The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu had a rather extensive article on Ace Combat 7, and it included some interesting information from Director Kazutoki Kono.

Below you can find a summary of what was mentioned, translated by Reddit user BlackKite2128:

• The development team wants to identify what is important for a numbered Ace Combat game, to make a better game.
• Everything included in the trailer is in-engine. Nothing is pre-rendered.
• The game includes "solid clouds" in the sky. They're not just drawn, but they are actual three dimensional entities that you can fly through.
• They want to pursuing the fun of "playacting a plane," including using special weapons and performing special maneuvers. Those maneuvers aren't just finishers you can do by pressing a button, but rather feats of skill that will require you to make full use of the controls in a realistic way.
• They also want to improve the strategic elements of fighting against the enemies.
• The world is the same fictional Strangereal we saw in past games, but ten years have passed since the last game set there, so they want to make sure it's enjoyable to newcomers to the series as well.
• The orbital elevator is like the symbol of the game. The developers talked with a Japanese company that is working on a concept for a real one for reference purposes.
• The elevator is so tall that the person portrayed in the trailer needs to wear a special suit, or she wouldn't be able to endure the environment. The part of the elevator farthest from the surface of the planet is 100,000 km away.
• The elevator is being designed keeping in mind flight and shooting gameplay elements.
• The large airship is named "FAS," and it patrols the area around the orbital elevator, protecting it. Its design is by Masato Kanno, and it can launch UAVs.
• The reason for the PlayStation VR support is because the team wants people to be able to play the game intuitively. It's also catchy, and it fits really well with the game's concept of flying freely through the sky. It brings lots of advantages, so the team immediately decided to implement it. However, it brings many technological challenges, so the team is focusing on developing the tech.
• The team is proud that Ace Combat is an IP made in Japan that is also well known worldwide.

I don't know about you, but I can't be more excited, especially since it seems that they're getting rid of the silly finishers included in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon.

In the meanwhile, you can check out some screenshots below.