Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse begins as an enormous air battle over the International Space Elevator and ends with a fight against Arsenal Bird Justice. The first stage asks you to earn enough points by shooting down aircraft. The second is about disabling a very specific set of Arsenal Bird components in the right order.
If you’ve been firing at the shielded Arsenal Bird without getting anywhere, you’re not missing some secret damage trick. Its APS barrier periodically makes your attacks useless. Keep moving, wait for the shield to drop and work through its propellers, joints, underside hooks and APS unit as they become targetable.
Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse walkthrough: the opening air battle
Operation Daredevil starts with a nine-minute air-to-air score attack. Concentrate on valuable enemies and survive until the second stage begins. The battlefield is busy, with allied fighters, enemy aircraft and drones, so don’t chase a single distant contact when a closer cluster offers easier points.
1. Shoot down the human flight leaders first
Several enemy groups in Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse include drones flying in formation with human-piloted leaders. Destroy the lead aircraft and its drone wingmen temporarily slow down and become easier to hit until another human pilot takes control. It’s a much more efficient way to pick up points than endlessly chasing each drone through sharp turns.
Prioritize the high-value Su-57s and F-22As where you can get a clean firing solution. The first phase rewards steady, accurate air-to-air work rather than wasting every missile on targets that are constantly turning away.
2. Avoid the Helios blast circles
With roughly three and a half minutes left in the opening stage, Helios missiles start bursting around the battlefield. Watch the radar for red blast circles and move out of them before the explosions. Getting caught in the blast can damage your jet or end the run, even if you’ve already earned plenty of points.
Keep fighting for points when it’s safe, but don’t risk your whole Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse attempt just to take one extra shot through a Helios impact zone.
How to destroy Arsenal Bird Justice in Mission 19
Once Justice arrives, stop worrying about the first stage’s score and follow the new targets. The Arsenal Bird is protected by MQ-101 drones, defensive guns and an APS shield. Your job is to take apart the aircraft in stages; new target groups become available only when earlier ones have been disabled.
3. Disable the main propellers and destroy every sub propeller
Start with the two MAIN PROPELLER targets. They can reactivate after a short time, so don’t panic if a propeller appears operational again later. You also need to destroy all eight SUB PROPELLER targets. These are the key requirements for the next set of components to appear.
In Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse, don’t spend the entire stage shooting the heavily protected body. Focus on the clearly labelled propellers, reposition when your missiles are blocked and stay clear of the Arsenal Bird’s defensive lasers and missile fire.
4. Destroy the exposed joints
Once you’ve destroyed the sub propellers and disabled the main propellers at least once, the JOINT targets become available. This is the step many short walkthroughs skip. Find the marked joint section and destroy it before looking for the next objective. The game won’t let you finish the aircraft just by targeting the shield.
5. Get underneath and destroy both hooks
After the joints are gone, two HOOK targets appear on the underside. Approach from below rather than behind or above: the body of the Arsenal Bird can block your missiles from those angles. Roll out of a poor approach and make another pass instead of staying underneath its defenses too long.
6. Wait for the shield to drop, then destroy the APS unit
Destroying both hooks exposes the APS UNIT beneath the aircraft. The Arsenal Bird’s protective dome can activate during the fight, preventing damage while it’s up. Stay alive until the barrier dissipates, then attack the APS unit from underneath to finish the mission.
For Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse, the final order is main and sub propellers, joints, two hooks, APS unit. You can disable defensive weapons and drones along the way, but those optional targets don’t replace the mission’s required component sequence.
Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse: which targets are mandatory?
Damage the propellers to unlock the joints, clear the joints to reveal the hooks, and destroy the hooks to expose APS. Other weapons on the Arsenal Bird can make the fight more dangerous, but they do not skip the required stages.
Best aircraft and weapons for Lighthouse
This sortie begins with many fast aircraft and ends against a gigantic target, so an agile multirole fighter is useful. Bring an air-to-air weapon you’re comfortable with for the opening and rely on precise standard-missile attacks against Arsenal Bird components. Good speed control also helps when you’re lining up the underside targets.
Don’t choose an aircraft that makes you struggle to hold an approach beneath Justice. In Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse, positioning is often more important than raw missile damage because a shielded or obstructed component won’t take a clean hit.
How to spawn CALAMITY and TEMPEST
Two optional named aces can appear in Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse, but only on Normal difficulty or above after you’ve cleared the mission once.
- CALAMITY (Su-57): Earn approximately 17,000 points in the opening stage. CALAMITY appears far to the southeast near the map edge and may not show on radar until you approach because of its stealth capability.
- TEMPEST (F-22A): Earn about 20,000 points in the opening phase. TEMPEST enters southwest of the Space Elevator, engages allied planes and may turn toward you as you get closer.
Neither ace is required for a story clear. Chasing CALAMITY across the map can cost valuable time, so it’s easier to hunt the named pilots on a dedicated replay.
Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse FAQ and S-rank target
Why can’t I damage Arsenal Bird when the purple shield is active?
The APS dome blocks your missiles. Keep manoeuvring and wait for the shield to switch off. If a target isn’t appearing at all, make sure you’ve destroyed the preceding propeller, joint or hook targets.
Why can’t I find the APS unit?
In Ace Combat 7 Mission 19 Lighthouse, the APS unit only becomes available after the propeller, joint and hook stages. Approach the underside after both hooks have been destroyed. Don’t confuse an active shield with the exposed unit itself.
What is the S-rank requirement?
The documented combined target-score and time-bonus threshold is 67,640 points. A finish in 20 minutes 30 seconds or less gives a maximum 16,840 time bonus, so you’d need 50,800 points from destroyed enemies and components. This is an S-rank challenge, not the minimum requirement for finishing the mission.
The previous sortie is covered in our Ace Combat 7 Mission 18 Lost Kingdom walkthrough. Here the biggest lesson is knowing exactly which Arsenal Bird parts unlock the next stage.
Official game information and images: Bandai Namco Entertainment.
