Noyhauser

One word.... Nukes.... LOTS AND LOTS of nukes. I'm sure that UN Spacy would probably use something like seen in Macross II, a kind of planned culture shock strategy. What forces didn't capitualate were probably destroyed. I think fighter design actually tells you a lot about how UN Spacy was thinking. Up until project supernova, the mainline fighters were very similar to the VF-1, which means they needed to carry out the same role as the VF-1. remember that the Zentredi can't uprgrade their weapons, so fighters similar to the VF-1 were adequate to take on a Zentredi threat. Really what the fighters are for is to mop up whats left after the use of nuclear weapons. However the Zentredi-UN Spacy peace treaty forbit their use.... but if their survival were at stake, I don't see them not using it.

Two words, sunk costs. You've already spent the money for the fighter, and thats all gone, that should not be a consideration. the question is now, is the money you will spend from now on worth the weapon you are going to get? IS it actually useful?

I argued why the F-35 can't be culled, it was due to 22% foreign involvement. Honestly I think that the F-22 will be the last fighter developed under the cold war model of procurement, while the F-35 is the first to be procured under the new post cold war model, that sees major foriegn involvement in all aspects of production. Both models have various advantages, but the foreign involvement has less risk involved and decreased initial production costs because you share the costs across the partner nations. Furthermore you open yourself to a wider market for selling your goods. You've got to remember that procurement isn't money that is just lost, you get a lot of domestic offsets that the money gets recycled into society through production wages, raw materials, ect. However you then have to specialize at every part of production, when you could get cheaper parts from other partner nations that could specialize in building those parts, thats increases inefficiency.

welcome to the predicament of the Canadian Armed forces.... except that you start getting a bow wave of delayed procuerment projects and then your screwed in the long run

Great, its not canon though. Go to http://www.anime.net/macross/mecha/index.html Just because its a picture from a magazine does not mean that its official. ITs fan fiction. And if its name is the "Black Queen" that definately isn't cannon because the only thing it could be is a Megaroad Colony ship and those are designated by numbers. These MAY be called SDFs, but they are definately Megaroads. However I don''t think that after Megaroad-1 they were ever discussed as SDF-3, SDF-4.

Again, the F-117 isn't some invisible fighter. According to Former pilots and industry experts, the F-117 almost increased its RCS by a factor of 100 in a bank. Moreover, it has been discovered that Low frequency radars are far more able to defeat stealth than high frequency radars. However their image resolution is low, making them less than ideal as a guidance radar. It is quite possilbe that the Serbians used either a newer model of Russian/Czech radar, or slaved their lower frequency search radar as a guidance radar, and detonated the missile in the proximity of the F-117. Moreover, these missiles DO NOT need a lock on to fire. The SA-3 does not need a lock on to fire because it is a command guided missile, it is directed by the command vehicle towards targets. Thats serbians probably learned some dirty tricks to use with SA-3 that allowed it to take out the F-117. the SA-6 (which the Russians Claimed to have shot down the F-117) does not need a lock on at first, but does need mid course guidance from radar. This was done to ensure that the Radar site cannot be targeted when firing its missile. This isn't some conspiracy to cover up the truth. I got my information from a book published by the Rand Corporation, ""NATO's Air War for Kososvo, A Strategic and operational Assessment" by Benjamin Lambeth. The US airforce did not hesitate in laying blame on other factors like the EA-6B, the mission route, and inadequate SEAD procedures.

did you read my post? The F-117 isn't some absolutely invisible vehicle. Never did I say they were shooting blindly, however the Fighter probably gave off intermittent signals, while flying past which they used to give a best guess to fire. It has been also said that they probably staggerd the radar sites to give the best signal possible. The Airforce Ruled out ANYTHING that may have compromised stealth... the fighter was perfectly operational.

Uhh if its not in the compendium ( and last I checked it isn''t) Its not canon. There are only two accorrding to Kawamori.

Why did the F-117 get shot down? #1 it was a SA-3 battery that did shot it down. Three causes were ruled out…there was no hinging stuck on the Bay doors, neither a decent below 15000 meters or AAA a factor. It seems that the operational role of the F-117 had something to do with it. Due to the terrain, the F-117 had to often bank, which would increase the radar cross-section by a factor of 100 times or more. Three errors were reported…. SEAD did not adequately sweep the area, specifically ELINT, which failed to detect three low frequency radars that could possibly detect the F-117. Secondly the F-117 did have a Jammer nearby, but the EA-6B was too far away to provide jamming. Thirdly (as mentioned earlier) because of the Dayton accords the F-117 had to fly the same route into Serbia, outside of Bosnian airspace. This may have allowed the Position their radar emitters in the optimal position to see the fighters. The F-117 is far more easily detectable from above and the side. Its been suggested that the Serbian air defences probably had an intermitted lock on the F-117 after it passed and made a best guess from a missile downranged, utilizing a timed fuse in the proximity of the stealth aircraft's flightpath.

Personally I build most of my kits as I get them, unless Im making a diorama (1/35 scale). I think its really up to the modeler involved, however a lot of people do seem to stock up.

Well, Battletech wins on the realism front. AHAH, you''ve got to be kidding right? BAttle Tech is about the worst for realism. Go look at Heavy gear if you want realism, The picture of a AC-10 using a sphereical shell blew any sort of credibility for BT out from underneath it. Mechs are slow lumbering beasts that should make easy targets for airborne threats with guided missiles, but for some reason there aren't any... hmmm. Moreover, tanks and other units are completely dominated by battlemechs. In many cases its worse than Gundam for its mechafetish. And don't even get me onto the universe. If you want a realistic system, go look at heavy gear (which derives alot from VOTOMS in style, but surpasses it on many different levels). It essentially uses technology today with some advances, to make a logical place for mecha. Gears sit right between tanks and Infantry as a weapon, and have about the same armor as a T-72 tank today. They are best for broken up, hilly terrain, rather than tanks who need a long lead time to take out units from afar, and infantry which needs cover. Employing gears needs a specific doctrine beside other arms. BT is just plain horrible.

To my knowlegde the United Nations Spacy seems to depend on a dwindling amount of converted Zentreadi ships and a handfull of Cruisers, Stealth Frigates, Escort carriers, and other medium and light ships. My question is that are there ships (If even non-canon) that are heavier than a cruiser that aren't zentran? macross class battleships as what is seen in Macross 7, those are intendend to be the heaviest shps in the arsenal.

Put me down for 1

There is one example of a nuclear plane.. well kinda The Nb-36H program almost did it in the 1950s. That would have been a disaster if it crashed. NB-36 link

Im contemplating buying a Wave 1/72 scale either Vf-17 or Vf-19 battroid, however its in vinyl, a medium I've never used. I'm well aquinted with Resin, but is there anything I should look out for? Are these kits fully posable?

Uhh I thought we agreed that they weren't

You will when you're not gettin' the kits you want. Uhh we can't get the kits anyways unless we recast them.... Seriously was a VB-6 recast going to happen anytime soon? Doubt it. Moreover, a scuptor is not going to lose major profits through recasting. If a kit has gone through its first run, a sculptor probably already banked on that being his profit margin, and probably wasn't planning on additional runs later to supplant his profit . I don't see too many low run resin kits being recasted by its sculptor at a later date because its not worth it. The same goes for major studios. Studio Half Eye has already made its profits from its Perfect variable series and has moved on. If they thought more profits could be made they would recast these things but they don't, so we are stuck. I agree though that talk of it should be kept to a minimum. Maybe it should be reffered to Shawn before hand?

this coming from a guy who has a sig saying that there is nothing wrong with robotech. Protoculture anybody?

Im interested in one Valk Booster.... Just as long as the price doesn't go up anymore.

If it's worth anything, the YF-21's wings fold down for some reason. thats to ride the shockwave the plane's nose, intakes and forward stabilisers makes... the XB-71 did this as well.

You can see it best in Digital Mission VFX-2... where the sweep gives it a wicked looking quality. They are swept back for high speeds in atmosphere... which is the only place where it is useful. Forward Swept wings generate a lot of drag because the air is forced towards the body and over more wing surface which equals more resistance. It also creates more of a surface that has to break undisturbed air in front of an aircraft.(I can't remember what its called) A forward swept winged fighter must break undisturbed air across three points (two wing tips and its nose) FSW has other advantages like greater transsonic control and at high alpha, but it slows down fighters considerably. Sweeping backwards (like in a F-14 and in this case) forces airflow outwards and away from the body which generates far less drag. Its airflow's main break point is the nose, and the shockwaves move outwards from the body. Just look at it straight on, with Forward swept the 19's forward profile is probably 20% more when they are out, and when they are blended in, thats at least 20% less forward profile to drive through the air. At high speed it doesn't need its wings because it would gain enough lift from its body, and you don't need that much of a control surface to control the plane when there is so much air going over the control surfaces. Moreover roll control can be accomplised through the YF-19's 1 dimentional thrust vectoring system(up and down feet) However in space the 19 would probably always have its wings in forward swept mode because there is no drag to worry about, and it give the 19 better roll characteristics having the wings wider from the centerline (because there are verniers in the tips of the wings.)

Uhh thats just insane how well it flies! Wow I wish I had the skills to build something like that. AWESOME!!!! Uhh I think I have seen it once or twice or 55,000 times. (sorry I couldn't resist)

and maybe I'll attempt to put something in for the box art.... (Don't call it 100%, maybe 40%.... I''ll try to get my friend to photoshop what I can put together).... when will you need it by?

ME ONE PLEASE!!! man this thing looks sweet.

I've messaged melissa before... but I guess they missed it... I''m 100% down for a Varible VF-4 1/72 I'm a scale freak so no monster for me.