Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies/Aircraft & Weapons

Ace Combat is, naturally, famous for its aircraft, which are fully licensed by Namco from their manufacturers. Their equipment, however, is not, and have generic names like XLAA for "Advanced Long Range Air to Air missile".

Note that italicized armaments are special weapons.

The second number listed in the cost is the amount for the additional paint schemes.

F-4E Phantom II
The F-4 is the starting plane and is therefore not very impressive. Compared to other aircraft, it does have its strengths - a high missile storage and bombs you'll find effective on the second and third missions of the game. It is otherwise, however, unremarkable.

Official Description: Large carrier-based jet designed to shoot down enemy aircraft and destroy ground targets.

F-5E Freedom Fighter
Roughly equivalent to the F-4, the F-5 seems at first glance to be superior to the F-4. While this is true in several senses, several points should be made. Firstly, the F-4 carries additional missiles, letting a novice player be less stingy with them. The F-5 is more manoeuvrable, but can't take as much damage than the F-4. Therefore, if you feel confident in your ability to dodge missiles, the F-5 may be your plane for a while - at least until you upgrade to the F-16.

Official Description: ''Low cost, lightweight fighter with respectable capability in all areas. Easy to fly and maintain.''

F-16C Fighting Falcon
The F-16C is one of the best starting planes available. A significant upgrade to the F-4E, the Fighting Falcon has similar bombs to the F-4, and the XAGM isn't anything to scoff at either - particularly against targets which are only vulnerable from high altitudes. The price for increased performance is its lesser stability - so you may find it stalls at higher speeds.

Official Description: Small and lightweight, this jet is a well-balanced fighting machine for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.

A-10A Warthog
For missions like Whiskey Corridor where most of the enemies you'll encounter are on the ground, you'll find the A-10 well worth its price. Its high ground attack value lets it lock quickly onto targets on the ground, and its UGBLs can seriously wreak havoc on groups of enemies.

Official Description: This ground attack fighter is well equipped for its role with a large Vulcan cannon and air-to-ground weapons.

MIR-2000 Mirage
Unlike subsequent iterations of the Mirage from the next few games, the Mirage here is the fighter variant. Despite this, however, you may find existing aircraft just as good as this one, so you may want to skip buying it. With the A-10 for ground attack and the soon-to-come F-14 for air combat needs, chances are you're going to ignore this plane for the most part and buy it later for completion's sake.

F-14A Tomcat
The F-14A is the ideal plane for the next several missions, especially for Shattered Skies. Although its stats suggest it as a pure air combat fighter, the UGBMs you can buy make the F-14 a pretty good attacker too. Although the F-14 is a good plane with lots of versatility, it will be unable to perform to the standard you'll need for later missions against the Yellow Squadron.

TND-IDS
The Panavia Tornado IDS (Interdictor Strike) is a decent all-around plane, and of all the ground-attack planes is the best at air-to-air combat - at least until the Mitsubishi F-2. There are more capable planes that precede it, however, so first-time players may want to save their money for a more capable aircraft. Its default special weapon is tough to use, and doesn't cause as big of a bang as the UGBL. That said, it doesn't stall easily and can withstand a beating like the A-10. It remains a question of taste, therefore, whether to obtain the Tornado.

Offical Description: Multi-role fighter that features both air-to-air and air-to-ground capability.

X-02 Wyvern
The X-02 is the game's super-plane that can only be obtained through beating the game on Normal difficulty, obtaining the S rank for all missions. Additionally, the game must be beaten twice before. Regardless, it is clearly the best plane in the game with all significant stats at their maximum - its biggest limiting factor is its cost and its lack of defence, which is roughly equivalent to an F-4E. However, with its turn-on-a-dime manoeuvres, players should have few problems evading most attacks anyway.