Battlestations: Pacific/Allied Aircraft

P-40 Warhawk
The P-40 Warhawk is a land-based fighter that has been virtually unchanged from Midway. It still packs a formidable punch against most targets and is a trusty and reliable fighter. It flies at about 324 km/h in level flight and 458 km/h with its boost engaged. It has superb turning compared to the Wildcat, but is inferior to the Hellcat. Players will mostly find these in the single player campaign, most notably during the 2nd Battle of Guadalcanal, where they are heavily relied on as ground-attack aircraft.

Official Description: ''Coming into full production in 1940, the P-40 represents the latest installment in the Curtiss' "Hawk" line of aircraft. Commissioned by the US Army Air Corps, it is a land-based fighter that has already served with distinction against the Japanese in China as part of General Claire Chenault's volunteer group "The Flying Tigers".''

F2A Buffalo
The Buffalo received a considerable firepower increase, doubling its overall firepower. It leaves something to be desired, however, in terms of how well the plane handles. At an average level speed of 321 km/h, and 456 km/h with boost, it is acceptable but not the best. Although its extra guns allow it to shred bombers easily and its small profile makes it hard to hit, the plane is easily outmatched by very common planes like the A6M Zero. Fortunately, it is never seen in any single player mission and rarely in multiplayer missions.

Official Description: ''The Brewster F2A Buffalo has been in service aboard US Navy carriers since 1939. It has, however, turned out to be largely unsatisfactory, being too unstable and under-armed, as well as overweight for carrier operations. It has now largely been phased out of operation, and been replaced by the Wildcat on all carriers.''

F4F Wildcat
The F4F Wildcat is now more on par with the A6M Zero as the most common fighter in the game. The Wildcat and the Zero now turn and climb at roughly the same rates, although the Zero is slightly faster, has more armament, and has better convergence of its weapons. Its top speed in level flight is 328 km/h, or 455 km/h with its boost engaged.

Official Description: ''The F4F is the Navy's main carrier-based fighter, and has been in full service since August 1940. Initially designed as a biplane, it was redesigned as a monoplane and given a larger engine to make it competitive with other designs such as the F2A Buffalo. The Wildcat is slower than the Japanese Zero, but can absorb far more damage thanks to its armour plating and self-sealing fuel tanks.''

P-38 Lightning
Formerly a DLC unit, the P-38 is now a mainstream fighter found mostly in siege and escort maps. Thanks to its powerful dual engines, it flies at a general speed of 346 km/h, or 490 km/h with its boost. Its manoeuvrability has sharply decreased, but instead can now carry a larger bomb than usual, making the Lightning a fighter-bomber unit. As a hybrid unit, however, it is unable to execute either task as well as a dedicated unit. The Lightning is very fast for a bombing unit and can be used to make quick strikes against undefended targets. That said it is as fragile as any plane and falls quickly to AA.

Official Description: ''The P-38 Lightning was designed as a high-altitude fighter, and after numerous problems with the prototypes the plane finally entered service in late 1941. It's a land-based fighter with twin engines, heavy armour and superior weaponry, ideally suited for the Pacific theatre, with long range and excellent performance. Its speed and climb combined with the focused firepower made it a fearsome opponent of the Japanese planes.''

F6F Hellcat
One of the best planes in the game, the Hellcat handles like a P-38 from the previous game and has extremely good firepower. It travels at 324 km/h in level flight, and 458 km/h with its boost. The only plane that comes close to matching its aerial prowess is likely the Shinden. Just like in real life, the Hellcat can easily outmanoeuvre the Zero, making it the preferred plane for any fighter ace. Just be sure to keep the plane light and avoid loading the plane with bombs.

Official Description: ''The F6F Hellcat, first flown in October of 1942, was the 'big brother' to the F4F Wildcat. As a completely new design, this fighter was designed primarily for air-to-air work. Having the same R-2800 engine as the Corsair the plane was very heavy and had huge wings, especially if compared to the Japanese Zero. Thanks to the self-sealing fuel tanks and rugged construction the Hellcat is able to withstand heavy battle damage and is able to return to the carrier even when damaged. Armed with six .50cal machine guns the Hellcat was responsible for destroying the most Japanese planes in the Pacific War. It earned a total of 75% of the aerial victories, and at the end, the Hellcats had a surprisingly good 19:1 kill ratio against Japanese aircraft.''

TBM Avenger
Generally considered to be the American version of the Ohka, the TBM Avenger functions primarily as a long-range unit capable of slinging rockets into battle. Although it can equip four rockets that cause considerable damage, the reason to choose this plane is the devastating Tiny Tim rocket. This huge rocket causes huge damage to whatever it hits - be it a land base or a ship. It is often used as a counter to large forces of battleships or heavy cruisers - just a few hits with the Tiny Tim can sink a Yamato-class. Unlike the Ohka, however, the Tiny Tim is completely unguided, requiring a lot of concentration to get your rocket on target.

In the event of a submarine attack, this upgraded Avenger packs the only homing "missile" of the game - the FIDO homing torpedo. After locking onto a submarine as a target, perform a standard aerial torpedo attack. The torpedo will actively home in on the target submarine and hit it for huge damage. Even if the submarine somehow evades the torpedo, it will loop around and reacquire its target. A single FIDO is often enough to sink a submarine, and three is typically overkill.

This plane flies at a relatively sluggish 246 km/h, or 348 km/h with its boost, making it easy prey for defending fighters.

Obtain the gold medal on Mission 14 - Battle of Okinawa to unlock this deadly aircraft.

Official Description:''The TBM Avenger was the latest production variant of the Avengers, manufactured by General Motors, as Grumman shifted there production lines to build more Hellcat Fighters. This variant has two .50 cal machine guns fixed in the wings, improved engine and reinforced wings wings to carry 8 HVAR Rockets. They are also capable of carrying one huge Tiny Tim Rocket in there internal bay, or a Fido self-guided anti-submarine torpedo. These excellent planes with their advanced equipment are the finest examples of late war American air power.''

B-29 Superfortress
This high-altitude bomber is renowned for its toughness and high altitude operations, making it a difficult target for fighters to attack. As with all carpet bombers, however, the B-29 suffers from accuracy problems, making it extremely difficult for it to damage smaller units. It is best, as such, deployed against battleships.

The B-29 is by far the toughest bomber in the game and can take insane amounts of damage before going down. This, coupled with its massive armament of machine guns, make it difficult to shoot down. However, some aircraft - most notably the J2M Raiden - are designed specifically for taking down American heavy bombers like this one. Fighter escort is generally necessary to protect the bombers, but they can hold their own against all but the most concerted air defences.

The B-29 does not carry nuclear weaponry.

Complete Mission 12 - Air Raid against Indochina to unlock this massive carpet bomber.

Official Description: ''The B-29 was a four-engined, strategic bomber built as a direct successor to the B-17 Flying Fortress. As one of the largest airplanes of the war the Superfortress was able to carry almost four times more bombs than the average load of the B-17, making it a very deadly bomber. With its high speed and high service altitude, only a few aircraft could engage the Superfortress, and those who did engage would only go on to face the eight .50 cal machine guns, controlled by a central fire control system. The B-29, with its excellent performance, poses a real threat to the Japanese homeland.''