Metal Gear Solid 5 - The War Economy: CFA official, arms dealer locations
How to survive the next Phantom Pain mission – The War Economy – from identifying your targets, to extracting them and escaping to safety.
Welcome to Metal Gear Solid 5 - The War Economy, the 21st main story mission of the game, following on from Voices.
The War Economy Mission checklist:
- Identified arms dealer
- Identified the CFA official
- Eliminated the CFA official
- Extracted the CFA official
- Extracted the arms dealer
- Listened to all conversations between the arms dealer and the CFA official
- Secured the blueprint the gunship was carrying
- Extracted the materials container inside the Nova Braga Airport hangar
Once you've dried your eyes following the sad denouement of the previous operation, call up your mission list and select 21-The War Economy. You've only one Landing Zone to choose from here - just to the north-east of Nova Braga Airport - so pick it and head to the Prep Sortie screen. Select D-Dog as your buddy, set the Drop Time to 0600 then commence the mission.
For this operation, you'll be paying another visit to Nova Braga Airport - this time to eliminate the CFA official stationed there. Your target is scheduled to meet with an arms dealer in order to tour the facility so you should expect heavy security.
The War Economy: Begin the emergency mission
Fortuitously, you'll land within sprinting distance of the airport. Immediately begin heading south-west toward your destination, following the yellow objective marker. Less fortunately, your operation will soon be interrupted by news of an emergency back at Mother Base. It seems that an enemy unit has infiltrated your HQ so it's vital (although still optional) that you investigate.
Agree to begin the emergency mission then select 22-Retake the Platform from your list. Choose the R&D Platform as your destination, set the Drop Time as ASAP then commence the operation. For a complete run through of the mission, jump to Episode 22 of this guide. Come back when you're ready to tackle your current objective again.
Reach Nova Braga Airport
Once you're back in the field, start crossing the wilderness, heading south-west toward the airport. Shortly, you'll come to the edge of a hill overlooking the north-east-facing side of the facility. Immediately break out your binoculars and scan the area for hostiles.
Note that, this time, the airfield has been fitted with live cameras. Avoiding them can be tricky if you're not super-observant, so we'll be following a route that keeps us well away from their gaze.
As you're scanning for hostiles, the commander's current location will be added to your map - it's in one of the two large buildings toward the centre of the airport. Rather than diving straight into the fray, however, we'll first collect some additional intel.
Interrogate the guard and learn the inspection route
Slip down the hill, heading north-west, and locate the tiny white hut situated alongside the main road leading away from the airport. Approach the hut and hide behind it's north-east-facing wall.
Shortly, a soldier will drive away from the airport, travelling along the nearby road. Listen out for the sound of his vehicle then, as he nears your position, quickly leap out and fire a tranquilliser dart at his head. Once the guard slips to the ground, run over, hoist his body onto your shoulders and carry him behind the white hut.
Next, drop the soldier to the floor and punch him a few times to wake him up. Quickly grab him from behind and begin an interrogation. Once you're done, the CFA commander's inspection route will be added to your map. Next, knock the guard out and extract him from the area.
Infiltrate the airport and find a safe spot
When you're ready to continue, make your way around the airport's perimeter wall, heading in a counter-clockwise direction. Don't worry about being spotted - once you've made it passed the main entrance, you can keep the wall close to your left without fear of detection. Eventually, you'll reach the north-facing portion of the wall.
Soon the wall begins moving to the south-west; follow it along and, as it turns south-east, you'll almost immediately spot a gate to your left, situated opposite the watchtower. Unlock the gate, move carefully onto the airfield and quickly duck into the blue hanger directly ahead.
Stay low to avoid being spotted by the guards and Walkers roaming the airfield and locate the stack of tires in the south-east corner of the hanger. Finally, lie prone behind them.
Open your iDroid and study the inspection route you managed to squeeze out of the solider earlier. You'll notice that it leads directly through the hanger you're currently stationed in. As such, all you need to do now is wait. Keep prone in the shadows and position yourself so that you can clearly see the small doorway to on the south-west-facing wall of the hangar.
Need help with The Phantom Pain? Our Metal Gear Solid 5 guide and walkthrough explains how to complete every main story mission, and explains their many optional objectives. We also have lists of Blueprint locations, Tape locations, Key Item locations, how to unlock S Ranks and a Metal Gear Solid 5 Achievement and Trophy list.
Extract the CFA officer and arms dealer
Before too long, two men - a soldier and a man in a suit - will head through the doorway. Immediately take down the commander with a tranquilliser to the head then, when the arms dealer runs over, bring him down too.
Next, carry each body out onto the tarmac in turn (checking that there are no patrols nearby) and Fulton them to safety. Once they're up, up and away, quickly dash back through the perimeter gate you used earlier and start tearing across the wilderness.
When you're finally out of the Hot Zone, the mission will come to an end, earning you the Contract Forces emblem part and a pair of useful recruits as a reward.
After the debriefing, you'll immediately be transported back to Mother Base to get your first look at Emmerich's Battle Gear weapon. When you're done admiring his handiwork, locate the exit and head on through. If you completed mission 22-Retake the Platform earlier, summon your chopper and take to the skies, jumping ahead to Episode 23 in this guide. Otherwise, hang around - we've got work to do!
- Keep reading for our guide to completing Retake the Platform, the next mission in the game.
- You can find the rest of our Metal Gear Solid 5 walkthrough from the first page of this article.