Zone of Endless

"It's that red aircraft again!"

- Ulrich Olsen

Zone of Endless (Z.O.E.) was a classified military project of Gründer Industries concerning the development of artificial intelligence control systems for aircraft, the ADF-01 FALKEN and the Connection for Flight Interface system.

Conception
The Zone of Endless project was launched in complete secrecy by Gründer Industries between early 1996 and 1997 with the goal of solving the Belkan Air Force's crippling lack of professional fighter pilots after the Belkan War. The basis of the program was the combat data obtained from the flight recorder of the ADFX-02 Morgan, which had been stolen by A World With No Boundaries in their coup d'etat and destroyed over Avalon Dam on December 31, 1995. The "Z.O.E. Project" was the company's first program of major significance after the war, and led it to devote an entire team of researchers to the development of combat-capable AI systems.

Prior to 1997, the Z.O.E. AI systems were installed in five experimental aircraft painted in a distinctive crimson finish—a "Captain" F-14D, the F/A-18E "Major", a "Colonel" YF-23, a "General" F-15 S/MTD and an ADF-01 FALKEN christened "Commander"—, all named after military ranks. Each successive model displayed improved intelligence and increasingly improved capabilities, including the ability to use electronic jammers and perform counter-maneuvers against enemy planes.

First Usean Continental War
After their development, the five Z.O.E. aircraft somehow arrived to Usea in unknown circumstances. The aircraft were acquired by the USEA Unified Forces during their uprising in early 1998, and were regularly encountered by Phoenix and the Scarface Squadron in their missions against the insurrection.

Ace Combat 2
The ZOE were originally featured as a group of recurring ace enemies in Ace Combat 2. Appearing sporadically between missions, destroying them would reward the player with a "Z.O.E." medal, one for each pilot. The entire squadron could only be found by destroying the resident aircraft in a mission— missing one would make it appear in the next mission where a ZOE enemy appeared and take their place. Taking down all four aircraft until the mission "Kingpin" would make the ADF-01 "Commander" appear in "Fighter's Honor", which proved essential in unlocking the XFA-27.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy
In Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy, the ZOE (now named Zone of Endless) became central to the plot of the campaign, appearing to attack the player at certain points in the story. The return of the squadron sees minor differences with their original counterparts: All of the aircraft are capable of performing advanced maneuvers such as the Kulbit from the initial encounter. In addition, the F-15S/MTD and ADF-01 are capable of producing a jamming signal that not only temporarily disrupts the HUD, it will also create bogus targeting boxes onscreen similar to the jamming effects from "Blind Spot". The ADF-01 is also capable of firing both missiles and machine guns from behind, for the first portion of the fight until it is damaged significantly.
 * The Captain instead appears in Midnight Assassin
 * The Colonel flies the YF-23 Black Widow II and appears in Green Bird
 * The General flies the F-15 S/MTD

The ADF-01 is also featured in Extra Missions 2 and 4. In Extra Mission 2, it appears as the target objective and must be shot down before it escapes Seals Bridge. The ZOE is also capable of firing machine guns backwards like in Fighter's Honor. In Extra Mission 4, which is based on Fighter's Honor, the first objective is to shoot down the Commander. In the final mission update, 4 ZOE Commanders appear and must be shot down. These units are able to fire the TLS (Note that this is the only time ZOE can use the TLS).

Strangely, the Captain and Major units are never shot down in this game, as they flee after a short engagement with Phoenix. Their fates are unknown, though it is most likely that they were simply used to gauge Phoenix's skills, and were deactivated afterwards.

Trivia

 * In both Extra Missions 2 and the final mission update of 4, the ZOE Commanders use the default paint scheme of the ADF-01 instead of the crimson red.