Zombie Air Force Aircraft Guide
Your plane is your character in Zombie Air Force. Every airframe in the game is unlocked with Credits earned from kills, and each step up the ladder changes how fast you clear waves — which changes how fast you earn the next step up. This guide explains how the aircraft system works, how the Unlock 1 additions fit, and the priorities that keep your Credits working instead of sitting.
How aircraft unlock
Planes are bought in the lobby with Credits, the currency every zombie kill pays out. There is no gacha and no randomized plane drops: the progression is a straight ladder, and the only limit is your farm rate. That makes aircraft planning simple arithmetic — the plane that clears your current zone fastest is the plane that funds the next one, so gaps in your ladder cost more than the price tag suggests.
Update 1 added three new planes to the roster alongside The Wastelands zone, and the developer ships updates every Saturday, so treat any fixed plane list as a snapshot: new airframes arrive with updates, and this page is rechecked each week.
What each tier changes
Across the roster, stepping up a plane improves the three numbers that matter in the air: damage per second, which decides how quickly columns of zombies melt; coverage, which decides how much of the horde you can punish from one position; and survivability, which decides how deep into a zone you can operate before the run gets risky. Rocket planes trade ammunition economy for burst — ideal against clusters — while machine-gun airframes reward steady tracking fire on dense lines.
The practical benchmark for a healthy ladder: if your current zone's waves die noticeably slower than they did two days ago, the horde has outgrown your airframe and the next plane is due. If waves still evaporate on contact, stay put and bank Credits for the next tier instead of buying sideways upgrades.
Priorities from first flight to The Wastelands
Early game, buy the first meaningful damage step as soon as you can afford it — early planes are cheap and the clear-speed gain is dramatic. Mid game, alternate one aircraft step with one loadout upgrade so your firepower curve stays ahead of the zone curve; the upgrades guide covers which lobby purchases pair best with each airframe. Late game, the math inverts: The Wastelands and whatever zone follows reward a maxed platform over a deep hangar, because payouts scale with what you can clear, not what you own.
Do not hoard Credits waiting for a perfect future plane. Unspent Credits clear zero zombies, and every Saturday update can change the ladder — flexibility beats a full wallet.
Plane or defenses?
The lobby sells both aircraft and defensive tools, and new players ask which matters more. The plane, almost always: your airframe is the primary damage source in every wave, while ground defenses are a safety net for the waves that leak past you. Buy defensive support once you feel leaks becoming regular in your farming zone, and treat them as time-purchasers — every second a defense buys is a second your guns turn more zombies into Credits.
Reading the Saturday meta
Because updates arrive weekly, aircraft values shift. A new plane can reset the ladder overnight; a balance pass can lift an old favorite back into rotation. The weekly rhythm to adopt: check what the update changed, fly one farming session to feel the difference, then commit Credits. Players who buy before testing buy twice — this page and the updates page track what each Saturday actually shipped so your Credits always go to the airframe that is currently worth them.