Ace Combat 8 Aircraft List: All Planes and How to Unlock Them
Wings of Theve ships more than 30 aircraft split across four classes. This page lists every airframe Bandai Namco has named so far, explains how the roster opens up and covers which class each mission type actually rewards.
How aircraft unlock in Ace Combat 8
In the campaign you unlock airframes by flying missions. Progress through the story opens up new aircraft, new special weapons and parts that let you tune how an airframe performs, so the roster grows with the war rather than sitting behind a separate unlock screen.
Multiplayer works differently. ACE COMBAT ONLINE runs on its own progression and its own save data, and aircraft there have to be acquired through rewards earned as a mercenary pilot. The roster of flyable aircraft matches the campaign roster, but the two inventories are separate — finishing the campaign does not stock your online hangar, and earning an aircraft online does not add it to the campaign.
On statistics. You will not find speed, mobility, firepower or defence bars on this page yet, and that is deliberate. Those readings only mean something measured in game, so they go up once we have flown each airframe instead of being copied from another wiki and left to drift.
The four aircraft classes
Every airframe in the game belongs to one of four categories. Picking a class before picking a plane is the single most useful habit in the hangar.
Built for air-to-air work. The airframes here turn hardest and carry the air-to-air missile loads you want when the mission is to clear the sky rather than hold the ground.
Optimised for hitting things below you. Expect heavier anti-surface loads and the survivability to stay over a defended target long enough to use them.
The compromise. A multirole carries a credible load for both air and surface targets, which is why it is usually the safe pick when a briefing mixes objectives.
Support airframes that jam, suppress and spot rather than score. They matter most when the enemy air defence network is the actual obstacle.
Ace Combat 8 aircraft list
More than 30 aircraft are in the game. The table below lists every airframe the publisher has named publicly, grouped with what it is and how you get it.
| Aircraft | What it is | How you get it |
|---|---|---|
| F-14A Tomcat | Carrier-based fighter | Pre-order bonus, playable at launch |
| F-14D Super Tomcat | Large carrier fighter with variable-sweep wings and very long-range air-to-air missiles | Standard roster |
| F/A-18C Hornet | Carrier fighter-attack aircraft with upgraded engines and radar | Standard roster |
| F/A-18F Super Hornet | Two-seat carrier fighter with longer range and a heavier weapon load | Standard roster |
| F-2A | Multirole fighter derived from the F-16, strongest against surface targets | Standard roster |
| F-4E Phantom II | Classic fighter-bomber | Standard roster, referenced by the Deluxe Edition's F-4E skin |
| Mirage 2000-5 | Lightweight delta-wing multirole fighter with fly-by-wire stability | Standard roster |
| Typhoon | Multinational delta-wing multirole fighter | Standard roster |
| MiG-29A Fulcrum | Medium-weight fighter built for close manoeuvring | Standard roster |
| Su-33 (Su-27K) Flanker-D | Carrier-based heavy fighter with canards for stability at low speed | Standard roster |
| A-10C Thunderbolt II | Close air support attacker with a 30 mm cannon | Standard roster |
| EA-6B Prowler | Electronic warfare aircraft for jamming and suppression | Standard roster |
| ADFX-02 Morgan -PIXY- | Series-original aircraft, also flown in online mode | Season 1 Premium ACE PASS level 1; campaign use unlocks after all campaign missions are complete |
The remaining airframes in the 30-plus roster have not been announced individually. We add them here as the publisher names them, and we re-check the whole table once the game is out and the hangar can be read directly.
Which class each mission type rewards
| Mission type | Bring this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Air-to-air interception | Fighter | Turn rate and air-to-air missile capacity decide these fights. |
| Air-to-ground strike | Attacker or multirole | Anti-surface weapon loads matter more than dogfight performance. |
| Anti-ship attack | Multirole | The F-2A, derived from the F-16, is described as playing to its strengths against surface targets. |
| Superweapon battle | Attacker or multirole with heavy special weapons | These become damage races against a single large target rather than a dogfight. |
| Escort through air defences | Electronic warfare | Jamming and suppression exist to open that route for everyone else. |
Two smaller decisions sit on top of the class choice. Fitting a second special weapon widens what you can handle but cuts the total ammunition you carry, so a single special weapon is the better trade when the briefing has one clear problem to solve. And a target that falls onto another unit destroys it too, so cannon kills — which tend to leave larger, blockier debris — are worth steering into a formation rather than away from it.
Aircraft from the ACE PASS
The online mode runs a seasonal progression track called the ACE PASS, which the publisher updates roughly every two months. Season 1 puts the ADFX-02 Morgan -PIXY- at level 1 of the premium track.
| Tier | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| ACE PASS | Free seasonal progression track for every player, updated roughly every two months. |
| Premium ACE PASS | Adds rewards at every level plus premium seasonal content. The ADFX-02 Morgan -PIXY- is the Season 1 level 1 aircraft reward. |
| Premium ACE PASS PLUS | Premium rewards plus an instant 30-level skip. Unlocked by the Deluxe Edition voucher or bought separately. |
- The Deluxe Edition voucher is not tied to a season, so it can be saved for a later one.
- Aircraft earned inside ACE COMBAT ONLINE are separate from campaign progress, but the online roster matches the campaign roster.
- The publisher states there are no paid loot boxes and no randomised paid rewards, and that all content is visible before purchase.
- No consumables are planned.
One timing detail matters if you want the Morgan in single player: aircraft earned from the pass are usable in the campaign only after every campaign mission is complete, so treat them as a second playthrough reward rather than a first-run upgrade.
Where these details come from
Aircraft questions
How many planes are in Ace Combat 8?
More than 30. Bandai Namco has confirmed the four classes — fighter, attacker, multirole and electronic warfare — and has named around a dozen individual airframes so far. The full list appears in the in-game hangar and is revealed as players progress.
What is the best aircraft in Ace Combat 8?
We are not going to rank them before playing. What we can say is that the class matters more than the individual airframe: air-to-air missions reward fighters, ground and ship strikes reward attackers and multiroles, and electronic warfare aircraft exist to open routes for everyone else.
How do I unlock the ADFX-02 Morgan?
It is the level 1 reward of the Season 1 premium ACE PASS in ACE COMBAT ONLINE. The Deluxe Edition's Premium Ace Pass Plus voucher covers one season of premium rewards plus 30 instant levels, and the pass tiers can also be bought separately. The aircraft works in campaign mode once all campaign missions are finished.
Can I use campaign aircraft in online mode?
No. ACE COMBAT ONLINE has its own progression and its own save data. The flyable roster is the same, but aircraft have to be acquired again through online rewards, so your campaign hangar does not carry across.
Can you equip two special weapons on one aircraft?
Yes, and the option opens up as the story progresses. The trade-off is ammunition: carrying two special weapons reduces the total number of shots you take into a mission compared with carrying one.
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Ace Combat and Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve are trademarks of Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. Fun8 Games is an independent reference page and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher. Details are checked against the sources linked on each page and updated when the publisher publishes new information.