Air Strike Mode

Air Strike Mode (ASM) is the second branch of the Close Range Assault mechanic in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. It is the ground-attack counterpart of Dog Fight Mode.

Overview
In ground combat-centered missions where the player must fly an Attacker/Multirole aircraft, such as "Hostile Fleet", there will be special beacons in the battlefield, marked as "ASM Entry". Upon aprroaching the target, it will flash. Pressing the trigger buttons while the entry point is locked onto will initiate ASM.

In Air Strike Mode, the camera positions itself close to the rear of the aircraft, like it does in DFM. The player follows a predetermined path, marked by three rows of green triangles, destroying all hostiles therein. During ASM, weapons reload and machine gun overheat time are decreased to provide increased firepower.

Bomber aircraft (B-2A Spirit, B-1B Lancer) are able to engage in a unique variation of ASM. When an Entry Point is hit, the camera will shift into the aircraft's weapons bay. A green line indicates the bombs' ballistic/fall trajectory, and the circle in the ground marks the blast radius. As bombs are released, radius circles will appear on the ground to mark their impact site. In the bombing section of Campaign mission #11, "Launch", when the player must use guided bombs to destroy underground ICBM silos, the "bomb bay" view is abandoned, and Air Strike Mode is handled like in normal aircraft.

In online multiplayer, Air Strike Mode can be affected by one's chosen skills.