now you're mad, right?


Campaign Mission 15: Hurricane
------------------------------

Very simple mission, any plane will do, I prefer the Typhoon or the Mir2000. 
Chase Markov and his wingman you now wish you killed when you had the chance.
You will be targeted a ton of times while doing this, and by a ton of enemies.
The best way to do this is to weave side to side slowly, and then take 1 or 2
out quickly in DFM as they pass you. I really think 4AAMs and 6AAMs are highly 
valuable in this mission. Finally, a scripted dogfight with Akula's buddy. Make
him pay with standard missiles until he's killable. It isa scripted dogfight 
just like Akula was in aftermath. Be careful, this guy tries to make you crash 
into the ocean, so if he starts dragging you to the water, disengage from DFM 
and try again. Make the bastard pay! Time to beat the game.

Campaign Mission 16: Akula
--------------------------

I prefer to either use a plane with QAAMs (namely, the F-22), the Typhoon with 
6AAMs, or a plane with ECMs. The first part is a huge dogfight furball. Focous 
on the red TGT_LEADS, and follow them in a scripted dogfight, hitting them with
occaisional missiles. All three leads take you on the rails, so don't waste any
special weapons on them at all. Time to play Blackjack...Blackjack bombers that
is. Take out the 5 bombers as quickly as possible. Whats this? Oh, snap...they
are sneaking a last bomber in again, flying at ground level almost. Engage it
DFM and spam missiles and specials at it until it goes to a cutscene.

Akula Strategy
--------------
The final bossfight is a mostly on-the-rails fight. You can free fly a little 
bit, but you must almost ALWAYS be engaged in DFM with him. There is a trick to
defeating this jerk, and here is what you need to do: When you DFM him, you are
going to hear missile beeps sometimes. This means he has shot 4 QAAMs at you at 
once. What you need to do, unless you have an ECM aircraft, is immediatelty
disengage DFM and re-enter it RIGHT AWAY or ASAP. The missiles will explode or
fly past without harm. He will usually do this around 5 times or so. You will 
need to counter maneuver him alot, as well, because he flips up and around 
behind you like the Shark Bastard he is. After he hits targets on the bridge, 
and after a minute when he flies past the Washington Memorial pulling you 
behind him, he will make a beeline to the White House with Trinity. Now is the 
time to unleash everything you can and want on him until his plane blows up. 
Mission Accomplished? Hell, no! That sneaky S.O.B. fired the Trinity. Hold down
MG button and spam missiles every time your DFM circle turns red, until it is
annihilated. Congratulations Ace, you just saved Washington D.C., and saved
the world! 

--------------------------------------------------
Section 2: Free Mission Strategies and Unlockables
--------------------------------------------------

This section will list brief strategies for obtaining an A-Rank, and getting 
your Armor Bonus in each level. On occaision I will recommend a skill set, as 
well. Lets begin!

-Machine Gun Bonus Unlockable: To get this POWERFUL and incredibly USEFUL 
unlockable, you will want to keep a pencil and paper handy. You need to get 200
points in each Jet mission to unlock the Gun Enthusiast skill. It is cumulative
so there is no need to do it in one playthrough. Just write down your machine 
gun bonus score after completing every level until your points total 200.

-A Ranking Free Missions note: I have a couple of tips I would like to mention 
before you attempt this. The first thing I would recommend is beating the game
on Elite difficulty, to unlock Ace difficulty. On Ace, the Free Missions give
you a lot more points. The second thing I strongly recommend, is that you get
your A-Rank on Siege and Pipeline FIRST. This way, you will be able to use a
nice point boosting skill called 'Multrole Pilot' for most of the fighter 
missions. Life is easier when you use this skill with a Multirole aircraft in
most of the free missions when you try to A-Rank. Spooky is a mission you can
A-Rank on Pilot difficulty. In all cases, take out the green targets before 
red, and take out regular red targets before red lead targets. So, in this 
order...green,red, tgt_lead. Lastly, you may like to know that dying DOES NOT 
affect your rank. Only your score matters.

-Armor Bonus tip: I recommend doing this one on Pilot Difficulty. Try not to
get hit by more than 2 or 3 missiles. ECM is valuable for obtaining the bonus 
in some missions. Also, dying or restarting from a checkpoint eliminates the
armor bonus. You will have to complete the mission without dying or taking
large amounts of damage.

----------
Strategies
----------

Nightmare: (A Rank)Take out the enemies as quickly as possible. Do not use the 
4AAMs, try to kill them one by one to chain your DFM for a bonus. 2000 points 
required. 
(Armor) Pretty easy to get this on this mission, don't get hit by missiles.

Inferno: (A Rank)Take out the enemies as quickly as possible. I prefer QAAMs.
2000 points required.
(Armor) Try not to get hit by missiles.

Red Moon: (A Rank) Take your time, but not too much. I recommend packing AAMs
to deal with the HinDs. I would recommend putting Wide Angle and Zoom, 
Enhanced MG, Enhanced Missile, and Enhanced RKTL in your skill set. 2100 pts.
(Armor) Be very cautious and TAKE YOUR TIME. Never remain in one spot, keep
moving! Wide angle and Zoom WILL save your bacon! Keep a distance.

Spooky: (A Rank) Try to kill enemies in groups with a minimum of shots. 
1700 pts.
(Armor) There is no easy strategy for this. Take a pencil or pen and write down
a quote a character says, right before a SAM is fired. Then you will have to 
remember exactly where it is fired from every time. Youtube is a nice resource,
but trial and error is the best way to do it. I am sorry, but there is no easy
way to do this, you will have to play it a number of times to learn the 
strategy. One tip I CAN offer, is on the very last part, when you make your 
final run to save your buddy. Line the marker on the right, just below center.
Line the marker on the bottom, on the last 'long' line on the left. Then 
switch to your 25 and hold the fire button down.

Blue on Blue: (A Rank) Beating this mission in less than 8 to 9 minutes is 
your top priority. This is a rare mission where killing every green enemy is 
not recommended. Go for the maximum time bonus instead, its worth well over
500 points! 2000 points required.
(Armor) I recommend using your ECM, or using multi-AA missiles with the Homing
Missile skill.

Power Play: (A rank) Take out all the enemies, I recommend 4AAMs or 6AAMS. Try
getting 2000 points.
(Armor) ECM is your friend.

Lock and Load: (A Rank) I am sorry, this mission is BRUTAL. You need to get 
1700 points to A rank this, and the only way is probably to do it on Ace. If
you get damaged to even 'Light Damage' restart from a checkpoint every time.
(Armor) Don't get hit by missiles, play on Pilot.

Pipeline: (A Rank) The best tip I can offer is to thin out the ground targets
before attempting ASM. Do Not eliminate all of the ground targets, you need to
save some in every ASM line to easily get your ASM bonus from killing every
enemy in one ASM run. Use your MG on the ground targets when thinning them out
to tack around 300 to 400 extra points to your score, via the MG bonus. You
need 2300 points.
(Armor) Don't ASM if there is a threat of missiles, ECM is great too. 

Siege: (A Rank)Same strategy as Pipeline, but be sure to equip 4AAMs or 6AAMs 
for saving the transports later. 2300 points. 
(Armor) do your best to avoid missiles.

Hostile Fleet: (A Rank) Use my strategy from the campaign section. I strongly 
recommend the F-2 with LAGMs, but rockets are great, too. Enhanced Missile is 
your friend. Or Enhanced RKTL. Go for a fast time. 2000 points
(Armor) Same deal, but this is not easy. Keep trying! Use my strategy for 
Campaign!

Launch: (A Rank) Go for a fast time. Kill all enemies after the bomber segment 
as fast as possible. 6AAM is your very best friend, so is Enhanced Missile and
Enhanced Armor. 2000 points
(Armor) Use 6AAMs and Enhanced Missile to destroy the ICBM beforethe flame 
kills you.

Motherland: (A Rank) I STRONGLY recommend this skill set befor even trying;
Wide Angle and Zoom, Enhanced Missile, Enhanced RKTL, Extra Missile, Enhanced
MG. I use an Apache with AAMs. Only use the AAMs on PAIRS of Hinds. Use the MG
and Rockets on single HinDs. 2100 points
(Armor) Same strategy as A-Rank.

Aftermath: (A Rank)Use 6AAMs or 4AAms with Enhanced Missiles. 2000 points.
(Armor) Use the ECM, or get hit by missiles, your choice. Any skills that boost
your ECM are a huge plus. Quick assault and Enhanced missiles are also highly
recommended.

Home Front: (A Rank) QAAMS with the Extra Missile skill is all you need. Use 
the Quick Assault skill also. 2100 points.
(Armor) Equip Wide MG to help easiliy save guts. Avoid missiles.

Hurricane: (A Rank) I don't know why, but the Mir2000 works best for this. fly 
slowly, going side to side and engage the fighters that pass you up. The jet I
would recommend otherwise might be the Typhoon. 2000 points.
(Armor) ECMs are nice to have, the Fencer is a good choice.

Akula: (A-Rank) Use a F-22 or any highly stable and maneuverable aircraft with
4AAMs or 6AAMs. I recommend using Quick Assault and Enhanced Missile.
(Armor) Carefully dispatch all the red TGTs without getting shot down. Follow
my startegy in Campaign to do this, unless you use a ECM aircraft.

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Free Mission Unlockables
------------------------
Helicopter Pilot- A Rank both Heli missions.
Attacker Pilot- A Rank the Attacker mission.
Multirole Pilot- A Rank both Multirole only missions, Pipeline and Siege.
Fighter Pilot- A Rank every mission you can use fighters in.
Ace- A rank every mission
Gun Enthusiast- Accumulate 200 MG bonus points in every jet mission.
Untouchable- Get your armor bonus in every mission. Max firepower, woo!

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Section 3. Mission Co-Op Strategy and Unlockables
---------------------------------------------------

All co-op missions require 2000 points for A-Rank. The strategies are the same
as free mission, but I have a good recommendation to make this easier. My 
advice is to join a forum to meet others or find a buddy you know with this 
game, and have your partner do almost nothing while you take out all the 
enemies yourself. You can die and fail missions, as long as you get enough 
points.

------------------------------
Mission Co-Op Unlockables List
------------------------------

Oil Field: Enhanced Missiles+
East African Town: Enhanced RKTL+
Dubai:Quick Turn+
Derbent: Extra Bombs+
ICBM Base: Throttle Boost+
Central Moscow: Extra RKTL+
Moscow: Extra Armor+
Miami: Double Assault

-------------------------------------------
Section 4. List of Unlockable Special Skins
-------------------------------------------

-All Color 3 skins are unlockable by getting 1000 points in free missions with
the aircraft.

F-22 Raptor Mobius - obtain the hero bonus 5 times.
F-22 Raptor Anteres Skin - get 1,000,000 points
F-15C Eagle Cipher Skin - earn the ace pilot bonus in multiplayer 5 times
F-15C Eagle Pixy Skin - earn the ace pilot bonus in multiplayer 5 times
Su-33 Flanker Strigon Skin - earn the survivor bonus in multiplayer 5 times
F-14D Super Tomcat Razgriz Skin - earn the ace striker bonus in multiplayer 
5 times
F-14D Super Tomcat Zipang Skin - earn 50,000 points in competitive online modes
with the F-14
F-15E Strike Eagle Talisman Skin - complete the campaign

------------------------------------
Section 5. List of Unlockable Skills
------------------------------------

there are 7 'groups' of unlockable skills in this game. 

Basic Skills - available for purchase right away
2nd group - Available after purchasing 10 skills
3rd group - Available after purchasing all but one purchasable skill
4th group - Gained by A ranking co-op missions
5th group - Gained by A ranking free missions
6th group - Gained by getting your Armor and MG bonuses in free mission
7th group - Gained by purchasing every single skill

Enhanced MG
MG Cool Down
Enhanced Missiles
Enhanced RKTL
Enhanced Bombs
Wide Angle and Zoom
Enhanced DFM
Enhanced ASM
Wide DSM
Wide ASM
Global ASM
Extra Bombs
Extra RKTL
Extra Missiles
Extra Armor
Wide Range ECM
Extra ECM
Enhanced ECM
Auto Maneuver
Wide Range MG
Extra MGP
Enhanced Missiles+
Homing missiles
Long Range Missiles
Long Range RKTL
Wide Range ECM
Enhanced Direct Shot 
Quick Charge
Quick Brake
Quick Respawn
Stealth
Global ASM
Quick Base Capture
Missile Focous 
Auto Escape 
Multi-Assault 
Burst 
Easy Trinity 
Extra Missiles+
Enhanced RKTL+
Quick Turn+
Extra Bombs+
Throttle Boost+
Extra RKTL+
Extra Armor+
Double Assault
Fighter Pilot
Attacker Pilot 
Multirole Pilot
Helicopter Pilot
Ace
Untouchable
Gun Enthusiast
Enhanced Blades
Enhanced Blades+

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I hope you have enjoyed this FAQ! It is my first FAQ, so please, feel free 
to send comments and suggestions to Ace10of27Spades@yahoo.com. I hope this 
information is extremely helpful to you and good luck! Peace

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Copyright 2011 Nickolaus Gehrig
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This FAQ may not be reproduced publicly without permission. All you need to do 
is ask! Use of this FAQ publicly without my permission is a violation of 
copyright laws.

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