World of Nukes Jets and Warships Guide

Missiles win highlight clips in World of Nukes, but jets and warships decide who controls the map between launches. Air pads and naval berths turn cash into persistent pressure: fighters, bombers, drones, destroyers, carriers, and SSBNs that force rivals to split anti-air, coastal guns, and attention. This guide lists unlock costs, notable HQ10-scale stats from community guides, rebirth gates, and the build order that keeps expensive pads from becoming free scrap. Pair it with Getting Started for the first-hour loop, Economy Buildings before you bank for a Runway, and Island Defense so pads survive the next volley.

Health and damage scale with HQ. Treat the HP figures below as HQ10-scale reference points from guides, not fixed values on a fresh HQ5 island. Skins such as Dragonfire and other limited shop hero vehicle cosmetics exist as cosmetics—do not confuse a skin with a new unit tier.

Why fleets still matter when nukes exist

On seven-player servers, pure missile spam is readable. Rivals hear inbound alerts, stack Guided Missile Launchers, and time Iron Dome. Jets and ships arrive from different angles, soak AA focus, and punish islands that only built for ballistic arcs. They do not replace the silo loop. Keep How to Launch Missiles as your primary offense plan, then add air and navy as surplus after income and AA are healthy. Check the tier list when you choose which threats are common at your HQ, redeem codes into economy first, and watch Updates after balance patches touch pad prices or unit health.

Air and ground unlock pads

Build these pads when headquarters (and rebirth where listed) allow. Costs are cash sinks—buy only what you will sortie.

Pad	Gate	Cost	Unlocks / effect
Barracks	HQ3	$400K	Rifle Squad, Rocket Squad
Helipad	HQ3	$670K	Attack Helicopter
Hangar	HQ4	$4.6M	Prop Fighter
Control Tower	HQ4	$3.1M	+1 sortie, missile warning 2s earlier
Tank Depot	HQ4	$3.8M	Tank
Runway	HQ5	$20M	Jet Fighter
VTOL Pad	HQ6	$88M	VTOL Gunship
Bomber Hangar	HQ7	$400M	Stealth Bomber
Missile Command	HQ8	$1.6B	Salvo of 6, 2 silos
Hypersonic Lab	HQ9	$7.2B	Arrow, +10% missile speed
Runway 2	HQ5, rebirth 1	$40M	Strike Fighter (needs Runway)
Heavy Apron	HQ7, rebirth 3	$700M	Heavy Bomber (needs Runway 2)
Runway 3	HQ6, rebirth 5	$150M	Gunship (needs Runway)
Drone Hangar	HQ6, rebirth 7	$120M	Reaper Drone
Stealth Hangar	HQ8, rebirth 9	$3B	Stealth Fighter

Troop note: Rifle Squad and Rocket Squad come from Barracks; Tank from Tank Depot; Commandos unlock at HQ7. Ground units support island fights but lose value if you skip AA and income for vanity armor.

Control Tower is easy to undervalue. Extra sortie capacity and a two-second earlier missile warning help more mid-game islands than a second unused hangar. Missile Command and Hypersonic Lab sit on the missile track—fund them when your How to Launch Missiles plan needs silos and Arrow speed, not as fashion purchases.

Naval berths

Berth	Gate	Cost	Unlocks
Dock	HQ4	$3.8M	Patrol Boat, Landing Craft
Shipyard	HQ5	$24M	Destroyer, Landing Craft
Dry Dock	HQ6	$98M	Missile Cruiser
Sub Pen	HQ7	$400M	Submarine
Carrier Berth	HQ8, rebirth 3	$1.9B	Aircraft Carrier
Frigate Pier	HQ5, rebirth 2	$36M	Frigate
Amphib Dock	HQ7, rebirth 4	$650M	Assault Ship
Battleship Pier	HQ8, rebirth 6	$2.6B	Battleship
SSBN Pen	HQ9, rebirth 8	$9B	SSBN

Dock and Shipyard are the sensible navy entry. Dry Dock’s Missile Cruiser adds silo pressure at sea. Sub Pen and later SSBN Pen reward stealth play. Carrier Berth is a rebirth-3 treasury project that fields Carrier Jets—buy it when income and AA can replace a wiped $1.9B pad.

Aircraft progression (short ladder)

1. Attack Helicopter / Prop Fighter — Early air presence after Helipad and Hangar; learn sortie timing without bankrupting the island.
2. Jet Fighter (Runway) — HQ10-scale reference: about 3.2M HP, 8×1.1M AAM, 260 speed. Core mid-game air unit once the $20M Runway is online.
3. VTOL Gunship — About 4.1M HP at HQ10-scale; heavy loiter pressure after the $88M VTOL Pad.
4. Stealth Bomber — About 5.5M HP with stealth at HQ10-scale; Bomber Hangar at HQ7.
5. Strike Fighter — Rebirth 1 via Runway 2 (requires Runway).
6. Heavy Bomber — Rebirth 3 via Heavy Apron (requires Runway 2).
7. Gunship — Rebirth 5 via Runway 3 (requires Runway).
8. Reaper Drone (×3) — Rebirth 7 via Drone Hangar.
9. Stealth Fighter — Rebirth 9 via Stealth Hangar.
10. Carrier Jet — Sortied from an Aircraft Carrier, not a land runway.

Climb the ladder only when the previous pad is earning its keep. Empty Runway 2 while income slots sit empty is a classic stall—fill them via Economy Buildings first.

Ship progression (short ladder)

1. Patrol Boat / Landing Craft — Dock openers for coastal harassment and troop drops.
2. Destroyer — About 6.9M HP (HQ10-scale reference) from Shipyard; workhorse surface combatant.
3. Frigate — Rebirth 2 via Frigate Pier.
4. Missile Cruiser — About 9.2M HP with 2 silos from Dry Dock; sea-based launch pressure.
5. Submarine — About 5.5M HP with stealth from Sub Pen.
6. Assault Ship — Rebirth 4 via Amphib Dock.
7. Aircraft Carrier — About 18.4M HP, 2 jets, rebirth 3 Carrier Berth.
8. Battleship — About 23M HP, rebirth 6 Battleship Pier.
9. SSBN — About 12M HP with stealth, 4 Trident every 20s, rebirth 8 SSBN Pen.

Surface heavies and stealth boats solve different problems. Destroyers and cruisers trade openly; subs and SSBNs punish players who only watch the sky. Carrier plus land jets creates multi-vector air that single AA clumps struggle to cover.

Build order and strategy

1. Economy and AA first — Saturate income and basic anti-air before Runway, VTOL Pad, or Dry Dock. Dead pads print nothing.
2. Protect pads — Place expensive hangars and berths outside one blast core; rebuild AA arcs before vanity military after a hit. Full layout habits live in Island Defense.
3. Cheap presence before prestige — Helipad, Hangar, Dock, then Shipyard beat jumping straight to $88M–$400M pads.
4. Combine jets and warships — Multi-angle pressure forces rivals to spend on both air and sea coverage while you keep missiles ready.
5. Missiles remain primary — Fleets support; silos decide. Follow How to Launch Missiles for light versus heavy, MIRV, and utilities.
6. Respect rebirth gates — Strike Fighter, Heavy Bomber, Gunship, Reaper, Stealth Fighter, Carrier, Battleship, and SSBN all sit behind rebirth thresholds. Plan cash and multipliers with Rebirth and Doomsday and late wonders perks.
7. Session hygiene — After patches, recheck pad costs on Updates. Spend codes on economy and AA before another unused berth.

Measuring success

A healthy fleet island looks boring: income full, AA alive, one or two pads you actually sortie, and a missile budget that still fires after a wipe. If you own a Bomber Hangar but lose every helicopter to the first light spam, your order is wrong. If Carrier Berth ate the bank that should have bought Guided Missile Launcher Mk upgrades, rebuild priorities—not more navy.

Use this page as the unlock map, the tier list for threat priority, and defense plus missile guides for the fight that happens when your jets leave the runway. World of Nukes rewards islands that threaten from silo, sky, and sea—without forgetting which one pays the bills.