Trinity

"Jesus...their weapon again."

- Doug Robinson, after witnessing a Trinity impact.

"Trinity", also known as Experimental Weapon 1, is the name of a superweapon operated by the SRN, appearing in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. The weapon itself takes the shape of a SOD-like cruise missile, which detonates in a massive, earth-shaking explosion. It is revealed that Trinity may be fired from a fighter jet, such as Markov's PAK-FA, making it a mobile superweapon that can affect any country.

Design
Trinity's true power is never consistent through the plot, making it hard to measure its actual destructive potential. For example, the Trinity detonated at the end of "Red Moon" vaporizes an entire bridge and its surroundings. The most powerful explosion in the story is the one that annihilates Carruth at the end of "Blue on Blue", whose shockwave manages to reach Hamada Airbase dozens of miles away, even knocking Bishop down to the ground.

"Trinity" refers only to the warhead. Magic has indicated that the missile used to carry it is a Moskit, but instances where detail images of the missile are shown instead reveal a missile similar to the European-made Storm Shadow in appearance except for a more pronounced engine pod at its extreme rear. It could very well mean that a variety of missiles can be adopted to carry the warhead, in turn making many different kinds of Russian-made aerial and naval platforms capable of deploying the weapon.

As well, Trinity's nature is a topic of debate in the game community. The warheads' explosions (very bright flash, shockwave, and mushroom clouds) have led some to believe that it is nuclear in nature, however it is never referred to as such by the characters. If Trinity is nuclear, the lack of mention can be attributed to the "nuclear weapons taboo" in Japanese culture, itself a result of the nuclar bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki at the end of World War II (but this argument sounds dubious, as nuclear weapons have been featured in previous titles in the Strangereal franchise, albeit usually as the weapons that players must prevent from being used). However, there is no trace of nuclear radiation throughout the usage of Trinity, as the majority of characters were able to survive the explosions without radiation poisonings. Also, the afore-mentioned effects are NOT exclusive to nuclear explosions- they can be produced as a result of any sufficiently-large explosion, including the infamous BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" conventional bomb and the final destruction of battleship Yamato. It is probably a fictional variant of the Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power, also known as "The Father of All Bombs", which is currently the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the world.

As a player weapon
After the campaign is played through once fully, the PAK-FA can be selected in multiplayer and free mission, and the Trinity missile will be equippable. The aircraft has three EW1 missiles, however they reload at half the speed of a normal missile, making it one of the fastest-reloading special weapons of its nature. When a Trinity missile hits its target it, the weapon detonates in a massive explosion, which is capable of damaging or destroying both allies and enemies alike. Like the Multi-Purpose Burst Missile from Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, the explosion lingers in mid-air, which can damage aircraft that pass by too closely, even the pilot who fired it. As a result, it is not recommended for use in Close Range Assault.

In any competitive multiplayer mode, Trinity can only be equipped if a player reaches a killstreak of eight. Once a killstreak of eight has been achieved, the player's callsign will flash on the left-hand side progression window box with the indication that the player has obtained the right to use Trinity. Due to the fast-paced nature of multiplayer modes and the small text that the information box uses, it's helpful to keep track of one's own callsign as well as the amount of kills attributed to the player, as it is easy to overlook when one obtains the killstreak.

Only one Trinity-equipped PAK-FA can be on the field at any time. In Capital Conquest it is extremely useful for clearing the myriads of anti-air weapons littered around key objectives like HQs, Radar Stations, and the like. Once released, even if by mistake, it is then lost and must be reacquired with another kill-streak. In addition, if the player is shot down before the EW1 is used, it is lost and must be reacquired.

Upon fielding an EW1-equipped PAK-FA, both team's objectives will change to "Destroy/Protect the EW1 Carrier!" Despite this, the previous objective will remain, and it is suggested, but not necessary to acknowledge the aforementioned player.