The Arsenal Bird - An analysis of our new enemy in Ace Combat 7

The Arsenal Bird, also known as “FAS” by the developers, is giant drone carrier – the first of its type in Strangereal, a planet ruled by enormous aircraft. In this video I analyse one of the most iconic enemies that we will fight against in the upcoming Ace Combat title using official information, a bit of theory and, like always, diving into the details of previous games.

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[htwm]

imagine a team PvP mode with each team has its own arsenal bird and has to destroy it other.

[tensaishounen]

I bet you that there will be a mission where we need to fly through the inside of the space elevator.

[jettstorm]

Nagase was right when she said President Harling would build another Arkbird.

[Saviliana]

So it IS the Arkbird Mk2
So it IS
And we got the Kestral
5+2=7, Well played Project ACE.

[Knight_Igris]

Imagine every GIANT flying fortresses from every Ace Combat game fighting each other OR if they made a enormous convoy (also i want to see a size comparison).

[aerosims]

Did you know The Arsenal Bird or FAS actually Inspires from DARPA projects about Portabel Drones but the difference are DARPA using C-130 as their Platform

[russianreaper]

That moment when it is reviled that Belka started a NOTHER war between super powers by hijacking flying super weapons. #calling it now

[jfv]

I find it interesting that in the dialogue that appears around 7:18 you can see that they talk about "Arsenal BirdS". In plural. I guess we´ll have to fight more than one, or maybe Erusea steals and controls only one of them, idk.

[TheRibbonRed]

Nice analysis and it's roots in real-life! I do have some stuff to say though:
1. The Tu-95 Bear had a Top Speed of 925km/h and Cruise Speed of 710km/h, while the Tu-114 had a Top Speed of 870km/h--
which when you compare them to the Arsenal Bird, it's pretty fast. This is sort of odd since the Arsenal Bird clearly has bigger
and more engines, and unmanned. If ACES actually do some relations with the them, the Arsenal Bird might be faster and
more agile than we've seen. Not to mention its hidden armaments too.
2. The X-47B Project was actually cancelled by the US Navy (it's not ongoing anymore). Some of the gripes regarding it was that
it was "too stealthy" and "expensive" for its intended use, though the Navy kept it on a "ready state" instead of an actual
museum piece when they send it to the National Naval Aviation Museum. This is normal, considering its astounding
achievements in completing "The first unmanned aerial refueling" and "The first unmanned carrier landing" in under a year--
so much so that the team behind the X-47B got an award themselves.

The X-47B only hold two weapons though, so I don't think it will be a long-lasting Itano Circus unless ACES decided to go for
the "AC Protagonist" levels of missiles.
3. The "UAV" that launched from the Arkbird was actually the X-47A Pegasus, which is still in the same family as the X-47B.
Unlike most variations though, the X-47B was a design upgrade to the X-47A concept, which made the Pegasus itself
obsolete.

[andrewzheng]

Osea can't stop people from hacking their superweapons lul

[alonelyperson]

Sad to see that there are only 2 ARsenal birds...and we have to destroy both of them
It would've been much more fun if we got a chance to have an ally arsenal bird similar to how the Arkbird once helped us out.

[Lulu-exfc]

Just thought of something else. Anybody watched Mobile Suit Gundam 00? If you did, remember when all factions had to band together when the Space Elevator began autopurging its panels and they had to shoot down as many as possible to keep collateral to a minimum? I want that.

[IidosGamingDen]

Imagine a mission with all 4 Arsenal Birds. You've managed to get 2 under your command, and your mission is to bring down the other 2, which are under control by the enemy...

4 Arsenal Birds, 320 UAVs, you, your wingmen and the enemy wings, in one of the most insanely epic battles in AC history...and that's only the halfway point of the game, with an even bigger threat being revealed not too long after (as it usually is).

I want to believe this is actually a possibility.

[christophermichael]

It has a plot armor in mission 3...

Next time we meet them, we tear their blades and wings into pieces 🙃

[calamitousenigma]

The 1945 era Japanese would be proud.
Seriously, 80 kamikaze drones....

[synthdriver]

One of my biggest hopes is seeing a space mission.

[princesscadance]

If the series comes to a close, I want the final boss to be Erusea losing their minds, and reconstructing every superweapon in the series, and all of them are active at once. Stonehenge, Megalith, both Arsenal Birds, etc.

[AWC]

OMFG (I'm commenting as I watch) THE SKY CRAWLERS! :D You completely caught me off-guard with this one!!!

[marloyt]

Talk about the Aigaion in ace combat 6.

[DEXEvolution]

Sky Crawler eh? Duuuude that anime looks awesome. I GOTTA check it out now!