Ace Combat 8 Named Aces: All 31 Conditional Assault Records
Ace Combat 8 has 83 Assault Records: 52 automatic special-unit records plus 31 conditional named aces. The 31 conditional aces only appear on Veteran difficulty or higher once you meet a specific in-mission trigger, and downing them unlocks unique paint schemes for the aircraft they pilot.
Two Kinds of Assault Record
Ace Combat 8 tracks 83 Assault Records in total. They are not all the same. The first 52 come from special enemy units that appear naturally as you play through the campaign, often as part of named squadrons you encounter in normal sorties. These fill in without special setup as long as you actually engage them.
The remaining 31 are conditional named aces. These do not appear on their own. They only spawn on Veteran difficulty or higher, and only after you satisfy a specific trigger inside a mission. Downing one of these aces and then finishing the sortie saves the record.
The 31 Conditional Named Aces
The table below lists every conditional ace, its mission, the operation codename, the trigger, and the aircraft it pilots. Three entries (Missions 5, 17, and 24) are marked "Unconfirmed" on the source because the publisher's own guide had not yet assigned a tac name or airframe; they are left open rather than guessed.
| Tac Name | Mission | Operation | Trigger | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gigas | Mission 1 Jokers Wild | Seabird | Destroy all non-TGT enemy aircraft. | Mirage 2000-5 |
| Crematio | Mission 2 Nomad | Falling Sparks | Destroy 4+ aircraft within 3 minutes of start. | A-6E Intruder |
| Raia | Mission 3 Purple Magic Takes Flight | Frostwave | Destroy all bombers before they reach White Valley Base. | F/A-18C Hornet |
| Auster | Mission 4 The Fall of the Numbered Fleets | Elder Hand | Fly into the tunnel. | Gripen E |
| Unconfirmed | Mission 5 Retaking of Theve | Long Shot | All LCAC survive. | Unconfirmed |
| Flamma | Mission 6 Attack on the Drinwich Airfield | Redouble | Destroy 5+ TGTs within 3 minutes of start. | MiG-31B Foxhound |
| Orcus | Mission 7 A Lifeline in the Desert | Squeeze | Destroy the Land Aegis via a chain reaction. | EA-6B Prowler |
| Tessera | Mission 8 Retaking of Theve II | Gut Shot | Destroy all non-TGT surface weapons. | MiG-21bis Fishbed |
| Judex | Mission 9 The Land Battleship Blockade | Ogre Pitfall | Destroy the secondary tread armor before the second slowdown line. | MiG-29A Fulcrum |
| Vorago | Mission 10 Over the Rainband | Raincoat | Destroy an airship within 70 seconds of laser targeting. | F-15C Eagle |
| Larus | Mission 11 Maximum Payload | Gaffed Card | Eliminate all Shadows before the Podarge. | F-14D Super Tomcat |
| Imber | Mission 12 An Island in Darkness | Worker Bee | Destroy all LCAC within 3 minutes of takeoff. | F/A-18F Super Hornet |
| Sicarius | Mission 13 The People of the Lost Country | Twin Birds | Destroy 5+ radar towers before the transport lands. | Su-47 Berkut |
| Lupus | Mission 15 Wings of Wax | Deal Cards | Destroy 1 Ladon before the second Ladon. | Su-33 Flanker-D |
| Currus | Mission 16 Singer | Lighthouse Lady | The UAVs launch (location shifts with the third ship). | F-16C Fighting Falcon |
| Unconfirmed | Mission 17 Land Battleship No. 3 | Broncobuster | Destroy all TGTs before the B-1B reaches the halfway point. | Unconfirmed |
| Curis | Mission 18 Moonlight and Shadows | Branching Path | Destroy Shadow 24 (appears south of launch pad at checkpoint 18-4). | F-15J Eagle |
| Aleator | Mission 19 Clearing the Lighthouse | Silver String | Destroy all Su-47s. | F/A-18E Super Hornet |
| Periodus | Mission 20 Escort Orbiter | Migration Keeper | Destroy at least 1 B-2. | Su-35S Flanker-E |
| Alienus | Mission 21 The Star-Bound Bird | Dawn Rising | Sink all enemy ships. | EA-18G Growler |
| Caligo | Mission 22 Pursuing the HSCA | Patch of Blue | Approach the Celaeno without being spotted. | Rafale M |
| Milvus | Mission 23 The Destruction of Expo City | Rumbling | Destroy all Lux Lunae aces within 3 minutes. | A-10C Thunderbolt II |
| Cantrix | Mission 23 The Destruction of Expo City | Rumbling | Destroy all Lux Lunae aces within 3 minutes. | FA-36 Game |
| Unconfirmed | Mission 24 The Battle of Rocky Island, Day 1 | Coastal Hammer | All LCACs reach land. | Unconfirmed |
| Cinis | Mission 25 The Battle of Rocky Island, Day 2 | Paint it Blue | Destroy all land destroyers and the Land Aegis. | F-15E Strike Eagle |
| Silacrum | Mission 25 The Battle of Rocky Island, Day 2 | Paint it Blue | Fly between the floating Podarges and the ocean. | EA-36 Barricader |
| Lucidius | Mission 26 Crossing Fleets | King Tide | Destroy all enemy surface units on Cima Island. | F-2A |
| Stiria | Mission 27 Fatsia, The Ocean Fortress | Rootbreaker | Fly through gaps in the Megafloat spokes. | Typhoon |
| Harmonius | Mission 28 A Thousand Points of Light | Locust Purge | Destroy 5 bombers within 5 minutes of start. | F-35C Lightning II |
| Prudens | Mission 29 Selene | Lunar Eclipse | Fly under an urban highway bridge. | Su-57 Felon |
| Tegimen | Mission 30 Song of Wings | Showdown | Destroy 3+ swarm missile dispensers before they release. | F-22A Raptor |
Why the Difficulty Gate Matters
Because the 31 conditional aces require Veteran difficulty or higher, the usual mistake is replaying a mission looking for an ace that never appears. Before you assume a record is bugged, check the difficulty: an easier setting will simply not spawn the hidden aces at all. Beyond that, each ace depends on doing the right thing at the right moment, so read the trigger column before you launch rather than assuming raw performance is enough.
Why It Is Worth Doing
Downing the conditional aces unlocks unique paint schemes tied to their aircraft types, so the rewards are cosmetic but collectible. A confirmed ace kill is also worth about 2000 bonus points on top of the mission score. Filling all 83 Assault Records completes the related completion milestone. Treat this as a cleanup phase after your first campaign clear: replay missing conditional aces on Veteran or higher, trigger them, and finish the sortie rather than abandoning mid-mission, since the record only saves once the mission is completed.
How to Approach the Cleanup Efficiently
Do not replay every mission in order. First finish the campaign, then check the Assault Records viewer to see exactly which records are still missing. Group the remaining aces by the type of condition they use, and run them on Veteran difficulty so the triggers actually fire. Finish each mission after you down the ace, because abandoning the sortie can force you to repeat the whole spawn condition.
Some records also have dependencies across missions: for example, the Mission 28 22nd Unit requires Shadow 24 to already have been killed in Mission 18. If an ace will not appear, look for a related objective earlier in the campaign rather than grinding the same sortie. For the loadout that makes hunting agile named aces easier, pair QAAM with a maneuverable fighter; it is the weapon players most often recommend against high-mobility aces. See the Special Weapons & Loadouts guide for details, and the S-Rank Guide for how ace kills feed your grade.