The secret of ranks and medals reveals

[Tritoch]

The "single bar"rank: 2 levels without dying and 10 kills.
The "double bar"rank: 4 levels without dying and 25 kills.
The "triple bar"rank: 6 levels without dying and 50 kills.
The "single diamond"rank: 8 levels without dying and 100 kills.
The "double diamond"rank: 9 levels without dying and 200 kills.
The "triple diamond"rank: 10 levels without dying and 400 kills.

Use 'Hornet' or 'Phoenix' to get the 'Distinguished flying cross'.（at least 20 enemy units）
Use 'Rhino' or 'Behemoth' to get the 'Cavalry medal of honor'.（at least 20 enemy units）
Use 'Salamander' or 'Shark' to get the 'Marines medal of honor'.（at least 20 enemy units）
Use 'Sentinel' to get the 'Defense Comedation'.（at least 20 enemy units）
Use recycling unit to get the 'Engineers award'.（at least about 10000ej）
Use repair unit to get the 'Order of St Theresa'.
The 7th medal requires all medals listed above.
The remaining 3 medals requires high rank and all 7 medals listed above.
The 8th medal requires the 'single diamond' rank.
The 9th medal requires the 'double diamond' rank.
The 10th medal requires the 'triple diamond' rank.

[Tritoch]

the levels required for rank does not include level 12 and level 18(these 2 levels don't count into the number of not-dying level numbers even if you didn't die), which seems pretty weird.

note: although level 12 and level 18 are not included in the total non-dying level number, you still cannot die in these 2 levels if you want to achieve medals and ranks.

[Tritoch]

highest rank every AI can get:
captain,borden,patton,ransom,kroker,korolev,madsen:triple diamond
sinclair:single diamond
larzar:double bar
kenzie:single bar
elory:none

[Tritoch]

medals every AI can get:
captain,borden,patton,ransom,kroker,korolev,madsen:all 10 medals
sinclair:the first 8 medals
larzar kenzie elory:the first 7 medals

[Nico]

Thank you for the information. But does rank improves pilot efficiency or anything of the like?

[Tritoch]

Originally posted by Nico:

Thank you for the information. But does rank improves pilot efficiency or anything of the like?

Higher-ranked AIs are tankier, taking less damage per hit than lower-ranked AIs

Rank Damage Reduction
no AI 0%
AI currently controlled by the player 0%
AI with no rank 25%
AI with single bar rank 25%
AI with double bar rank 25%
AI with triple bar rank 29%
AI with single diamond rank 32%
AI with double diamond rank 35%
AI with triple diamond rank 40%
AI with all medals 51%

Note that Magpie ’s basic HP is 10, but Magpie is controled by a no-rank AI, so the effective HP is 13.3.

[Nico]

Thanks a lot!

[Healy]

Basically, there are 2 main goals to get the medals:
1 - get units the required kills (this can be done in one or two missions)
2 - dont die (extremely difficult, especially for the captain)

So if you are going for the medals, it requires a change of strategy - you no longer can kamikazi rush, you need to dedicate more resources to defence/healing, and you need to scumsave every time you lose a vehicle, even a single hornet.

To get the kills, wait for a later mission where you have shields and the carrier is under regular attack from oil-supplied forces (NOT storyline attacks!). Put some in choppers, some in sentinels, some in hovercraft, and just let the AI defend the carrier. Leave them shooting for fifteen minutes, then swap over, until everyone has had a go at every vehicle. After that, go ashore in tanks and recycle scarabs, do the same, pick up them 2 medals. Finally kill all the spawners and have your characters take turns in a repair scarab on the carrier, while you hit it (the carrier) with scalpel fire. As for the captain, just look what medals you are missing and get them manually, healing and recycling may be a bit boring but you only need do them once.