ACE COMBAT 8 Special Weapons: Every SP Weapon Confirmed So Far

Why two special weapon slots matter

Every previous mainline Ace Combat let you carry one special weapon alongside your missile and gun. ACE COMBAT 8’s sortie menu shows SELECT SP WEAPON 1 and SELECT SP WEAPON 2 as separate rows, and in-flight HUD screenshots list two special weapons with independent ammo counts alongside the missile stock — for example 6AAM 30 and QAAM 10 on the same aircraft.

The practical consequence: you no longer choose between air-to-air coverage and ground attack on mixed missions. You can bring a multi-lock missile for the fighter wave and a precision weapon for the ground targets in the same sortie, provided your benchmark agrees (the pre-mission screen rates every mission for air-to-air and air-to-ground focus).

Every special weapon confirmed so far

These ten abbreviations are visible in official screenshots. Descriptions combine the weapon-name evidence with long-standing series behavior, which Project ACES has kept consistent for decades — anything that might change at launch is flagged.

Flight rosters in the sortie screens show how loadouts differ inside one flight: in one screenshot REX’s F/A-18C carries 4AAM, while wingmen carry SOD/QAAM pairs; in another, TASHA’s F-2A carries LASM and HVAA. The game clearly expects — and rewards — complementary loadouts across your four-plane flight.

Matching weapons to the mission benchmark

Before every sortie, the benchmark screen rates the mission’s air-to-air and air-to-ground emphasis. Use it as a two-step checklist:

• High air-to-air: multi-lock missiles (4AAM/6AAM) clear drone swarms; QAAM or LAAM for named aces and fast movers. Screenshots show MQ-19 drone targets worth +100 each and swarm drone groups worth +800 — multi-lock pays directly into your score (see the score and ranking guide).

• High air-to-ground: GPB for hardened structures, LASM for ships, SOD for surface targets defended by anti-air fire. The snow-valley screenshot shows a “Dispersed Attack” order releasing the flight’s special weapons across radar towers and SU-25SM targets at once.

• Mixed missions are where the second slot earns its place: 6AAM in slot one, GPB in slot two covers both halves of a benchmark.

What screenshots tell us about big targets

Two large-target types appear in official material. A giant airborne vessel shows SUB PROPELLER sub-targets worth +200 each, attacked while the flight’s F/A-18 strafes its deck — expect distributed sub-targets rather than a single health bar, consistent with the new damage model in which hits anywhere count and destroyed parts can damage neighbors. The drone-swarm city screenshot lists SWARM DRONES +800 as a single target group.

The aces and wingmen guide covers how the no-weak-point damage model changes ace duels specifically.

What is still unverified

Exact damage values, lock ranges, ammo prices in any upgrade economy and whether weapons can be swapped mid-mission are not in official material. The beginner guide will be updated during launch week, and this page carries its last-checked date at the top — anything beyond the list above gets verified hands-on before it lands here.