The role of special operations covers a multitude of scenarios, some being military and others being civilian.
IVAO is completely against war operations. Simulated killing is a good way to be removed from IVAO very quickly.
The point of special operations is to have a change from the ordinary A to B flying and put a bit of fun into the hobby whilst developing flying abilities.
There are various types of missions available to perform online on the IVAO network.
| Category A - General Operations | Category B - Military Operations | |
| Fire-fighting | Formation flights | |
| Police operations | Air-to-Air Refuelling | |
| Coastguard | Shipborne and Aircraft Carrier Practices | |
| Shipwreck and SAR | Low-level Flights | |
| Fisheries protection | AWACs simulations | |
| Medical and Casualty Evacuation | Reconnaissance flights | |
| VIP flights with escorts | Air-to-Air | |
| Humanitarian flights | Air-to-Ground Operations | |
| Anti Smuggling operations | ||
| Fly-Ins with military aircraft |