Wingman aircraft and Aircraft Sets after finishing the campaign

Use the reported post-campaign path

The question came from a player at Mission 27 who wanted ground-attack weapons on the squad. NairBoT’s reply #1 says Aircraft Sets appears after campaign completion.

1. Complete the campaign, then open the aircraft preparation options for a subsequent sortie.
2. Select each wingman’s plane individually from the default list.
3. Use the skin-selection input shown by your version. The commenter describes the D-pad.
4. For saved loadouts, the commenter describes pressing R2 to access the loadouts from Aircraft Sets. Follow your displayed equivalent if using a different device.

The report does not give a pre-completion workaround or establish that every platform uses R2.

A selected plane is not a fully manual wingman build

Choose the squad aircraft with the objective in mind, but check what the game actually assigns. A set containing your preferred weapon does not prove the wingman will use that weapon exactly as you do.

Use commands during the fight

The publisher’s overview describes concentrated attacks, splitting targets, covering the player and activating squad special weapons. Decide which task you need help with before issuing the command. For example, one Mission 28 Ace report keeps electronic-warfare support nearby with Cover.

Aircraft selection and command timing are separate decisions. If a squad is not helping, note both the selected aircraft and the command used rather than assuming that an aircraft part did not apply.