Sword of Annihilation (Operation Judgment) is the ninth mission of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. The operation's main purpose is to destroy the Belkan laser tower, codenamed Excalibur.
Beginning
Allied forces fighters, Galm Team, Crow Team, and a KC-10 approach the Excalibur. This also the first time Cipher meet his future wingman, PJ. Suddenly Excalibur open fire and destroy the Allied's tanker support. Galm team quickly fly closer to the Excalibur while evading the laser. The laser tower is protected by 4 jammer facilities. Cipher fly to the jammers and destroy them one-by-one. With the jammers now destroyed, missiles can lock onto the Excalibur.
Destruction of the Excalibur
The Excalibur had lost one of its defenses, but the Belkans had placed several railway artillery pieces around the tower. Although Pixy called them "railway artillery", the artillery pieces were in fact smaller laser cannons, mounted on short railway systems. Galm team began to destroy the RTLS and Excalibur's power facilities. After the secondary targets were destroyed, Cipher began to attack the tower itself. Even after losing it's power facilities, Excalibur could still fire its laser at Cipher. Eventually, Cipher managed to eliminate the tip of the tower where the laser beam was produced. He then proceeded to attack the middle of the tower. After several repeated attacks on the same spot, Excalibur is finally destroyed.
Results
The Excalibur is destroyed, ending the long range laser threat.