Seto Kaiba
-
Posts
12922 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Everything posted by Seto Kaiba
-
Ah, OK. All told, the YF/VF-19 1st type's bays have enough room for one pallet each... and the conformal FAST packs add another pallet each. That's twelve HMM-20e's per pallet, for a grand total of 48 between the leg bays and packs. (Plus whatever's hung on the six wing pylons.)
-
Which "1st Gen" VF-19 packs do you mean? Thanks to Master File there are three distinct sets of VF-19 FAST packs... there's one that's more or less the same as the VF-11B's (Master File exclusive), the conformal packs for the YF-19/VF-19 1st type, and the one seen in Macross 7 on the VF-19F/S. I suppose technically it's four if we count the one-off VF-19EF/A "ADVANCE". #1 is a version of the Super Pack that retains the CIMM-3A launcher assembly but also includes additional fuel tanks for the boosters. #2 is the (rejected) atmospheric variation of the Strike cannon. #3 and #4 are your basic Strike package.
-
Yeah, that's an acknowledged problem more than a lot of folks have noticed with the NP-FAD-23 art in Master File. The caption on the image says the Bifors CIMM-3A micro-missile option pack holds a maximum of 90 HMM-25 micro-missiles. Though there is no official stat for the CIMM-3A's capacity in Macross Chronicle or any other source that leaps to mind, the 90 fits better with the other official information about the VF-25. If it has 686 micro-missiles, that would give the VF-25's Super Pack WAY more firepower than the Armored Pack (allegedly the most heavily armed FAST pack). The 90 per CIMM-3A figure gives the VF-25 Super Pack a total of 226, less than the Armored Pack's 244 (274 if you count its anti-armor rockets).
-
If you have a copy, there's some line art for the Strike and extended-range packs on page 77 of Variable Fighter Master File: VF-25 Messiah. Three different trial variations of the NP-FAD-23's beam cannon option packs... one originally intended for atmospheric use. (The majority unfortunately only exist in text descriptions, same as the VF-1's.)
-
That's my favorite, for sure.
-
Kind of a weird place to put such a thing, since its line of sight anywhere other than directly up would be blocked by the packs and directly forward is already covered by multiple camera systems and the radar. What else could they realistically be? They're not large enough to contain weapons systems, the placement is between awful and redundant for sensors, and there's not really a need to up-armor that area. The only logical explanation I can imagine for it is that they're an expansion of the conformal tank through the unused (in space) dorsal inlet the way Master File asserts the VF-1 did for range extension in space. Without the boosters, you just have something pretty much identical to the YF-19/VF-19 1st type conformal FAST pack. With the boosters, that's explicitly true... they're known to be every bit as versatile (possibly more so) than the VF-1's FAST packs, with Super, Strike, missile container, extended fuel, and other variants. The VF-19's 1st and 2nd mass production types had micro-missile pallets for the leg bays... the sole known exception being on the VF-19P, where the ordinance bay was replaced by a stock micro-missile launcher. By "1st Mass Production type" I mean the VF-19 variants based directly upon the YF-19 prototype... the VF-19A, -B, -C, -D, and/or VF-19E if Macross 30's VF-19E is the "true" VF-19E (which would be consistent with most of what's said in Macross Chronicle WRT the VF-19 Custom's origins vs. Master File's version). By "2nd Mass Production type" I mean the VF-19 variants developed and produced based on Shinsei's refinement and simplification of the design to improve control, stability, and optimize the design for space use... the VF-19F, -S, -P, Custom, and derivatives of the 2nd type (e.g. VF-19EF Caliburn, VF-19ACTIVE "Nothung", and VF-19EF/A "Excalibur ADVANCE").
-
... ... ... That makes no sense at all. The panels covering the front of the VF-19's dorsal active airflow inlet are too small to hold more than maybe one missile... it hardly seems worth the effort to add one or two missiles to an area better suited to fuel tanks, especially in light of the wing-mounted packs already holding something like 180 missiles! The conformal FAST packs used by the YF-19 and VF-19 1st mass production type were designed to expand the VF-19's weapon and fuel capacity without sacrificing passive stealth. Even so, it still doubled the VF-19's internal weapons capacity. Packs like the VF-19 2nd mass production type's or the VF-25's throw passive stealth to the wind in favor of carting along roughly enough micro-ordinance to blow up an entire battalion. ... so, the 180 missiles the VF-19EF/A (ADVANCE)'s FAST packs are already carrying wasn't armament enough to justify the A in FAST? The pack in question is way, WAY too small for all that... probably way too small for any one of those. There isn't a lot of coverage of the VF-19P in general, but from what little has been said it seems pretty definite that it's a change to the airframe itself. The VF-19P was the first "monkey model" export variant to appear in Macross, and exchanging the pallets for a internal micro-missile launcher seems to have been one of several modifications made to the VF-19's 2nd mass production type to reduce its combat capability. (Master File mentions other decreases in capability coming from functional restrictions added to the avionics and changes to make the target discovery for the micro-missiles launchers take longer.)
-
You forgot Guitar - Basara - VF-19
-
True, the VF-19 doesn't actually need the additional thrust of a booster system... but there are other advantages beyond raw acceleration. Well, yes... the excess acceleration from a booster (unless accompanied by reductions in main engine thrust output, would most certainly put additional strain on an already overstressed pilot. Isamu is definitely an above-average fighter pilot, but even his fleshy meats have limits. (Also, the VF-17 only produced more thrust vs. the initial YF-19 turbine... subsequent engines solved that.) Unmodified, the kind of instantaneous acceleration you get from a 3,240kN kick in the pants (at a T/W ratio of 39) would do all kinds of horrifically unpleasant things to the pilot... just imagine what a YF-30's 4220kN at 53, or YF-29's 7,150kN at 61 would do! My assumption WRT the VF-19EF/A "ADVANCE" using the SPS-25 Super Pack booster elements would be the redonkulous amount of missiles that supposedly were crammed into the launcher assembly (90 a side, per Master File) or range extension in space. Macross Chronicle has absolutely nothing to say on that front.
-
That'd be a pretty useless place to put sensors, IMO... though it's noted that, in Macross, FAST's meaning changed to Fuel, Arms*, and Sensors Tactical. Just about any bolt-on augmentation pack in Macross has several sensors built in, even if they're just for posture control or to function in place of body sensors that ended up being covered by the pack. The sensors are often the means to an end, rather than the end itself, but they're there. The position of the pack in question (esp. its proximity to a known conformal fuel tank) and its connection to the same active airflow inlet that the conformal tank on the opposite side is, suggests to me that it's the same old song and dance the UN Forces have been doing since the First Space War... inlets unnecessary to space flight get stuffed with additional fuel bladders to extend range. * In the "weapons" sense, not limbs.
-
They're directly over an active airflow control inlet... so probably more fuel tanks, or if not, then just armor for the inlet.
-
What I have isn't exactly a theory... I'd call it an educated guess/probable answer. The YF-19/VF-19 1st Mass Production Type's conformal FAST packs have a pack with an almost identical configuration in that same placement. It's a conformal fuel tank (NP-FB-FA07 conformal fuel tank). This looks like a slightly modified/enlarged NP-FB-FA07 tank.
-
As long as she's got Bu.No.2107906/1 on there, it's all good eh?
-
Looking at the line art, I'm not certain that's mechanically possible for the Regult... the "hips" don't seem to have much, if any, lateral freedom. http://www.macross2.net/m3/sdfmacross/reguld/reguld-schematics.gif
-
I don't make the news, man... I just report it. There's a picture of that same missile in Variable Fighter Master File: VF-0 Phoenix (page 66) labeled "AIM-9X-2"... but yes, the control surfaces near the nose look a little large and square to be the AIM-9X. I'd chalk it up to a low-detail CG model not meant for intense scrutiny.
-
Split the difference? I'm seeing a yellow band on the AIM-9X-2 there, but blue bands on the AIM-120D's. Probably an issue with the reference photography they used while making the CG models for Macross Zero. Similar errors can be found in Variable Fighter Master File (on the ASM-1 and ASM-2).
-
The VF-1 did, yes... but oddly none of the fighters that came after it seem to have the capability. Even the VF-25's hardpoint & weapon set diagram shows only one RMS-7 per station (and the even larger PaCSWS-1G's and Dimension Cutters need to be spaced out to every other hardpoint normally). If the stations are spaced wider than they normally are, it'd be workable IMO... though the RMS-5 and RMS-7 are both a good deal larger than the old RMS-1. The Dimension Cutter is so large that Master File has it at "not more than 1 per wing". That's the way it is in Macross 30. The VF-27 isn't an anti-ship attack specialist craft either... it's a super-high performance dogfighter with almost exclusively short-range weaponry (and, officially, a victim of crippling overspecialization).
-
OK, definitely should've qualified that... I based that on the 2,039lb published mass of the Mk.84 under normal conditions. The RMS-1's weight is only given in one source (the old Sky Angels book), but it's given as 2,387lb. Munition size is a factor, but mercifully only in terms of the possibility of ejected missiles striking other hung ordinance and the ability to retain that ordinance with the wings folded in battroid mode... external fuel tanks having become largely unnecessary thanks to the adoption of thermonuclear reaction turbine engines. Very few VF-carried missiles and bombs are so large that multiples can't be hung from a single pylon... but reaction missiles, para-cruising stealth warheads, and dimension cutters all seem to fall into that category under normal conditions.
-
True... though, with VF's, weight seems to be less a concern than the physical size of the munitions being carried. (vs. a F-14, the VF-1 had approximately 1.65x the per-pylon loading limit.) With the known pylon arrangements for fighters of its generation, the only way I could possibly see the YF-30 carrying heavier armament than a VF-25 would be if its pylons had wider spacing... allowing it to go two-a-pylon on RMS-7's, or carry four PaCSWS-1G's or Dimension Cutters. The only reaction missile for which a stated weight is given is the RMS-1, which is about 348lb heavier than a Mk.84.
-
Define "intact". As far as we know, yes... on paper, the VF-1S Hikaru is flying at the end of the series is the same one he "inherited" from Roy. How much of its mass is replacement hardware for damaged or destroyed components, we can't say with precision. Hikaru lost the arms blocking a missile attack during the space battle against the Boddole Zer main fleet, as well as the canopy, and a bunch of other bits and pieces were probably damaged and subsequently replaced prior to the conclusion of the actual conflict in 2012. True, it is the only one with a visible Modex number in the original series... though platoon markings are briefly visible on the body of Max's VF-1A when he bails out of it in that Zentradi elevator. (I'm not sure if that actually "counts", though... since the series wasn't drawn at a super-high level of detail most of the time, the modex numbers may simply have been left out for the animation budget's sake.)
-
A technological cousin of the Macross Cannon, at least... it's unclear whether it's actually fusing the heavy quantum the way that a Macross Cannon does, or if it's just lobbing bolts of the stuff around and letting the impossible mass do the talking. That much is unclear/debatable. The "beam grenade" mode is certainly packing more oomph than a conventional gun pod, but as far as how the regular beam machine gun mode compares to something like a GU-17, I couldn't say. (Specialty ammo such as the MDE rounds muddies the water still further.) In the novelization, the YF-30's gun pod was converted to a MDE beam gun, so really all bets are off there as well. The gun pod is debatable at best. The container system is an asset, but more suited to dogfighting or ground attack with its micro-ordinance, beam cannon, or reconnaissance options. The wing... well... based on official spec, the difference in wingspan between the VF-25 and YF-30 is about 4 3/4 inches. To make room for the ordinance container, the YF-30 has a much wider body, and the limbs are built into the wing surface... so it has fewer pylons than a VF-25. (It appears to have four, while the VF-25 has either six or eight depending upon whether you trust CG models or Master File.) It could probably carry a few especially heavy missiles, but no more than any other large VF.
-
The UN Spacy in Macross uses an Army/Air Force rank system. Whether it's Army or Air Force is hard to say, but signs point to it being an Air Force rank system based on how they're shown to abbreviate the rank "Staff Sergeant" as SSgt instead of SSG. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comparative_military_ranks#United_States They're not using a straight Japanese rank system because they have a rank that doesn't exist in the Japanese system (that of Brigadier General). Many translations have brought over the officer candidate rank (准尉, Jun-i) as "Warrant Officer", though in Japanese style, it's a rank/position directly below a 2nd Lieutenant, rather than part of a separate class of ranks altogether. Roy was a Major. Hikaru got promoted several times throughout the original series, from his original post as a Sergeant, to a 2nd Lieutenant, and by the end of the series he was a Captain, IIRC. http://macross.anime.net/wiki/UN_Spacy Translators are a bit divided on how to translate the term shotai... official Macross merch suggests the approved translation is "Platoon" rather than "Team". (Should probably go Squadron / Flight / Platoon instead of Group / Squadron / Team). The ranks seen on screen, written in perfectly legible English, are consistently those of an Army/Air Force rank system. In the real world, a space fleet would be under the administrative authority of a nation's Air Force, and it appears that Macross's creators were well aware of that fact. (As noted above, the abbreviation used for Staff Sergeant in onscreen text suggests an Air Force rank system instead of an Army one... it's abbreviated SSgt onscreen, instead of SSG.) This is actually a fairly common misconception. "UN Spacy" is not a contraction of "Space Navy". In Japanese, it's written as 宇宙軍 (Uchuu-gun), which is "Space Army" or "Space Military". "Space Navy" or "Space Fleet" are written differently. The ranks we're presented with (in English) in the series and later are those of an Army or Air Force. It's all but impossible to tell which, since the lowest mentioned rank is Sergeant, and the lowest written rank is Staff Sergeant, both of which exist in both systems. Klan's rank is always given as Tai-i (equiv. Army Captain, Navy Lieutenant). It should be translated as Captain (in the Army or Air Force sense) based on official material, though some fansubs translate it using the Navy rank Lieutenant instead. No, this is not a case of mistranslation... but rather an area of linguistic precision. Ozma's rank (in SMS) is that of a Major (少佐 Shosa)... the reason for the confusion is his title (隊長 Taichou) which is "Unit Leader" or "Commanding Officer", which translators sometimes (irritatingly) shorten to "Commander" even though it's not actually a rank. Roy's position was Commander of the SDF-1's Air Group (and Squadron CO for Skull Squadron). Organizationally, this aspect of the UN Forces is not based on the USAF... it's a distinctly Japanese touch. The term (小隊 Shotai) refers to a level of organization below that of a Flight (translated as "Platoon" in Macross) consisting of 2-4 aircraft led by a junior officer. This looks like something out of the-show-that-must-not-be-named... As noted previously, the rank system in use is that of an Army/Air Force, and titles like "Captain (of a ship)" or "Admiral (in the sense of an officer commanding a fleet)" are not ranks, but titles. I prefer "Shipmaster" and "Fleetmaster" to minimize confusion... they're entirely separate words from the ranks of "Captain" and "Admiral" in Japanese. "Captain" Global's rank is Brigadier General (准将 Junsho), but his title is Shipmaster (艦長 Kanchou)... separate and distinct from the actual rank of Colonel/Captain (大佐 Taisa). Similarly, a flag officer commanding a fleet could be a General (大将 Taisho) but his title (as commanding officer of a fleet) would be "Admiral"/"Fleetmaster" (提督 Teitoku).
-
It's a dimension weapon... similar, in principle, to the other forms of super dimension energy weaponry used as "main gun" systems and turrets aboard most ships. It's lobbing bolts of extradimensional, super-massive matter at the enemy. I'm not really sure I follow your logic as to why the YF-30 seems to be made for attacking bigger targets. Most Variable Fighters are, as noted previously, multirole by their very nature and can be used for attacking ships as easily as they can be used for taking out enemy fighters and battle pods. Dedicated Variable Attackers basically just turn the weaponry aspect of the Attack role up to 11. The YF-30's default armament is extremely light by the standards of the fighters of its generation... just a pair of beam guns on the monitor turret, a heavy quantum beam gun pod, the ordinance container (typically with 18 micro-missile launchers, but other options for the package correspond to the standard FAST pack varieties), an assault knife, and what appears to be four pylon stations on the wings. The one remark in Chronicle about the YF-30's ordinance container being especially suited to low-speed attacks makes it sound a little like the YF-30 might be a good choice for close-air support, but in general the implication of the descriptions seems to be that the YF-30 was designed to 1. evaluate technologies to penetrate fold faults, and 2. meet the specific needs of combat on the often isolated world of Uroboros. While it's undeniable that Shinsei had a hand in the development of some of the one-off or limited production enhanced versions of the VF-11 or VF-19's "monkey models", the groundwork seems to have mostly been laid by various emigrant fleets who each had a different view of how they wanted their military equipped. The VF-11 seems to have been left mostly alone, except for one-off enhancements produced for specific ace pilots or "aftermarket" modifications once the military started selling off the VF-11's that weren't being converted into target drones. Export restrictions the UN Government imposed on AVF's and AVF technologies probably did a lot to limit improvement of older fighters with AVF tech as well. The VF-19EF/A's mechanic sheet notes that those laws made it all but impossible for SMS to legally use a VF-19A. General Galaxy had an upgrade plan for the VF-19 in the Macross Galaxy fleet as a calculated snub aimed at their rival, but Shinsei itself seems to have given up on the VF-19 after the VF-171 was made next main fighter. The VF-19EF/A was proposed as a SLEP upgrade trial on paper, but its background in Macross Chronicle notes that it was really a vanity project with little-to-no support from Shinsei's management. It was a proposal Dr. Jan Neumann cooked up in an effort to get Isamu to stop trying to coerce him illegally selling him a VF-19A piece by piece, bankrolled mostly by Isamu's own savings.
-
's possible... though, taking the known examples into account, I suspect it would probably not have been done as part of any kind of official plan to improve the Thunderbolt. Most likely, they would be like the ones we know about: one-off craft for aces or elite units, and secondhand airframes modified by air racers. That's certainly demonstrable. The only catch is that it appears that the new developments are mostly being applied to the export "Monkey Model" variants whose performance suffers at the hands of arms export restrictions. On the whole, they seem to be a lot less intent on improving the VF-19's flight performance than they are on improving its stability and avionics. (Which is an entirely worthy goal... were it not for the economics of the defense industry and fear of the Vajra's capabilities, many of the refinements that went into the YF-24 would have been applied to the VF-19.) Well, it's not really a "big" gun... the heavy quantum gun pod is more or less the same type used by the YF-29, rather than the huge BFG used by the VF-27 or even more colossal one used by the YF-27-5. WRT the ordinance container... your guess is entirely correct. The spec. mentions that the micro-missile container can be swapped for a variety of other mission-specific packages, which is where a fair bit of its multi-role-ness comes from. (It's like having all of the versatility of a FAST pack without the extra mass.) Pretty much every VF is a multi-role fighter by definition... on account of the variable system and how the tactics of the era employ that advantage. The YF-30 is, in most respects, a pretty typical Variable Fighter design of the VF-25's generation. It shares a lot of features with the YF-29 as well.
-
The YF-30 is nominally just a multi-role variable fighter... but the real purpose behind it, according to the Macross 30 novelization, is testing technologies for breaking through fold faults. Go back and read that post, mac... because I didn't say that or anything like it. What I did say was that you couldn't dump a lot of heat into the fuel tanks in the wings. Why? Because we're dealing with an engine that produces a LOT more heat than a rocket motor, and the fuel tanks are pressure vessels full of cryogenic fuel slush. I don't have tons of experience with cryogenic fuel handling, but I've worked with the stuff enough to know that the last thing you want to be doing is adding a high-heat source to a cryogenic fuel tank for long periods of time. It'll put a lot of extra stress on the tank itself, and if the amount of energy being introduced to the sealed system rises too quickly, you've got a good chance of the tank turning into a bomb. All I see is some crosshatching that appears to be over, rather than under, the structural members inside the wing. IF that is a heat exchange system, that would point to it being outside the tank, adjacent to the wing surface, rather than inside the tanks. Also, it's page 34, not 24... and the BLCS extends into the empennage as well, which makes it less likely that the heat is introduced inside the wing surface. (pg.36) Looking at the cutaway, it looks more like the heat is introduced to the system in the sub-intake as it runs over the body of the Stage II turbine's precompressor stage. There's what looks like several high-gauge coolant lines running through the back of the joints of the knee.
