Named Aircraft/"Bird of Prey" Guide

A guide describing how to get Named Aircraft to spawn, as well as their spawning location.

What are Named Aircraft?

Named Aircraft, or Aces, are a recurring element in Ace Combat games, although they're a bit of a secret and you won't be seeing them on a first playthrough. They are aircraft that spawn in missions on normal or higher difficulties, but only after completing that mission once and after accomplishing a secret goal in their mission. They can be found through the free mission mode or the regular campaign mode. If you are able to down them, you're rewarded with a skin for their aircraft, and if you manage to down every single Ace throughout the campaign, you're reward with a special skin. These are usable in multiplayer, and skin/emblem customization for campaign is unlocked after completing the campaign. Consequently, Aces are highly skilled and will be harder to take down than other pilots, so be prepared for a fight. They're not called an Ace for nothing.

In order for an Ace kill to count, you must see the mission through to completion. In some circumstances, the Ace will not re-appear for the kill if you completed it's goal in one phase, the Ace spawns in a subsequent phase, and you die/fail a mission objective and reload to the checkpoint. One example of this is Ace #16, COMET. You will then have to restart the mission. At the same time, if you kill an Ace and reach a checkpoint after, that kill will still count if you reset to that checkpoint.

If you wish to review the list of Aces in-game, their menu is under DATA VIEWER > CAMPAIGN DATA > CAMPAIGN ASSAULT RECORDS. This menu also gives a bit of a hint as to how to get locked ones to appear here, although they're subtle at best.

Ace #1: Huang Xuan Tai, "PYRO"

Spawns in Mission 01, "Charge Assault"

Use ONLY one of these special weapons on the third wave of bombers: 4AAM, 6AAM, 8AAM. They should each go down with one missile. Don't worry about the escorts. PYRO will spawn in the NW of the map behind the 4th wave.

Ace #2: Joe Barker, "JESTER"

Spawns in Mission 02, "Charge The Enemy"

Eliminate the radar vehicles in your path. If you go fast enough none of the AA should be able to hit you. Eventually you'll come to a landing strip/airport. Wait for the control tower to be targetable, and destroy it before the drones arrive for JESTER to appear. JESTER will come out of a hangar off of the main strip, taxi, and take off after the cutscene. He'll be right below you to the right after the cutscene ends. Try to destroy him before he can take off to make life easier.

Ace #3: Rosie Lucas, "BAYONET"

Spawns in Mission 03, "Two-Pronged Strategy"

The explanation for this one is a bit unclear from findings, but the way that I've done it is ensuring all the starting targets are eliminated in under ~90s (video time was 18:39:90.) I'm not sure that it's exactly 90 seconds, as I've completed it at 18:31 and not had her appear. Others say you must eliminate all targets personally, yet I've had her appear without doing that (the score for doing so would be ~2400, the video score was 2260.)
If you have issues, just keep attempting it going as fast as you can and try getting all the kills, it's a trial and error one. Specials such as a SAAM or a LAAM may help. BAYONET will spawn in the NW, behind the Arsenal Bird, if you do it right.

Ace #4: Florent Nollet, “RONIN”

Spawns in Mission 04, "Rescue"

When it starts, dive to below 200 meters and stay under that for the entire flight to the elevator. You're free to go above that when the radio silence is lifted and the AA appears. Destroy all the AA around the elevator, and when the drones deploy from the trucks, RONIN will then appear in the NE.

Ace #5: Sebastian Koch, "FANG"

Spawns in Mission 05, "444"

For this one, you just need to soak up 75%+ damage, so just fly in a straight line for a bit and let the enemies hit you until you reach it. Take down the 3 bombers when you can, and FANG will spawn in the NW when you do. He makes a beeline to leave the map, hurry to him.

Ace #6: Sophie André, "KITTEN"

Spawns in Mission 06, "Long Day"

Go to the base that's in the NW part of the map, and fly through the tunnel that's there. KITTEN will appear in the SW.

Ace #7: Thibault Besson, "FAUCON"

Spawns in Mission 07, "First Contact"

Ignore the units marked TGT (Target), and eliminate all the ones that aren't instead. FAUCON will then appear in the north. Don't worry if you kill a few TGTs, it's still doable just as long as you kill the non-TGTs before the next phase of the mission.

Ace #8: Samuel Everest, "GAZELLE"

Spawns in Mission 08, "Pipeline Destruction"

This one may take a few attempts, as you'll need to destroy all of the oil facilities before the time elapses. I've managed to destroy all of the buildings, ships and AA in the time given, so there's more than enough time. Use either UGBs or 4AGMs, alongside your gun to be efficient. It shouldn't be too hard, as destroying just one building in the grouped up facilities will set off a chain reaction explosion, destroying the whole group. In the next phase (chasing the trucks), GAZELLE will appear with the drones when they deploy in the north.

Ace #9: Hans Weber, "SPIDER"

Spawns in Mission 09, "Faceless Soldier"

Just like #7, you have to destroy the non-TGTs before the towers, but only half of them this time. SPIDER will spawn near the center, and will be using stealth equipment. Get closer to his area to get him on radar. 

Ace #10: Ken Warren, "LOUVETEAU"

Spawns in Mission 10, "Transfer Orders"

You need to eliminate the SAMs ASAP for him to appear, so follow the provided map (X), there's 9 total groups. LOUVETEAU will spawn alongside the final wave of Mirage 2000-5s fighters, on the right side.

Ace #11 & #12: Chris Azure, "CHASSEUR" & Matthieu Bertin, "IBIS"

Spawns in Mission 11, "Fleet Destruction"

You can easily do both of these in one playthrough of this mission, first is CHASSEUR. You'll want an AoE bomb for this one. Head to the marine base in the north, following the arrow route laid out on the map. You need to destroy all the fighter jets on the platforms before they can lift off, and if you come from this direction, you'll be approaching the landing strip head-on. As soon as you get near the platforms they'll start lifting off. This'll take several fly-bys, and they're pretty quick to take off, so you can't afford any screw ups. With an AoE bomb though, it should make quick work of them since they're sitting in pairs. Be aware that although most of them are lined up on the runway, there are two jets not on the runway in the back left, next to a large transport plane. Once they're all destroyed, CHASSEUR will eventually appear near the base in a random direction. I've marked (X) 3 estimated points where I've had him come from. For IBIS, you want to fly through the small gaps that the platform cores are in at the same base. If one or two of the platforms are already destroyed (by scripted event), it's no biggie. I was able to still get him despite that. He will then appear in the SE near the fleet, and will flee north.

Ace #13: Arnaud Durand, "WALRUS"

Spawns in Mission 12, "Stonehenge Defensive"

The next 3 aces are in the same mission again, but WALRUS' objective can make it a bit difficult to get the other two, so I advise doing him alone first, or at least leaving either FOUDRE or BUFFLE out of the picture. For WALRUS, ensure that the railgun never gets damaged in the first phase. This includes the ground troops and bombing runs. The railgun's blip on your radar will blink and make a sound if it is about to be attacked. Bombers will take priority over anything else, as the ground troops have to deal with your allied ground forces before they can move on and attack the railgun. When dealing with ground forces, go for the non-AA targets first (tanks, APCs and such), so they will have less of a chance of breaking through the line if you need to run to a bomber group. WALRUS will spawn with the helis in the NE.

Ace #14: Nathan Roche, "FOUDRE"

Spawns in Mission 12, "Stonehenge Defensive"

Fly under the barrel of one of the destroyed stonehenge railguns. FOUDRE will spawn in the south.

                                                                                                                                                              

Ace #15: Kees Bakker, "BUFFLE"

Spawns in Mission 12, "Stonehenge Defensive"

Take down the 3 A-10C that appear to the east, and BUFFLE will spawn in the west.

                                                                                                                                                      

Ace #16: Owen Corvin, "COMET"

Spawns in Mission 13, "Bunker Buster"

One of the harder Aces in the game, and not even because of his objective. Equip your fastest jet (or buy the fastest, which seems to be the MiG-31B), and equip max speed/acceleration parts if you can, as well as upgrades for your gun and regular missiles. You need to bomb the silos as fast as you can, although I can't say what the specific time limit is, but it should still be easily done. The real and fake silos are randomized each time, so there's no strategy to be had there. Once it's done and the missiles launch, immediately turn to your left as COMET will spawn behind you. Race over to him, and use both of your weapons to take him down quickly, and the hard part will begin. You have barely any time left after COMET to take down the first missile before it's out of range, so make your way to it. Utilize both your weapons again and make every shot count, since you will only have about ~5-7s to get an attack in. If you manage to destroy it, the rest should be a breeze.

Ace #17: Jules Martin, "GADFLY"

Spawns in Mission 14, "Cape Rainy Assault"

Fly through the valley as fast as you can for GADFLY. It might take a few tries (not sure of the time needed) and it'll help if you commit to memory a route to take through the searchlights, and where the tight turns are. Bomb the base as normal when you arrive, and when the aircraft reinforcements arrive in the north, GADFLY will be with them.

Ace #18 & #19: Russel Faulkner, "SERPENT" & Vincent Masson, "BOGEN"

Spawns in Mission 15, "Battle for Farbanti"

Another one where you can get both in one run. In the first phase, score 17k points and SERPENT will appear in the south, over the water. For BOGEN, destroy the target "Aegis Ashore", a missile defense system in the center of the map that will become active near the end of the first phase. He will then appear in an aircraft group in the south, close to where SERPENT appeared. This group is behind the first group that approaches, and they'll be using stealth.

                                                                                                                                                                                        

Ace #20: Emeric Pons, "AXEMAN"

Spawns in Mission 16, "Last Hope"

Score 10k points before the car makes it to the heli. AXEMAN will appear NW, high up, and will appear UNKNOWN just like everybody else.
A tip: you don't need to ID someone if you already know they'll be a hostile; you won't be penalized and it will save you time. If you do need to be ID-ing, you can just ID one member of a group and assume that anybody nearby them is of the same side. Be careful not to damage allies, as this will subtract points. 
You should reach 10k (without incidents) by around the time the car enters the tunnel.

Ace #21: Olivier Perrin, "MANTIS"

Spawns in Mission 17, "Homeward"

Fly on top of and extremely close to the catapult part of the mass driver (the launch system used for the supply ships in the end) for it's entire length. MANTIS will appear in the east with the incoming bomber/fighter squadrons. He will appear as UNKNOWN like everyone else, so you'll have to find him. He shouldn't flee, so don't worry about that.

Ace #22: Benjamin Neumann, "LYNX"

Use a fighter with an 8AAGM or some SWP like that for this, as you'll need to be speedy and destroy ground targets quickly. Make your way to the castle and destroy everything along the way for LYNX. You'll need to do some dogfighting when the Gripen E's appear, so make sure you have a good amount of time for that. When you reach the castle area, LYNX will take off with the sole F-16.

Ace #23 & 24: Paul Lebrun, "CALAMITY" & Cyril Noiret, "TEMPEST"

Spawns in Mission 19, "Lighthouse"

Score 17k points in the dogfighting, CALAMITY will appear in the far SE of the elevator, and will be stealthed. Then score 20k points, and TEMPEST will appear basically right at the elevator.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

[Aeterna]

In mission 12, you can fly inside a platform from the very beginning of the mission and, provided that you have enough firepower, destroy core supports before they are marked as targets. PLSL and MG barrage works wonders. This will make both Chasseur and Ibis appear as both conditions are fullfilled.

[Valisea]

Just finished the guide. Great work, saved us a lot of detective work.

[SlyAceZeta]

@CRIMSON-1 The term is fan-made, they're never called aces officially, just "named aircraft".

[CRIMSON-1]

Well, so called aces are not really aces. Most of them even didn't shoot at me before they died. However, nice guide, sir

[_utara]

Update on Mantis:
You don't need to hug the mass driver apparently, just fly below 100 meters for as long as it allows you to (before it starts going upwards forcing you to go up with it). After that just try to be close. You don't even need to get the pull up alert. It works, I tried.

[_utara]

For Mantis, here is how I did it:
Typhoon with LAAM
Identified ALL of the allies and enemies at the start, THEN took out the enemies. Some people say if you don't identify them or take them out without identifying, Mantis won't spawn. Later went to the mass driver, positioned myself from the very beginning and slowed down until I stalled. Basically kept my speed low at all times until I stalled, then stopped lowering speed to avoid crashing, then lowered it again. After that I waited for Mantis basically. I didn't take out any enemies before identifying. Mantis is also unknown and I waited until I identified him too. Though it's painfully obvious from his movements that it's him. I took out the bombers first, since Mantis won't flee anyway.

Parts: ECU Software Update, Cutting-Edge Large Flap & Ailerons, Automated Fire Extinguisher, Queen's Custom, Takeoff Weight Augmentation, Multiple Enemy Detection Device, Thrust-Adjusting Steering Device (all parts Lvl. 1)

[⚔️やiͥzzͣaͫkiller⚔]

"Aces are highly skilled and will be harder to take down than other pilots, so be prepared for a fight. They're not called an Ace for nothing." Let me turn on my cheats :P and timer freezer :P

[SlyAceZeta]

No, "Next" is the UI indicator for the next enemy you'll target when you press the switch target button. It's on the bottom-left of the box, whereas the named aircraft's callsign i.e. Calamity is on the top-right below the aircraft designation itself.

[zezu]

I found this ace on mission 19 and it has a SU-57 called Next, what is that ace, is it just calamity?

[Stridsvagn69420]

For Ace 3 "CHASSEUR", the Eurofighter Typhoon with LAAMs worked best for me. Did an approach from the front just like you did, but slowed down to kill the F-14s and Rafales from a far, so that their takeoff won't be immediately triggered.