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[GothicSnake]

In my own little dream mod the aircraft would be (for a modern day mod, who knows what will still be in service and/or what new will popup by the time ZH is based in) this:

USA would have the F-16 as it's basic multi-role fighter. Cheap but effective it would be most comparable to the Raptor in vanilla ZH.

For pure ground attack pwnage, the A-10 would be available, slow and completely defenseless against air units this thins is the death of tanks, infantry, and other armored vehicles with it's 20MM cannon and Maverick missiles. For a deep strike threat you could use the F-15E Strike Eagle as sort of an Aurora type unit or use the F117 as a very stealthy (IE: much more effective than that useless POS from Vanilla ZH) bomber that packs a hell of a punch

I haven't quite worked out what you upgrade to after building a strat center and getting promoted and the like. But I'm thinking the F-35 and the F-22. The F-35 would be the F-16 on steroids. Faster, more maneuvrable, bigger payload and limited stealth and SVTOL capabilities it would be the new workhorse later in the game. It's the jack of all trades, it's ATGMs are deadly to most vehicles and have splash damage to be effective against infantry while it's ATAMs will blow anything out of the sky, even a raptor or MiG-35 if you get the drop on them. It could even be upgraded to a Wild-Weasel variant for SEAD missions. Basically a longer ranged, less damaging missile with the ability to disable a defensive structure (or any structure if that would be too hard to code) for a 30 seconds or so.

Arguably the most powerful aircraft in the game, the F-22 would have a price tag to reflect this but it would be well worth it b/c of the planes features. Stealthed, and being able to use supercruise (cruising at the speed of sound), it would really only be vulnerable to the most advanced SAM systems and maybe it's Russian-made counterparts the MiG-35 and Su47 Berkut. It'd be able to strike down even a heavy bomber with a full salvo of it's missiles and make short work of most vehicles and unfortified structures.

The advantage for the AF Gen could be that he gets the JSF and the Raptor from the get go. Or maybe just the JSF and then the Raptor when he builds a strat center. Or perhaps make the F-22 exclusive to him like the King Raptor in ZH?

Also for rotary wing assets you could have the Apache be the standard attack helo (upgradeable to the longbow with detects stealth units and improves the range of vehicles in it's vicinity, like the avenger) is equipped with 8 hellfire missiles, rocket pods, and a 30mm cannon. The AF Gen can have the Commanche which is, at the expense of some firepower, stealthed, faster, and highly maneuverable (it can fly laterally and backwards and still attack it's enemies while on the run). It does not have rocket pods and can only carry 4 Hellfires instead of 8 due to it's stealth properties. It can, however, be upgraded to have more missiles and rockets at the expense of it's stealth. This is done on an aircraft to aircraft basis.

For transport and supply gathering you could use the Blackhawk and then the Osprey for the AF Gen. The Osprey would act like a chopper only much faster and with a larger carry-load.


China

Give them the J-10 as their standard multi-role. A little more effective than the F-16 given it's about a 20 year newer design, it's a solid fighter and the backbone of the PLAAF.

You can upgrade to the MiG-35 (believe it or not this is the standard MiG from Generals, I was surprised to find out it was a real aircraft lol) later which would be the Chinese answer to the Raptor. It's highly maneuvrable and has limited stealth but not to the extent of the Raptor. It's also not able to cruise at the speed of sound. However, it makes up for this by being more flexible and effective in the ground attack mission.

The transport heli can be the Mi-17. Slow but able to carry a decent load and rocket pods for defense.

For attack the Z-10. A copy of the European Tiger it's somewhere in between the Apache and the Commanche. Small, fast, and maneuverable like the AH-66, although not stealthed or quite as limber, it has rocket pods and a powerful chain gun like the AH-64 and 4 anti-tank missiles. Due to it's lack of stealth or the avionics packages of the American helos (IE the Longbow radar on the Apache) it also a bit cheaper, like most Chinese units.