Namco has released seven sets of downloadable paint schemes that modify the plane's maneuverability, speed, armor, and payloads. Among the schemes available are those of Ace Combat 2's protagonist, paint schemes based on aircraft prototypes, an A-10 with the Shark mouth, and a Halloween paint scheme for the F-14D that gives the plane stealth capabilities. There are also a series of paint schemes modeled after various Ace Squadrons from previous games. These Ace Squadron colors include the Razgriz Squadron from Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War; the Rot Squadron (Typhoon), Espada Squadron (Rafale M), Gault Squadron (Su-47 Berkut), Galm Team (Cipher and Pixy F-15E), and Crow Team (PJ F-16C) from Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War; Mobius 1 (F-22A Raptor) and Yellow Squadron (Su-33) from Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies; and Ace Combat 3:Electrosphere organizations UPEO (Typhoon) and General Resources (A/F-117 Nav Hawk).
In addition to the above, allusions to several characters exclusive to the Namco Bandai game The Idolm@ster are featured. These paint schemes include both the Su-37 and the Su-47 named "Idolmaster Miki", in allusion to Miki Hoshii; and Yukiho Hagiwara also has a paint scheme used on an F-117 Nighthawk. Another Idolm@ster plane is named "Idolmaster Chihiya" which is used on the F-15E Strike Eagle. Two Idolm@ster planes were released on March 27, 2008; one of them is the F-22A Raptor "Idolmaster Haruka", with the other being the Dassault Mirage 2000-5 "Idolmaster Yayoi". The download content released on April 25, 2008 included a Rafale M Idolm@ster plane named "Idolmaster Iori".
Furthermore, Japanese players were awarded a bonus for pre-ordering the game online. The bonus came in the form of a card with two codes on it. Both would unlock special paint schemes for the F-15E Strike Eagle, based on the Yellow 13 Su-37 and Mobius 1 F-22A Raptor from Ace Combat 4.
Namco has also released downloadable co-op versions of single player missions. Rango Fortress, and Chandelier are now available in addition to The Aigaion and Bartelamo Fortress which came with the game.
As of early November 2007, GAME, a leading UK gaming retailer, awarded the same pre-order bonus to buyers in the United Kingdom. This is a rare bonus seeing as how it has not been released to the American market.