Familiarize yourself with the mission objectives and their locations by cycling through the HUD display and identifying them as primary targets. Identify the hostile targets in the air and on the ground. Their approximate location is also on the HUD. Clear the area before attacking your targets. Use the HUD to line up your first target and fire. Always be aware of your location to prevent straying into a new hostile zone.

Take down airborne fighters and helicopter gunships with three sidewinders. In higher levels, keep the enemy aircraft in front and launch volleys of about five sidewinders to destroy the swarming fighters. AMRAMs can also destroy airborne targets in one shot. However, use sidewinders in higher levels.

To destroy airborne stealth fighters, get above them and deploy a few napalm canisters.

Use a fuel air explosion bomb or limited nuclear SRAM bomb to destroy a large number of buildings in a single area. Other ground based targets may be destroyed by lining them up on the HUD releasing napalm, fuel air explosion bombs, or SRAMs. Small primary targets such as missile launchers, tanks, and ZSU's, may be destroyed by mavericks.

If the Low Fuel or Low Shield indicators are on, destroy any enemy aircraft in the area. Kill the enemy pilots after their aircraft are hit. As their bodies drop, fuel and super shield power ups will appear. Fuel will always appear first, then shields on the second pilot. Destroying a bomber will allow two enemy pilots to be immediately targeted.

Destroying enemy tanks will reveal small shield power ups. Destroying enemy ZSU's will reveal small fuel power ups. On some levels, fuel trucks may be destroyed with the primary targets revealing small shield power ups in the destroyed buildings. Strafing blown up buildings with the 30mm guns may revel additional weapons power ups to a varying extent.

Killing the enemy pilots while not needing fuel or shields will reveal their plane's weapon loads. Carefully swoop around and collect these valuable weapons packages.