Ace Combat 8 drop tanks: unlock, equip and jettison

Find and equip the post-story part

The GamerBlurb guide places the node after the F-35C and says a campaign clear is enough; New Game Plus is not required. A Reddit reply initially suggested NG+ and then corrected that to campaign completion, so this page does not add an NG+ requirement.

1. Complete Campaign and reopen the Aircraft Tree.
2. Locate the Drop Tank node near the F-35C and compare its displayed cost with the reported 100,000 MRP.
3. Purchase the part, then open the aircraft’s parts loadout.
4. Fit it to an available MISC slot before taking off.

If the node is absent during your first story run, the completion gate is the first thing to check. For the normal equipment menu, see equipping parts.

Release tanks that are actually visible

Hold the input currently assigned to Switch Weapon during the sortie. The community drop-tank reference supports this release action and describes availability on most aircraft through the parts system.

Success is the tanks visibly separating from the aircraft. If they are not visible despite an equipped part, the launch guide suggests comparing another special-weapon configuration or compatible aircraft. There is no verified exhaustive compatibility table here; record the aircraft and weapons rather than assuming the purchase failed.

Is the MISC slot worth spending?

The checked sources describe an appearance feature with no handling improvement. The part still occupies a MISC slot, so a performance-oriented sortie may benefit more from another owned part. For screenshots or immersion, the visual effect may be the desired outcome.

Do not plan extra range, ammunition, a refueling skip or a damage strategy around it. The wiki says released tanks behave as unguided objects but does not establish enemy damage. That unresolved question is not a combat recommendation.

Keep a cosmetic experiment separate from an S-rank attempt so you can compare the same functional loadout.