Seto Kaiba

The VF-31AW in the first image is a one-off test aircraft built to evaluate the VF-31X's proposed four engine configuration, which simply replaced the outer wing with the YF-29's. The VF-31X4 in the second image is an artist's impression/conception of, and informal/unofficial name for, the latest VF-31X development type assumed to correspond to the VF-31X's final and intended design from the development planning phase. (As in, the writers of the book in-universe are presenting their impression of what the final form of the VF-31X would look like, presumably based on the remarks earlier in the book about the design intent being for a four-engine VF and that the second set of engines were omitted when adapting the Delta Flight Siegfrieds into the AX type.)

Yeah, but the basic transformation of the YF-24 wasn't one of the redacted bits. Structurally, it looks to be almost a VF-25 with a delta wing. Presumably the Sv-303 was also based on those redacted specs. The VF-27 was based primarily upon the redacted YF-24 Evolution specs but was completed using leaked development data from the Frontier fleet's YF-29 program.

Remember, that's the same info the VF-25, VF-27, YF-29, et. al. are based on.

So... lookin' at the Sv-303 Vivasvat section of the VF-31AX Master File, and the first couple pages are kind of inconsequential outside of the specs for the Sv-303. It starts with a bit about the culture and history of the planet Windermere IV. It's noted at length that Windermere IV is rich in fold quartz presumably created by the Protoculture, and that the native Windermereans have been actively mining fold quartz for use in jewelry for many centuries. The Kingdom of the Wind's royal family is said to make fairly regular use of fold quartz jewelry in everyday life, while normal civilians tend to only wear them as decorations for bridal gowns at weddings and much of it is usually stored in the temple. It's said in the text that the Windermereans have known for a very long time about fold quartz's power to amplify their songs via resonance, and that their artisans actively applied that in cutting them as gemstones to create resonant effects similar to those used in the Fold Wave System. Prior to humanity injecting science into the proceedings, fold quartz was assumed to be magic and one of the royal family's most treasured heirlooms is an ancient heirloom sword supposedly wielded by the founder of the Aerial Knights to defeat a giant dragon without fighting it directly... making it Windermere IV's version of the Japanese Imperial family's heirloom sword kusanagi-no-tsurugi. On the following page it finally gets into the actual details about the Sv-303's development. Master File's version of the Sv-303's development history - the only version we currently have - claims that the Sv-303's development actually began as a manned fighter program for the Kingdom of the Wind's Aerial Knights. The Sv-300 program was commissioned by Chancellor Roid Brehm. It was to be a manned variable fighter loosely based on the VF-24 and VF-27, though without the VF-27's BDI cybernetic interface and with performance roughly comparable to the VF-31. The design would adopt improved versions of the Sv-262's own FF-2999/FC2 engines with boosted output and responsiveness as well as an improved Fold Reheat system called the Twin Quartz Drive that was developed by Windermere IV's Royal Aviation Factory. It was believed that the Sv-300 would exceed the performance of the VF-31. Shortly before the first Sv-300 prototype was to be delivered, the SV Works received a change in requirements from Roid Brehm via Epsilon Foundation rep. Sydney Hunt. The new requirements radically changed the entire concept of the aircraft. Instead of being the manned, multirole variable fighter originally called for, the new requirements demanded an unmanned variable fighter that could be remotely operated using newly developed bio-fold wave communications technology. The SV Works tossed the existing Sv-300 plan and started over. There's a brief passing mention of a Sv-301 that was apparently a manned fighter very similar to the VF-31 that also used a Twin Quartz Drive and a Sv-302 (not described). Roid's new plan called for a specialized, high-performance unmanned variable fighter that would maximize its performance at the expense of literally everything else. Designated as Sv-303, the new design retained much of the YF-24 Evolution's transformation and basic structure but reintroduced the VF-27's BDI cybernetic interface and tied it into the bio-fold wave communications system developed by Windermere IV so that it could be remotely operated by the Quantum AI computer of the Siren Delta System. To reduce the burden on the Siren Delta System, a new "black box" fully autonomous air combat AI bearing a curious resemblance to the one used on the X-9 Ghost Bird was also installed. The fact that the Sv-303 was an unmanned fighter was kept secret during development. By combining semi-autonomous remote operation by a central AI and lagless faster-than-light communications using fold quartz-amplified bio-fold waves, the result was a remotely commanded unmanned fighter that could fight independently or seamlessly coordinate huge numbers of aircraft in real time using the lagless bio-fold data link across an area that's measured in light years. More to follow in a bit.

The Epyon was a Gundam, though? All in all, it seems likely that the VF-24 and YF-29 have probably squared off in simulated air combat at some point or another. The NUNS VF-X Special Forces have been known to use the YF-29B, and in Master File it's been said that the Apollo Base Test Flight Center has a number of Earth-built YF-29s at its disposal for evaluation purposes. It's likely the YF-29 was put through the same paces they put the YF-24 through, in simulated combat with previous-gen VFs and Ghosts.

I know, I have a couple copies of the Macross Model Hobby Handbook kicking around... though that's not technically itasha, that's nose art or tail art. Adjacent, but not quite the same thing. I'm talking about models where the whole damn plane is covered in character decals... like the Bandai Macross Frontier "Marking Version" kits for the VF-25F and VF-25G that had huge Sheryl, Ranka, and Klan decals, or the "Deculture Version" kits for the VF-31 Siegfrieds and Sv-262Hs Draken III that had massive idol decals splashed across the entire airframe. https://www.hlj.com/1-72-scale-vf-25f-messiah-valkyrie-alto-custom-ranka-deculture-decal-ver-ban960420 https://www.hlj.com/1-72-scale-sv-262-hs-draken-iii-roid-brehm-custom-deculture-ver-bann19757 https://www.hlj.com/1-72-scale-vf-25g-messiah-valkyrie-michael-custom-klan-deculture-decal-ver-ban960419 https://www.hlj.com/1-72-scale-vf-31j-c-siegfried-hayate-immelman-deculture-ver-bann12960 If you take Master File at face value, they even exist in-setting... like the one in the VF-25 Master File commemorating Ranka's visit to planet Sagares that's liberally covered in carrots and pictures of Ranka in a Superman pose.

Itasha versions with the members of Walkure and/or Yami-q-Ray, naturally. (After all, they DID do that one with Macross Delta's TV series Valks.)

It helps a bit that both Macross Delta and Master File are leaning heavily into the idea that the YF-29 and YF-30 were/are actually proof-of-concept designs for 6th Generation VFs that were built using parts diverted from production-intent 5th Generation VFs. The VF-24 is, in all likelihood, the most powerful production Valkyrie (5th Generation and overall) thanks to Earth's dominant position in the realms of politics and technology while the unviable super prototype YF-29 is The Strongest Valkyrie in absolute terms. The YF-29 is to Valkyries what a Gundam is to regular Mobile Suits: a one-off super prototype far too expensive and impractical to ever be mass produced that nevertheless is so high spec it can utterly dominate the battlefield in small engagements through its overwhelming performance. (In that sense, the VF-31 and Master File's YF-29C are essentially GMs... what you get when you scale the super prototype's performance and price back to a level where production is actually feasible.)

Really, they should have more mass... the heaviest single component of any Valkyrie is the engine, and these have four instead of two. Take, for instance, the VF-25 and VF-27. Both are approximately the same size and both are derived from the YF-24 Evolution platform... but the VF-27 weighs 3,600kg more thanks in no small part to its adoption of two extra engines. So... the remark we often come back to concerning the Earth/Central New UN Forces YF-24 Evolution and VF-24A and its performance relative to the YF-29 is the statement that the YF-29 was "developed in secret to exceed the YF-24". Now, we should note carefully that there are no official specs for Earth's YF-24 Evolution that was demonstrated to the New UN Forces in 2057 or the production VF-24 which would have entered service several years after the New UN Forces decided to adopt the YF-24 Evolution as the Next Main Fighter. Under the New UN Government's laws governing newly developed technologies and restrictions on arms exports, Earth provided a redacted version of the final YF-24 Evolution specification to emigrant governments across the galaxy so that they could either fill in the gaps with their own locally-developed solutions or use it as a starting point to develop their own original 5th Generation Valkyries as happened with the VF-25, VF-27, YF-29, YF-30, and VF-31. We can reasonably infer that the VF-24 is more advanced and powerful than any other production 5th Generation Valkyrie given that it's well-established Earth's technological prowess and resources far exceed that of any other planet or emigrant fleet. This is further supported by the notion in Frontier materials that the most over-the-top, expensive, and impossible to mass-produce Valkyrie ever conceived was put together in an effort to exceed the YF-24. Given that materials published for Macross Delta: Absolute Live!!!!!! describe the YF-29 as The Strongest Valkyrie (capital emphasis intended), we can reasonably surmise the Frontier fleet succeeded in its goal of developing the YF-29 as a variable fighter that exceeded the YF-24. That performance came at a cost, though. Master File confirms what we'd already concluded based on remarks in materials published for Macross Frontier: the Wings of Goodbye and Macross Delta's TV anime: the exceptional size and purity of the fold quartz that is required to build the YF-29's Fold Wave System makes it - and any other 6th Generation VF design - nearly impossible to produce. So the described distinction between the Frontier fleet's YF-29[A], the NUNS's YF-29B, and the Master File-original YF-29C serves as a way to explain all the obstacles preventing a 6th Generation Valkyrie from entering production. Fold quartz of the requisite size and purity to reproduce the YF-29's Fold Wave System at its full potential is so rare that it might as well not exist at all. The YF-29B exists to establish that, while you CAN make a Fold Wave System with smaller and less pure fold quartz the requisite purity and size to achieve a reduced-capacity FWS is still so rare as to make even limited production all but impossible and the system's performance is lower. The YF-29C essentially establishes that even the very finest synthetic alternative (fold carbon) humanity can produce in tiny batches is not equal to the task and that using it results in a FWS that can do barely 1% of what the full spec FWS can do. The brief description provided indicates that it's a VF-31X test type that was produced using some YF-29 parts. Only one unit manufactured. It's baffling to me too, which is why I'm kind of expecting the Sv-303's mass is somewhere around that of the YF-29, bringing that value down to 50 or so where it's on par with or slightly bettered by the VF-31AX. Kind of a waste, IMO... esp. since the writers of the film don't seem to have ever bothered to come up for a reason to justify why Private Citizen Maximilian Jenius who now works a dozy retirement gig for a second-tier PMC in a backwater star system would have access to The Strongest Valkyrie that is so high spec it's almost impossible to produce at all.

I've got no horse in this race, but this popped on my YouTube subscriptions page and figured it was topical... especially since it lacks the hysterical hot takes of most coverage of the situation.

I'll be poking at it a fair bit over the long weekend. I'm blown away by how much better this book is than the previous VF-31 book... or, really, anything else Macross Delta. WHERE WAS THIS LOVE WHEN THE SHOWS WERE BEING MADE?! In an indirect manner, since the upgrades that went into the VF-31AX Kairos Plus from the Macross Delta: Absolute Live!!!!!! movie were (in Master File's version) appropriated from the VF-31X parts that were in storage aboard the Macross Gigasion. From what I have read thus far - and this understanding may change as I translate more of the book - apart from the piecemeal application of the improved armor and other materials the key difference is the VF-31X has wingtip engines similar to the YF-29's. It was noted that, due to the difficulty of adjusting the airframe control AI, the Xaos crew omitted the extra engines in the upgrade process to get the job done faster. Unfortunately, we lack a critical factor to determine that... the stats provided lack the basic physical parameters like dimensions and weight. So we're missing a key piece of the whole equation... the mass in the thrust-to-weight ratio. ((2346kN*2)+(1970kN*2))/(? * 9.807m/s^2) If we were to plug in the masses of various 5th Gen Valkyries just for comparison's sake... this is a fighter with a T/W ratio potentially in excess of 100. With the VF-31J's mass it's 103. The Sv-262's mass would put it at 89.724. Even if we correct for the wrong output power on the FF-3003J/FC1, it's still almost 80! If we assume it weighs as much as the heaviest modern Valkyrie, it's just shy of 50 with the corrected-for engine output.

Yup. It's an Armored Pack... maximum overkill has been the rule for those since at least Macross 7. The VF-31's has more of an emphasis on guns than previous models, with the pair of 30mm rotary cannons and a beam gun turret similar to the YF-29's.

Dunno, Macross 30 ends with the whole timey-wimey mess getting straightened out. I honestly don't recall if the novel version says what happens to the new mecha given to the time displaced folks.

That's why I said it's probably a typo... the initial spec for the YF-29 had different engine outputs and a much heavier weight than the official spec that it eventually settled on. There've been a couple cases with Master File citing old/obsolete or just plain incorrect info by mistake... like the VF-19 engine outputs for the F/S type. The sticking point here would be that the 1,970kN listed is explicitly "maximum thrust in space" for the Sv-303. On the off chance it's not an error, then it'd almost certainly be the result of Dian Cecht's engineers tweaking the design of the FF-3003J/FC1 sub-engines the same way they did the FF-2999/FC2 main engines: increasing the maximum output to the point that it reduces the engine's operational lifespan.

As far as the contents of the Master File book go... this volume is the gift that unexpectedly keeps on giving in the weirdest places. Specs for the Kairos Plus and Vivasvat, explanations of their development, an actual explanation of 6th Generation VFs and why they aren't being mass produced...

It's a sucker bet they're going to do a DX of the Vivasvat. Whether the official spec will resemble the ones in the Master File is another matter... but there is 100% no way they're not going to do a toy and probably a kit or two of it after they let Bandai have so much say in the design of the VFs for the movie.

Yes, they're part of the Macross 30 story. That said, it wouldn't exactly be unfair to characterize Ozma's late-game upgrade from his Macross Frontier VF-25S to an original YF-29 as "for the sake of cool". It was pretty much an afterthought or a "throw it in". Isamu's, however, was important enough that it got its own cutscene where he receives it from a (mostly) Havamal-controlled Sharon Apple.

All in all, the information is mostly as expected. Designed by the SV Works and manufactured by the Epsilon Foundation subsidiary Dian Cecht. Its physical particulars are listed as unknown. The control system is as we saw in the film, a Sharon Apple-derived autonomous advanced quantum AI computer. Interestingly, it's noted as having a separate/onboard airframe control computer setup... two Brunhilde II-type airframe control AIs. Presumably that means it's using ARIEL II or the semi-official ARIEL III, since Brunhilde was the model of ARIEL II system used in the YF-25, VF-25, and YF-30, and probably others. The main engine is a modification of the FF-2999/FC2 Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engine used by the Sv-262 Draken III with an estimated maximum thrust of 2,346kN (+20% output improvement) resulting from a specification change made by Dian Cecht to improve thrust and engine responsiveness. It's noted that this change reduces engine life. The sub-engine is a modification of the FF-3003J/FC1 Stage II thermonuclear reaction ramjet/turbine composite engine. Poss. a typo, listed thrust is 1,970kN (+34% improvement). It's noted to have a "Twin Quartz Drive" (a derivative or other name for a Fold Reheat) based on the (Windermere IV) Royal Aviation Factory design with improved operating time compared to the Sv-262's. It's noted to lack an active stealth system altogether. Its "Mirage Package Composite Armor" combines the functions of energy conversion armor and a fold wave transmission and reception antenna that also provides the fighter with high (passive) stealth performance. (Acts as fold wave-absorbent material, I guess?) Well, if you don't care about the lifespan of the parts... the Sv-303 spec in Master File claims that engine life has decreased as a result of improving the output. Overtuning an engine is the machine equivalent of "Cast from Hit Points"... as long as you're not worried about reducing its lifespan and increasing its maintenance requirements, you can generally exceed the rated output by a good amount before it stops being an engine and starts being a smoke machine or a rapidly-expanding collection of shrapnel. Quite a bit, it would seem. We know that the Macross Frontier fleet was required by law to make disclosures of the YF-29's design, specifications, and new technologies to the New UN Government. That does appear to have happened promptly too, since the first appearance of a New UN Spacy-use YF-29 was in 2060, barely a year after the events of Macross Frontier. In Macross 30, 815th Independent Squadron "Havamal" of the NUNS VF-X Special Forces had used its clout on the remote planet of Uroboros to produce several YF-29s for its ace pilots. That was where the YF-29B Perceval came from, as well as the YF-29s for Ozma and Isamu. It would not have been possible to build the YF-30 without the aforementioned disclosures, since the YF-30's Fold Dimensional Resonance system is derived from the YF-29's Fold Wave System. Likewise, Xaos Valkyrie Works's VF-31 Siegfried customs incorporate technology from the YF-29 in the form of their economized/simplified Fold Wave System which was later improved on the VF-31AX Kairos Plus. Then, of course, there's Master File's not-exactly-official take in which the YF-29 is public knowledge as of the 2060s and there were apparently not only several attempts to make a mass production-ready version (see the above about the YF-29B and YF-29C), the failure of those attempts spawned the program (VF-31X) that would ultimately originate the parts that went into the VF-31AX during their improvised repair/upgrade. Indeed. It's indicated earlier in the book that the New UN Government's attempts to develop a viable 6th Generation Main VF have effectively hit a wall due to the requirement for ultra-high purity fold quartz. As of 2085 in Master File's version of history, humanity still has not discovered a way to produce artificial fold quartz. 5th Generation VFs can get by using the fold quartz found in former Vajra nests and Protoculture ruins, and the quality of humanity's synthetic fold carbon continues to improve, but without a reliable way to obtain ultra-high purity large fold quartz there is no way to proceed with mass production of any 6th Generation VF design. This newest Master File attempts to connect the Siegfried and the Master File original "VF-31X" to the search for a way to produce 6th Generation performance using less, and less pure, fold quartz. It apparently did not work, but bless 'em for trying. They don't say, but the way it's phrased it sounds like it's one-of-a-kind and effectively impossible to replicate.

Some other interesting revelations from the VF-31AX Master File concerning the YF-29 Durandal. It alleges the existence of three separate and mutually exclusive YF-29 specifications: YF-29A - The Macross Frontier fleet's YF-29 seen in Macross Frontier: the Wings of Farewell. This version is the original YF-29 specification and has the highest performance of the three due to the fleet having acquired fold quartz of the highest purity during the Vajra conflict by harvesting Vajra carcasses. Only one unit is believed to exist, that being the YF-29 No.1 prototype (Alto's YF-29 from the movie) which was repaired after being damaged in the conflict. YF-29B - Believed to be a copy of the YF-29A Durandal produced on/by Earth. Codenamed "Perceval". With no reports that Earth ever recovered any fold quartz approaching the size and quality of that recovered by the Macross Frontier fleet, it is believed to have inferior performance to the YF-29A. Note: Macross Chronicle refers to the YF-29B's produced on Uroboros as "a state-of-the-art aircraft that improves upon the YF-29 Durendal", implying better performance not worse. YF-29C - An attempt to develop a mass production-worthy YF-29 by Earth(?) which attempted to address the production roadblock of fold quartz scarcity through the use of fold carbon of the very highest purity and quality. Despite using the very best technology to synthesize fold carbon and the assistance of a scouted jeweler to handpick fold carbon experimentally produced for it, the fold wave generation performance is only 1% of what the YF-29A can achieve. Operated under the jurisdiction of Apollo Base test flight center on Luna. Master File declines to explain how, precisely, Max got ahold of a YF-29. It alleges that Lady M scouted him specifically to liaise with the New UN Forces, and remarks that his YF-29 corresponds to the YF-29B type.

I have to admit, Variable Fighter Master File: VF-31AX Kairos Plus came as a pleasant surprise. It's not just far and away the best publication to come out for Absolute Live!!!!!!, it's a strong contender for the best/highest quality Macross Delta publication overall. The book for the regular VF-31 was pretty uninspired stuff, but the VF-31AX book has some seriously interesting material in it. Not the best Master File book ever, but it is a surprisingly strong entry in the series esp. considering how weak the Absolute Live!!!!!! movie was. Not only does it have proper specs for the VF-31AX and Sv-303, it's got an actually-sane explanation for where those upgrades came from, why they were introduced when they were, a look at the roadblocks in 6th Generation VF development, some very interesting diagrams (including a great diagram showing how the arms are stored in Fighter mode. They even manage to justify the existence of some of the goofy Master File-original variants from the previous book while they're at it. Looking forward to the weekend when I can dive into it in more depth. 🙂

Hard to say, but my guess would be "No". "Bob" had quite the fall from grace. His father was annoyed enough to ban him from dueling after he lost two duels and the title of Holder to Suletta Mercury at the start of the series, and then cut him off entirely once he violated that ban by stealing a Darilbalde and wrecking it dueling "Elan Ceres". He was kicked out of the dorms, lost access to his family's money, and his father was planning to pull him out of Asticassia and put him to work in a lesser capacity at Jeturk Heavy Machinery. I'd assume that the current Jeturk heir is probably his half-brother Lauda, unless there is some undisclosed concern regarding Lauda's parentage that would prevent him from inheriting (he has a different surname, so he may be the child of a mistress) or some provision exists to prevent Guel from inheriting Jeturk Heavy Machinery due to the circumstances in which Vim perished. Me too, TBH... they've spent too much time building up GUND-ARM Inc. as an important part of the plot and it's run entirely out of the Earth House dormitory at Asticassia. There's little opportunity for them to NOT go back to the school format unless they want to completely abandon all of that.

While we have only ever actually seen the VF-4 with the beam cannon mount and the "lightweight" configuration in which the entire arm is removed, it is mentioned in a number of sources that it is possible to install other equipment in those areas. It's not said how easy it is to make that exchange, but it's been suggested/indicated that the cannon with the hard rounds was more popular with the rarer atmospheric-use variants of the VF-4.

It's pretty typical for Master File, TBH. Each volume is presented as an in-universe civilian mass market publication about the development history, technology, and operational history of a specific model of VF. As such, all of them are dated well after the events of the Macross series that first introduced them so that there's not only history to talk about but a reasonable period in which some records of their development and operation could be made public. For example, the first VF-1 Valkyrie Master File bears an in-universe publication date of 2020. The second is dated 2030. The third is dated 2047. The VF-0 book's dated 2040 after a VF-0 was reconstructed from wreckage found at Edwards AFB to commemorate the Unification Wars. The VF-19 book's dated 2050, after the events of Plus and 7 and the VF-22 book's dated 2063. The VF-25 book's dated 2065, so there are a few years of operating history after it was formally adopted by the military. And so on and so forth.

So... on a skim of Variable Fighter Master File: VF-31AX Kairos Plus, here are some points of interest/ Also, WTF... this book is actually... good? Like, there's actual effort on display here. Where the hell was effort like this in making the actual film? Its in-universe publication date is in late 2085, with a foreword dated July 2085. The book's Development History section broadly aligns with official material and identifies the Surya Aerospace VF-31 Kairos and Xaos Valkyrie Works VF-31 custom "Siegfried" as 5th Generation, rather than 6th Generation. It echoes the Blu-ray extra features from the Macross Delta TV anime in semi-formally classifying the VF-31 Siegfried custom as 5.5th Generation. Shinsei Industry and LAI's YF-29 Durandal and YF-30 Chronos are presented as the only true 6th Generation Valkyries available. It's noted that this is a bit of a technicality, since neither design can be approved for mass-production due to the scarcity of the essential ultra-high purity fold quartz that remains beyond humanity's ability to synthesize. As in the previous VF-31 Master File, the VF-31S is presented as though it were an alternate low-volume production version of the VF-31 rather than as the unique ace custom aircraft it was in Macross Delta. The VF-31AX is still presented as an ad hoc field repair, but an alternate explanation of where the improvements came from is presented. Rather than being a combination of Kairos and Siegfried parts, the upgrade components are said to have been prototype hardware diverted from an experimental 6th Generation Valkyrie program that spun off from the VF-31 Siegfried and carried the informal designation VF-31X at that early phase in its development. It was apparently an attempt to make an economical and mass-production viable 6th Generation VF. It's said that the New UN Forces ordered 24 YF-29s for testing after the events of Macross Frontier, but the scarcity of adequate fold quartz made production so slow that only a few aircraft could be completed per year and the military gave up in disgust. As to where they got the parts, the Macross Gigasion was carrying the prototype X parts when it arrived on Windermere IV and due to the emergency opted to use the X parts to perform field repairs to the badly-damaged VF-31 Siegfrieds of Delta Flight. It's mentioned that the Kairos Plus in the movie partially adopted the X-type's armor and wing structure, but omitted other features like a third and fourth engine. Apparently the remodeling of the four VF-31 Siegfrieds into the Kairos Plus using the X-type parts was so rushed and so poorly done that the Fold Wave Systems suffered an unrecoverable failure after the battle and the aircraft had to essentially be dismantled. A member of the VF-31X development team aboard the Gigasion apparently requested that it be called "Kairos Plus"to prevent the Defense Department from associating it with the VF-31X and that this request is the reason it is incorrectly believed to be based on the VF-31A. Dr. Gadget M. Chiba published a paper on Unified Fold Field Theory in 2051. The new Multipurpose Container unit in the AX type has a large beam gunpod and a small laser cannon meant for rear-facing defense. The bulk of the pack's body is a huge energy capacitor ensuring an independent power supply for both weapons while mounted. The railguns were upgraded to 30mm. The new gunpod is designated LU-22A. There's mention that it's a multipurpose housing meant to accept either a beam weapon or hard round-firing railgun, since its manufacturer faced complaints that the LU-18 beam gunpod used by the VF-31A faced attenuation problems in atmospheric service. They also describe the ammunition used as a kind of explosive battery that produces a huge amount of energy via the detonation of an electrolyte using a high explosive, which generates the power for the railgun. (Apparently this has the downside that the gas byproducts of the detonation are incredibly caustic and require ventilation measures. The model of Ghost used by Xaos in the film is named "Effigia", from the Greek for "Ghost". In official terms, it's probably still right. In the Master File's description, it's a Siegfried that's gotten some materials upgrades and compensated for lower quality fold quartz with quantity.

It's interesting that the main engines are still noticeably worse than the Siegfried's... the performance difference is mainly in the mass reduction.