The Belkan War

Lore & Background

The Belkan War erupted from long-simmering tensions, as Belka's expansionist ambitions clashed with the independence of smaller nations like Ustio. The conflict saw the debut of cutting-edge aircraft and the legendary mercenary pilot Cipher, whose actions turned the tide. The war's climax involved the use of nuclear weapons by Belka, devastating the landscape and forcing a ceasefire. In the aftermath, Belka was partitioned, but this humiliation bred resentment, fueling the rise of the extremist group A World With No Boundaries (AWWNB), which sought to erase national borders through chaos.

In Their Own Story

Over the Round Table, the sky was a furnace. Contrails crisscrossed in deadly geometry as a lone mercenary—call sign Cipher—pulled his F-15 into a knife-fight turn, his wingman Pixy glued to his six. Below, the forests of Ustio were already burning. They were ghosts, hired guns in a war their employer couldn't afford to win. But in the cockpit, there was no flag, only the primal rhythm of throttle and trigger. Missiles hissed past; a Belkan pilot ejected into the smoke. Then, over the radio, a voice cut through the static: 'Break off. The war is over.' But for those who flew the Round Table, the memory of that fire, that steel, and that final, hollow silence would never fade.

Reader's Guide

The Belkan War is the central conflict of Ace Combat Zero, serving as a prequel to the Osean-Yuktobanian War. It began with Belka's invasion of Ustio, a small nation rich in mineral resources. The Allied Forces, led by Osea, formed a coalition to repel the invasion. The war is famous for its intense air battles over the Round Table, a massive circular geological formation that became a graveyard of aircraft and a symbol of the conflict. Key events include the Battle of Sudentor, where Belka detonated seven nuclear warheads to annihilate the Allied advance—the only battlefield use of nukes in the series—and the final assault on the Belkan capital. The war's end saw Belka's territory reduced by half, but the humiliation bred the extremist group A World With No Boundaries (AWWNB). This led to Operation: Judgment, where a rogue squadron seized a nuclear missile silo to erase all borders in a single, terrible strike. The conflict is a cornerstone of Ace Combat lore, exploring themes of nationalism, mercenary morality, and the cost of war.

Did You Know?

• The Belkan War is the only conflict in the series where nuclear weapons were used on a battlefield—seven warheads, detonated by Belka itself to halt the Allied advance at Sudentor.
• The Round Table, a key location in the war, is a massive circular geological formation that became a symbol of the conflict and a graveyard for hundreds of pilots.
• The war introduced the concept of mercenary squadrons, with players taking on the role of a hired pilot—and your actions directly shape the story's outcome.
• The aftermath of the war directly led to the formation of the extremist group A World With No Boundaries, whose members included former Belkan aces and even Cipher's own wingman, Pixy.