The Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or commonly called XMAA, is a kind of special weapon in Ace Combat that appears since Ace Combat 04, and has been featured in almost all the games since then. The prominent feature of XMAA is that it has a medium-long range (15000 feet/1850 in Ace Combat 04 and 12000 feet in Assault Horizon), and an ability to lock-on to multiple air targets at once. Combined with the fact that it has a damage double of a standard missile, it can easily one-shot most airplanes from afar with ease. However, its maneouverability is very limited compared to Standard Missiles, so that XMAAs are much less effective when launched from angles other than head-on/tail-on
In Ace Combat 6 and Assault Horizon, there are two variants of XMAA: XMA4 (4AAM in AH), and XMA6 (6AAM in AH) that lock-on to 4 and 6 air targets respectively. However, as in Assault Horizon, it is still unknown whether the 6AAMs are XMAAs or XLAAs as they all appear on aircraft equipped with XLAA (Su-35S, F-14D, and EF-2000).
Those missiles are based on AIM-120B/C AMRAAM for US Aircraft, and Vympel R-77 (AA-12 Adder) on Russian Aircraft.
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies
The XMAA first appeared in Ace Combat 04 as an SP weapon of F/A-18C Hornet, which is unlocked after the 6th mission, so that it is pretty easy to acquire. However, due to its considerably shorter lock-on distance than XLAAs there's much less time to launch it before the target can get too close. Especially at high speed.
List of aircraft equipped with XMAA in AC04:
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
The XMAA probably appears for the first time on F-4X, which is available after filling the killbar of F-4E Phantom II
List of aircraft equipped with XMAA in AC5:
- F-16C Block 60 (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- F-15 S/MTD (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- F/A-18E Super Hornet (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- F/A-22A Raptor (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- F-4X (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- Tornado F.3 (British Aerospace Skyflash)
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
The XMAA returns in ACZ with similar performance in AC5.
List of aircraft capable of carrying XMAAs in ACZ:
- F-16C Fighting Falcon (AIM-120B AMRAAM)
- Su-27 Flanker (Vympel R-77)
- F-15C Eagle (AIM-120B AMRAAM)
- Su-32 Strike Flanker (Vympel R-77)
- F/A-22A Raptor (AIM-120B AMRAAM)
- EA-18G Growler (AIM-120B AMRAAM)
- F-2A Viper Zero (Mitsubishi AAM-4)
- Rafale M (MBDA MICA-EM)
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
The XMAA in Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation has been given a major redesign. The weapon is now divided into two types: the standard version, now renamed XMA4 and the "XMA6", a variant which can track six targets. Due to its ability to release a lot of missiles in a quick succession, many players tend to spam their XMA4/6s on a single target in online play. This practice is dubbed as "XMAA Spamming", and it is practically frowned upon by almost all players.
List of aircraft equipped with XMA4/6 in AC6:
- F-16C Fighting Falcon (XMA4)
- Mirage 2000-5 (XMA4)
- Su-33 Flanker-D (XMA4, it actually has 6 R-77s mounted, but only 4 will be fired in a single salvo. The other 2 will be fired in the next salvo)
- F-15E Strike Eagle (XMA6)
- EF-2000 Typhoon (XMA6)
- F-22A Raptor (XMA6)
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
In Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, the XMAA is a multi-lock air-to-air weapon. This particular iteration has been renamed "4-Target Multi Lock-on Air-to-Air Missile", or 4AAM. It is one of the first available SP weapons in the game, being compatible with the F-16C Fighting Falcon and the Mirage 2000-5.
The 4AAM has an effective range of 12,000 feet, which is shorter than the one from past installments. The 6AAM, in the other hand works more akin to the classic XLAA, possessing a range of 20,000 feet. Each missile has twice the power of an standard missile, allowing them to wipe out enemy fighters in a single impact. The most notable difference between the weapon and its past incarnations is that each "ammo point" is counted as a salvo, as opposed to an individual missile. Thus, if an aircraft had 30 ammo, it would mean that it can fire 30 missile salvos. Furthermore, all missiles will be fired regardless of the number of acquired targets, meaning that is possible to kill an individual enemy with a full barrage.
The following aircraft can use the 4AAM:
- F-16C Fighting Falcon
- Mirage 2000-5
- MiG-29A Fulcrum
- F-15C Eagle
- Typhoon
- F-22A Raptor
- JAS-39C Gripen
- F-15E Strike Eagle
- PAK FA
- Su-37 Terminator
Ace Combat Infinity
The 4AAM performs like the XMAA/XMA4/XMA6 of past games, having a range of 13,000ft before the player can lock on and fire at a target. 4AAMs have been noticably reduced in their destructive power, requiring two shots to shoot down a target with them alone just like standard missiles. Unlike Assault Horizon, the ammo points now count themselves in a per missile basis rather than salvo.
The following aircraft can use the 4AAM:
- F-16C
- F-16C -Gold Falcon-
- F-16C -Libra-
- Mirage 2000-5
- MiG-29A
- MiG-29A -Libra-
- Gripen C
- F-15C
- F-15C -Cipher-
- F-15C -Pixy-
- F-15J
- F/A-18F
- F/A-18F -Black Hornet-
- Su-33 -Pirates-
- Su-33 -Strigon-
- F-15E
- Su-37
- Su-37 -Yellow13-
- F-15S/MTD -Stripes-
- T-50
- F-22A