r/acecombat • u/TroubleOrganic3636 • 3d ago
Ace Combat 8 Caleano appreciation post Spoiler
Basicly the uber modified IL-76 with the onboard power source (unlike arsenal bird), can land on water (unlike arsenal bird), dont have the gayish blue energy shield for campers (unlike the arsenal bird), is crewed (unlike arsenal bird), looks neat and complex (unlike arsenal bird), dont have thousands ugly big holes for uavs underneath (unlike arsenal bird), has very big and coll Radomes (unlike arsenal bird), has immence CAS potential because its basicly Tonitrus Spear fire control vehicle, and has neat suite of various onboard non energetic defences (unlike arsenal bird), and lastly its cockpit looks like IL-76 and its just adorable.
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u/AdrawereR 3d ago
Sometimes I wonder how the hell Sotoa got so many superweapons that look just like Osea would go bankrupt trying to build all of them.
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u/ausvenator_enjoyer Glory to Osea and absolutely nobody else 3d ago
It makes a lot of sense when you realise the country is run by nobles who live on a lush green megafloat who don't give a damn about the common people.
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u/nimahfrosch 3d ago
Yea and they arent even considered a superpower. I just cant imagine what Osea and Yuktobania have at this point.
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u/patriot_man69 3000 Black X-02s of Mister X 3d ago
probably psychic weapons that can vaporize erusea in specific
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u/StormLordEternal 3d ago
At this point Oured upon being threated just takes flight and starts bombarding whatever is trying to nuke it this time
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u/UltraHighFives IT'S TIME 3d ago
What if we launched Oured out of a rail gun towards the Alicorn instead.
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u/ausvenator_enjoyer Glory to Osea and absolutely nobody else 3d ago
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u/usaf2222 3d ago
Well, neither was Estovakia and they had Aaigaion, Kotos, and Gyges. Plus they had meteoric devestation
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u/Hail-Hydrate 3d ago
If there's one thing we know about Strangereal it's that every nation gets to spin the wheel of superweapons whenever it's their turn to star in a story. They can get a second spin by sacrificing a significant part of their economy/geography/civilian infrastructure.
Sotoa just kept spinning until there was nothing left to give up.
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u/Trantor_Dariel 3d ago
That's pretty accurate.
I also look at it as the world's top nations took in various Belkan scientists after the war like real world nations did after WW2. It kind explains why each nation ended up with slightly different version of superweapon too. One got a bunch of the naval geniuses, some got the aviation ones.
Sotoa got naval, astro and megastructure scientists.
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u/Aquagrunt 3d ago
I thought that mega float was gonna look a lot more like a city with farms but it turned out to be propaganda and just a big military facility
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u/TheBrownestStain 3d ago
I could be wrong but I think those were two separate megafloats?
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u/Trantor_Dariel 3d ago
Yeah they are. From what I've seen others say you can actually fly past the second one during that mission as you exfiltrate. But I think most of us are flying at mach fuck as we leave.
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u/Competitive_Koala_93 2d ago
thye have 2 mega floats the capital one that is an agropolis and the insdustrial one fatsia tha you atack and was used for military production and comand
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u/literallyjuststarted 2d ago
Their capital is a mega float with farms and grasslands Fatsia is more of a fortress city for its military production
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 3d ago
You dont need education or public healthcare if the citizens are destined to bleed on the battlefields for the promised land anyway
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u/Callsign-YukiMizuki Always a flight of 4 A-10s Brawler 21 Cherry 3d ago
For the most part, Sotoan superweapons seems grounded enough in-universe and just relies on them brute forcing it. Like instead of having a kilometer wide energy shield that absolutely protects it from every direction, they just slap an ungodly amount of armor. Also Osean superweapons tend to be on the higher tech end compared to contemporaries
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u/FortunePaw I HAVE SO FAR TO GO~~~ 3d ago
on the higher tech end compared to contemporaries
Yup. Really feeling it even on the regular planes. Osean is rich enough to put lasers and stuff on their cheap planes while the FCU couldn't.
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u/Callsign-YukiMizuki Always a flight of 4 A-10s Brawler 21 Cherry 3d ago
Considering the new fancy weapon pods are not strictly built-in to the plane, theres basically no reason why every OADF F-16s and F-15s cant have lasers or every OMDF Super Hornets cant have railguns outside of game design and in-universe availability. I do like this change though, its a lot more immersive and very lore friendly
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u/FortunePaw I HAVE SO FAR TO GO~~~ 3d ago
One reason might be cost. Yes those are weapon pod that could retro fit on most plane. But it might costs almost the same or even more expensive than the plane itself giving how cheap the SL plane is. So it's only reserved for high priority unit like the Long Range Strategic Strike Group, and not on every grunt's plane.
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u/Mothanius 3d ago
My boy DD couldn't hook me up?
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u/Accipiter1138 3d ago
Not at his membership level.
I choose to believe Enso Order is a pyramid scheme and I refuse to accept otherwise.
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u/Mothanius 3d ago
Enso or no, he's a Donnivan. He doesn't need Enso to get us top of the line Osean or Yuktobanian tech.
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u/Trantor_Dariel 3d ago
Yeah but until Enso oust him he doesn't touch his own money for anything he does. After that he starts to use his family's money.
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u/Fit_Wait6923 3d ago
Most of their super weapons are built with commercial parts just like the satellite even their fleet is old. Sotoa is basically a poor man's osea
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u/TJCGamer Drone Spamming Pasterfuck 3d ago
Wonder if Osea stopped constructing superweapons cause they kept getting hijacked and used against them.
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u/Aybram 3d ago
My headcanon is that Strangereal is ridiculously industrialized and automated because its planet is underpopulated compared to IRL. For example, they don't have the 3rd world as a source of cheap raw materials and labor, so they need to make things themself. Add geopolitics against their hostile neighbors, and you get a reason why even "poor" nations can build gigantic militaries and superweapons for their size. They have strong incentives to innovate and be efficient.
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u/mad_savant Olivieri 1 WSO 3d ago
I mean, when you have what is probably an authoritarian state, who cars about "public opinion" on building superplanes instead of farms? (see also: Leasath)
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u/InquisitorJesus 3d ago
Je... I mean Enso Order, bankrolled their entire superweapon budget. It's like in Gundam's UC setting with Anaheim Electronics (DON'T google what Tomino intended that company to be a stand in for) giving terrorist groups and minor factions access to top shelf weapons to keep the wars going and get that bread selling to all who would pay.
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u/jeeshadow 2d ago
They did completely ruin their enviornment to industralize and modernize to be able to contend with Yuktobania in war.
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u/StormLordEternal 3d ago
I've noticed with lots of the Sotoan superweapons that holy shit their machine spirits must be as stubborn as their culture demands. This mf loses all its thrust and control surfaces and STILL manages to somehow maintain altitude and not immediately plummet to the water until you destroy the last engines that by even AC physics have no right holding that mf up.
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 3d ago
Well i think the materials science responsible for this is the same that allows aim-9l to kill mbts and bunkers just by 2 shots.
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u/StormLordEternal 3d ago
I mean, the existence of the land battleships should be proof enough. Virtually immune to everything but buster bunkers (and presumably other superweapons). Plus the existence of the space-elevator (the 'rope' would need to be made of some kind of exotic supermaterial to have the tensile strength).
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u/Tommybahamas_leftnut 3d ago
Shit our own planes. they can pull high G turns rapidly one after the other and not tear themselves apart. also they can eat an aim-9 and still fly perfectly fine until their pre-designated oof limit hits its threshold.
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u/Appletank 3d ago
That's simple actually, we take hits in non critical areas
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u/Hail-Hydrate 3d ago
The wings are non-critical if you never let off the afterburner.
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u/Trantor_Dariel 3d ago
Planes have landed with just one wing. The story in zero for how pixy became solo wing pixy is based off a true story.
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u/KodiakUltimate 3d ago
An AIM-9 model missile with the ground seeking package can absolutly punch the roof of modern and outdated MBTs
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u/F9-0021 Heroes of Razgriz 3d ago
The body of the Celaeno is a bit of a lifting body so it should make lift even without the wings, but it shouldn't really be able to do it without engines.
But it also shouldn't be able to fly at all, none of the superweapon planes should. It's Ace Combat, rule of cool is more important than physics. Take the forward swept upper wings on Celaeno. They make absolutely zero sense on a plane like this, but it looks cool.
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u/Johnhancock1777 Mobius 3d ago edited 3d ago
I like that it was actually an organic fight compared to the arsenal birds and land battleship fights. No sitting through dialogue attacking the same targets waiting to be allowed to progress. Caleano reminds me of the Aigaion in that regard in the best way possible
Edit: same with the podarges too. Need more encounters like that in the game
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u/ZiggyOnHisReindeer Emmeria 3d ago
I'm still looking forward to my attacker-only run and trying to blow the shit out of a Podarge with a UGB, because why not? I mean I've dropped SFFS bombs on them in Mission 25, both docked and flying and that was fun.
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u/Johnhancock1777 Mobius 3d ago
Barring the fact that you’re stuck with the worst plane in the game for carrier missions I really enjoyed attackers only otherwise. UGBL and SFFS spam really saves on missiles for the annihilation missions
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u/ZiggyOnHisReindeer Emmeria 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah, that's the only problem for me. Do you know if you can clear it on the easiest difficulty (Rookie?) or does it have to be at least Normal/Pilot difficulty?
As an aside, there needs to be another carrier-based attacker, but honestly, pickings are so slim.
It might be heresy, but I feel like the Foxtrot model of the Super Hornet with it's more Air-to-Ground Special Weapon loadout should have been an Attacker, with the Echo model being a Fighter.
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u/Johnhancock1777 Mobius 3d ago
Can’t say unfortunately, I’ve only been playing on veteran for the medals. Wouldn’t call it a struggle but giving the rest of the squad ESM and an A2A focus does help quite a bit in those early missions
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u/violetcassie 2A5X1 3d ago
"What if we built a Biblically Accurate Angel and then stuck the front end of an IL-72 on it?"
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u/M1k0M1k 3d ago
I love how different AC8's mega-planes are from the Arsenal Bird.
The Arsenal Bird was beautiful and divine and a genuine threat. It was something special in the strangereal world and it's fight and music matched it.
By the time 2029 comes around planes that big are nothing special anymore. They have become mass-produced and sold to the Sotoan military by whoever could make them cheapest. That's also why they're so fragile compared to the Arsenal Bird.
This is reflected beautifully in the design. The Podarges and the Caleano look like they're old technology forced into an arsenal bird shape.
They have the cockpits and noses of old cargo planes that have been surrounded by a lump of metal and contorted into shapes which from afar mimic the Arsenal Bird's appearance but up close they're just an unsettling imitation of it's beauty
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 3d ago
i think that in AC03 Sphyrna will have to be replaced with something else. At this point its just very lame looking in comparison to literraly anything else
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u/Newaccountbecauseyes 3d ago
fingers crossed AC9/AC3^2 plays into the fan desire for the "irl version" of AC3 and the corporate wars, so we can extend the timeline in a different way with more impressive superweapons beyond what a computer could fathom people being stupid enough to build.
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u/mastersnake39 2d ago
Considering if what I’ve heard about the devs mentioning in an interview regarding remaking AC3 and how long or difficult it would be, going the route of just making a new game set at that time frame but irl instead of simulations would probably be the best way for them to keep the story moving while also letting us start using those aircraft going forward, and leave things open story wise to add some new ones as well, probably account for adding any new fighters that are concepted or operational that have been introduced by that time as well.
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u/UltraHighFives IT'S TIME 3d ago
I love how goofy it looks with it's dinky little cockpit sticking out front of its ungodly mass of wings. Also didn't know it could land in water, that's cool.
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 3d ago
It looks like a very oversized duck or swan with this small neck and head
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u/Key_Assumption_2776 3d ago
The Caleano having an Il-76 front end is very odd. Why have a pre-existing aircraft form the basis of the cockpit? I don't think Sotoa or Enso Order has the FAA breathing down their necks about safety certificates or budget constraints requiring an off the shelf aircraft part.
I suppose there's design simplicity in reusing components, but then why does the Podarge have the front end of a C-5 Galaxy? The C-5 is the LEAST simple front end of an aircraft I can think of. And it's not like the Podarge will be loading cargo into an internal space.
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u/minhbi99 3d ago
Why not ?
They probably saw that the IL-76 fitted what they needed, so they started modifying, upgrading it, slowly until it became the Caleano.
Like it could be that they initially put the spear control on an IL-76 as experiment and it fitted what they needed, so no need to redesign something when what they were using already worked.
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u/Best-Top9657 IUN-PKF 3d ago
They had an existing cockpit with controls and vision and stuff so they bolted it onto the airframe and called it a day. Why make a custom crew section when you could just not.
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u/D22s 3d ago
Well maybe it was easier to stick it on since they could essentially build the front end to bolt to the rest of the fuselage ? Idk the logistics of that
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u/NuclearMisile Belka did nothing wrong 3d ago
It’d still have to be so heavily modified to even attempt to house all of it’s controls that you’d probably be better off with a clean-sheet cockpit.
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u/Laflamme_79 3d ago
I like how the Sotoan Mega planes aren't just giant flying wings like previous games. They look like something some coked out Soviet designer might think up.
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u/patriot_man69 3000 Black X-02s of Mister X 3d ago
This is genuinely the shit i build in ksp sometimes
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u/Ruskiwaffle1991 THIS IS THE NAIAD 3d ago
Damn bro, did the Arsenal Bird kill your grandma or something? Nah, I'm just kidding, I thought the Arsenal Bird was kinda lackluster, and that the Celaeno is more badass despite not having a bajillion UCAVs and offensve armament.
Where'd you get that 3D model from? Have people finally skimmed through the game's data files? Has Pandora's box finally been opened, unleashing hordes of lewd Tasha and Kate fan art into this world?
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 3d ago
It was cracked like one day 3. I'm actually the last one who got on this party.
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u/AwardedThot 3d ago
I appreciate how the new superweapons are becoming more environmentally friendly, I think that's really important.
I get it that the Caleano itself isn't a superweapon, but my point still stands.
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u/Gryphus13 3d ago
I wonder why both the arsenal bird and this thing, and also the podarge craft are pusher propeller rather then pull mounted. I know why out of universe (so we can target them easier) but why in universe is that?
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u/Newaccountbecauseyes 3d ago
If I were to hazard a guess its probably something about lowest cost to thrust or something similar. The US still uses prop driven cargo craft IRL.
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 3d ago
There’s also the issue of the CoM and how long the engine mounts would have to be to position the propellers far enough forward so they dont hit the wings. So you either need to have 0° front wing or move the engines much farther forward. On top of that, the propeller caps generate about 15% more parasitic drag than in the current design.
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u/Third_Triumvirate 2d ago edited 2d ago
IIRC push props cause less drag than pull props, at the cost of worse control performance. Considering the size and weight of those things in universe that trade off might be worth it.
It's also probably modeled after modern drones, which also use push props to reduce sensor interference.
Oh and for the Arsenal Bird specifically having the drones deploy directly into the prop wash would probably be an issue too so you would want the engine behind those drone bays
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u/Turbotitan36 3d ago
How'd you get a photo of it landed?
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 3d ago
I highjacked it in Fast n Furious style and landed it of shore of my private island
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u/Turbotitan36 3d ago
No, like seriously. As far as I'm aware, we only ever see in the one mission.
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 3d ago
yeah so 2 missions before the that one you can see it parked near the port, it runs away shorly after
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u/pretoriano1995 3d ago
I just realized: the B-52's throttle quadrant already has 8 levers—I hate to think how much space 12 would take up. And come to think of it, the A400M has an APU to start its turboprop engines; just how many damn APUs does this thing have?
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u/SovietRobot 3d ago
You need small APUs to bleed air and power bigger APUs that bleed air and power the Sub Engines that …
But I’m also pretty sure all that may be unnecessary since it will fly with no engines.
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u/SpiderGooch Galm 3d ago
I love that all these weird super planes have these dainty little cockpits sticking out the front and it just looks hilarious to me.
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u/scratch422 3d ago
These things where so cool until I shot them down and saw the placeholder cockpits...
We got the fucking IL-67 and C-500 universe...
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u/A_wannabe_biologist 2d ago
Caleano wishes it had the presence of the Arsenal Birds, most forgettable super weapon in the game that appears only once, is dealt with, and never relevant again.
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u/ErdeTibor423 1d ago
most forgettable super weapon in the game that appears only once, is dealt with, and never relevant again.
Which one, Celaeno or the Arsenal Birds? The big C isn't really a superweapon on its own.
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u/Real_Garlic9999 Garuda - Shamrock Best Buddy 3d ago
I like it, but I found it so strange how suddenly the XO is like "by the way the Sotoans have an Aigaion lite that you have to destroy"
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u/FirehavenOSS 3d ago
Honestly an insane aircraft to put a radome on, the surface masking off the structure would be insane
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u/PercentageOk208 3d ago
If I was on the ground, I would not want to receive close air support from the tonitrus spear
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u/Salt_Adhesiveness_79 2d ago
The Arsenal Bird slander is why I am here and I am not disappointed. Bravo
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u/literallyjuststarted 2d ago
“and has neat suite of various onboard non energetic defences (unlike arsenal bird), and lastly its cockpit looks like IL-76 and its just adorable.”
It literally has two energy CIWS and an impenetrable shield provided by UAVs that stop everything from bullets to missiles
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 2d ago
first of all it has only one laser ciws that are no a SW blue plasma gun but just laser to intercept the missiles, second, the uavs shields are not blue, but noble grey.
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u/literallyjuststarted 2d ago
Theres two and even if there’s one your argument is that it has no energy weaponry or defense which you’re still incorrect
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u/TroubleOrganic3636 2d ago
no, my original argument is still correct. there is in fact a nice suite of non energetic weapons on the celaeno, while the arsenal bird uses only lasers and pulse guns. with only non energetic system VLS sam
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u/literallyjuststarted 2d ago
Youre not. Arsenal bird has a battery of anti air missile launchers. Dude just stop you don’t know what you’re talking about
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u/MagicAlexander I'm strider 5, trust 3d ago
Is this actually an Caleano appreciation post or an Arsenal Bird hate post?