Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour/Air Force

General Malcolm "Ace" Granger, perhaps better known online as USAF or AFG, houses the most powerful airforce in the game. Every USA air unit has been heavily upgraded to outdo most AA, and he has the use of a heavy carpet bomber in the mid-game. USAF has an obvious advantage in speed and intelligence over all other factions, and is thereby universally accepted that it takes the least amount of skill to play in Zero Hour.

Army Modifications

 * All aircraft cost less and all but the Comanches are equipped with Point Defense Lasers. This also applies to some support power airplanes.
 * Stealth Fighters are available from the start.
 * Humvee price increased to $800
 * Aurora Bombers do more damage.
 * Crusader Tanks are unavailable.
 * Paladin Tanks are unavailable.
 * Airfield granted a significant armor bonus.
 * Spectre Gunship available at lvl 3, second rank available for slight boost in armor and firepower. Third rank Spectre available at lvl 5. Lvl 4 and 5 Gunship is more potent than the Regular USA Generals Power
 * Avengers require the Strategy Center to build.

Army Units

 * King Raptor - An advanced prototype, which has better armour and firepower than the Raptor, in addition to point-defense lasers to take out incoming missiles. Also, the King Raptor has six missiles instead of the usual four. Replaces the Raptor.
 * Combat Chinook - Although more expensive, the Combat Chinook allow the passengers to target ground and air threats, which increases its survivability, while also sporting a point-defense laser, making it an ideal air unit for use against AA systems rather than the Comanche.

Army Upgrade

 * Stealth Comanche - Available at the Air Field, grants Comanche stealth capability.

General Ability

 * Carpet Bombing - Call in a B2 bomber to carpetbomb the targeted area. Requires the Strategy Center and a Generals Point to deploy.

Build Orders

 * vs. GLA defense
 * Dozer 1: Power > Secondary Supply > Air Field
 * Dozer 2: Barracks > Primary Supply > War Factory
 * Barracks: Missile Defender, 2 rangers
 * Supply Center 2: Chinook
 * Airfield: King Raptor


 * With this setup, you can prevent tunnels from getting built on your side early on, thereby denying a GLA opponent map control. Load a chinook with your infantry and kill the workers as they build the tunnels. The King Raptor can then be used to swiftly eliminate a packed technical speeding towards your base. Anticipate a quad cannon mass.

Strategies
Stick two pathfinders and six missile defenders in it, and it will kill anything designed to intercept enemy attacks; it is also possible to fill two humvees with missile defenders, then order them into the Combat Chinook for greater firepower. The downside to using Humvees is that you will be unable to target.
 * War Chinook

Use stealth Comanches and a Humvee to create a diversion while your King Raptor attacks the nuclear reactors. Then use the MOAB to destroy their army.

Build a number of each aircraft in your airport/s. Though King Raptors are versatile and great, they sometimes don't get the job done. Imagine eight enemy units coming in, four of which are technicals, the other four are scorpion tanks, you have four king raptors (which means a payload of 24 bombs all in all). The raptors successfully take out six enemy units, all four scorpion tanks and two technicals, the other two technicals are directed to retreat after the bombardment. Naturally, all 24 bombs should have all been deployed and all four king raptors are heading home to reload. By the time that it takes the planes to go back to base, reload, and fly back again, the fast techs are long gone. This is where your Aurora Bomber comes in. Aurora Bombers are fast aircraft with a single payload but with increased damage (because of your AFG privileges). They are faster than your raptors and certainly faster than those pesky techs, but lose speed after releasing the payload. They provide you with the ability to chase any fast unit trying to retreat. A great combo, doable with not just the king raptor, but any aircraft in the game.
 * Aurora Bomber-King Raptor Strategy

This tactic works only against USA/China and can only be performed in the mid-game, not early. Tech up and build at least three airfields. One should be filled with stealth fighters, the other two with auroras. While you wait for the auroras to be manufactured, scout your enemy to find locations of all dozers and use satellite scan/spy drone to learn them. Switch to bombardment battle plan. After that, use carpet bombing on enemy command center and send five auroras immediately to attack and finish it off. You will most likely lose all the planes, but it is well worth it. After CC is down, hunt down all dozers with stealth fighters (send two for each dozer). Make sure you kill all the dozers and that none of them remain in the field. After that, your enemy is a sitting duck, unable to build, expand or pretty much do anything except to use what he already has. You can simply use the remaining auroras to bomb war factories/barracks and he is done for.
 * Disable enemy development

Another necessity when playing Granger is the Stealth Comanche. These are excellent mobile defense units and can take down wave after wave of enemy tanks (be sure, however, to stalk down and backstab any Quad Cannons/Gatling Tanks/Avengers the enemy have before taking down other units). These must be mass produced for maximum efficiency. You must have about 3 or 4 of them in each section of your defensive perimeter to ensure that no enemy unit shall pass.
 * The Stealth Comanche

Granger's Comanches are not like any other Comanche helicopters. The fact that they are stealthy doesn't just mean they can act like invisible scouts; this is actually a huge advantage. Remember those annoying Quads/Gatling Tanks/Avengers who tear down your aircraft before they can even fire back? Well, no need to fear that (unless the enemy has a stealth detector vehicle with their army; take these out pronto)! As mentioned above, close in to point blank range and back stab your opponent's anti-air vehicles before they get a chance to respond. Take them out so you can decimate the rest of the tanks or infantry the enemy is bringing with him with impunity.

Comanches are not for strategic purposes, however. Use your King Raptors or Auroras to take out vital enemy structures such as Super Weapons or Command Centers. Do not dare rush Comanches into enemy anti-air defenses without taking them out first. However, you cannot imagine the power these Comanches can give you if you have about 20 of them! (in which case it is okay to actually rush in your opponent's base and destroy everything in sight, but be careful; you must have enough money to replace them).

This strategy is not necessarily an all in strategy, but it can take out plenty of units that are out of position. As soon as you get your economy and defences up and running, dedicate two airfields (presuming that you did build two) to stealth comanche and rocket pods, building comanches as they are being built. Take your squad of commanches and flank both sides of the enemy base (presuming that they can be cornered). Deal damage to necessary facilities (power, production facilities, etc.). Prioritize detection and AA facilities to enlongate the initial rush. You can commit to this sort of strategy for the rest of the game, or you could transition to Combat Chinooks w/ Missle Defs + 1 pathfinder and deal heavy damage to units/buildings. Especially defences. It is recommended to use at least 3 to ensure a high DPS to keep damage to your units to a minimum. To keep the pressure on the target, have at least two squads of CCs and 3 squads of Stealth Comanches so you can keep the enemy commander occupied.
 * Stealth Commanche Rush