Zinjo

LOL, if reason for the logo change is true, the irony is too funny!!! HG changed the SDFM Kite to avoid legal issues with BigWest on SC... Though considering how national flags evolve over the years, it is surprising that the UNG Kite never did (until now perhaps) no matter how many colonies were established by humanity over the years... If the new stealth like fighter is a VF-171, then it would be a direct derivative of the 17 along with the same numbering convention as the F-117 that the VF-17 was based on... Kinda cool that...

We wish you would... I find it amusing that an essentially dead civilization has more chance of being an antagonist than an active army still fighting the billions of Zentreadi in the Galaxy.... However, since they are being very enigmatic about the enemy in this show, time will tell... Actually I see the VF-25 resembles the F-18 with swing wings more than the SV-51, IMO. Well a fleet that size would probably have the plans and the capability to build any "special forces" fighters on an as needed basis. As you said the M7 fleet didn't have 19's and 22's until they were needed. So it is logical to conclude the Frontier fleet would be able to do the same. As far as the 17 goes, I seriously doubt the 17 is still in service, since the service life of a VF is shorter than that of modern day conventional fighters. However that doesn't mean a derivative fighter wasn't developed, like a "VF-27". One could argue that the VF-19 was a derivative fighter of the VF-9 Cutlass... In terms of the lack of internal palettes on the "27" (for want of a better designation) makes more sense to me than the other way around. It is a space fighter! The VF-17 was a wedge shaped aircraft in the tradition of making fighters appear like a "flock of birds on radar"... Not a common thing in space.... The energy discharge during transformation and even the energy arc over the "VF-27" tell me that they may have acheived an omni-directional barrier system for their space craft. Granted that's pure speculation, however it is keeping within the established universe... IAD's picture of the "VF-27" Omni-directional barrier system perhaps? I agree Graham, I think a Railgun pod is way overdue... Way too many posts to sift through...

The problem with SDFM is they kept swtiching it from guns to lasers which only confused matters... If it was a projectile weapon it's uses in engaging ground targets would be considerable.

Definitely NOT the VF-17...

Who's to day that the the design isn't in the show? This could be what many are describing as the VF-17. There is definitely going to be more than one fighter, so anything is possible, at this point...

Ok, excuse me while I wipe myself..... WOW!! Marchy it looks like the cockpit fits "inside" the nose with the upper fuselage acting as the shield. I suspect the Megaroad clip is probably a retrospective montage of all the emigration fleets over the years. There is definitely some bio-engineered type enemy crafts being fought, along the lines of the AFOS, which could mean it's the SA or a remnant of the PC... Either way, a fitting antagonist for the 25th Anni... I'm not so sure that the VF-17 is what it shows, but certainly a fighter that looks based on the 17's design. Saw some FAST Pack loving and I like the launch tube catapults. There will definitely be more than one type of fighter, but it is looking like the VF-25 is going to be the hero mecha of this series. Looks like Sketchley may be right about the pimples being energy weapons... I'm glad they steered away from the VF-X2 helmets, they just didn't follow the aesthetic of the franchise... BTW, how the hell did you get screenshots of the video?? What software did you use?

THANKS Graham!! As always you come through for us... Definitely distinct and fresh. The torso appears to be an amalgamation of the VF-19 and SV-51, where the cockpit sits horizontaly underneath the head with the nose folding down to make up the chest (unlike the SV-51 which lopped it off and tucked it between the legs) The feet actually "dropping" out of the engine nacelles is another nice touch. Though I am really wondering about that logo on the top side of the fuselage? It could be a new Skull logo or a derivative squadron or even possibly wing art similar to what we've seen on B5!

NICE, doubtful they'd have my size...

Those are good points as well however, we don't know if SK is going to mirror real life and have SPACY move toward branch specific fighters. VF-25 for the Navy, VF-26 for the Marines, VF-27 for the Airforce, etc... Then there is the current situation with the real world F-35 Lightning where it was designed with different features depending on what the purchasing service branch required. 3 different variants on the same airframe, which was hinted at in M7...

VF-11MAXL Custom? No. Without the boobs, I could live with it... VF-19 Kai? Remove the face and the stupid pain job, and it looks like a reasonable production model of the YF-19, essentially the "P" without the nipples on the shoulders. The Blazer does nothing for me. VF-17 = Stupid, a stealth fighter configured to look like a flock of birds on radar, but wait, if flies primarily in space??!!! However the Battroid mode is quite cool! VF-4 = Love the fighter mode, GERWALK & battroid are retarded VF-9 = Love the fighter mode and GERWALK but battroid is retarded VA-3 = FUGLY variable fighter Koenig Variable Monster = Not a fan mostly due to the improbability of it and the fact that's is one big ass target... Battle 7 Storm Attacker Mode = Dumbest idea the producers of M7 came up with, OK 4th dumbest... Regults = most ineffectual enemy mecha. I only really have a total overall hate on for the VA-3 and the Regults, all the rest have some redeming qualities...

I suspect SK is planning on revealing more about the SA or PC. With colonies all over the galaxy there is a higher risk of seceding colony worlds than a group or network of disgruntled people looking to take on an emigration fleet of 10 million people. Terrorists tend either have a political or vengeance adjenda (very simplified, but true). With a colony world looking to secede, the aspect of approriated SPACY equipment comes into play and then you have a furball waiting to happen...

For some reason I remember Roy using it offensively, but I can't for the life of me remember when!

I always wondered why it stayed the same... Personally I'd like to see the kite with a ring of stars around it for every system colonized, kind of like the old US flag (no relation... ). If the VF-25 was a one off design similar to the VF-3000 & VF-5000 that would be a break in the generational chain established in M7. It wouldn't surprise me if it were the older trainer VF. From a marketing point of view it allows more surprises to be revealed in later press releases or in the series itself... Remember, the transformable nature of the VF-1 was not known until the end of episode 1 in SDFM... Such surprises tend to draw the audience in with the hope of more surprises as the show progresses...

The only time we see that head used like that was in Zero was when Hikaru rescues Misa, near the end of the series. Maybe SK had it in his bag o tricks for a long time until he had the opportunity to use it in Zero. None of the other animated fighter designs had a similar head config to do it. There may have been a few times Max used his VF-1A head laser but that would have been a split second of screen time for it to really register much. An animefriend error used the forward sensors on the nose as lasers, which HG incorporated into their Veritech technical guide...

Wouldn't you? That mold probably cost them tens of thousands of dollars to produce... Plug in some new styrene colored pellets and bingo a new SV-51 version...

Prolly the paint schemes are throwing people off. Does anyone see the Spacy Kite? Makes me wonder if that logo was changed to reflect the galactic nature of humanity or if the VF-25 is actually an older "training" vehicle, not an actual contemporary line fighter of the fleet, thus has the flight school logo and not the kite...

Well it is the popular thing with Macross fans. Whether the enemy will have variable fighters (VF types) is unkown, but they quite possibly may have variable mecha since it's what the audience wants to see. More battlepod ownage by VFs is not really something that will generate much word of mouth buzz.

Ahem... F-35 Lightning II... I'd rather SK concentrate on making the enemy mecha alien and cool and stick with the proven technology of the variable fighters. Hell the SW-XA looks more cutting edge than the VF-25, however it depends on what the premise is. If the VF-25 is a line fighter then it won't be fitted with a lot of fancy bobbles like a special missions fighter would. I expect with the retcon of SWAG tech (not my favorite retcons from Mac Zero ) it is conceivable that the new variable fighters have some sort of limited omni-directional barrier shields. It's hard to tell if they still sport leg mounted mini-missile launchers. The spikes could be shield emitters or energy weapons, since SK has designed it as an all mode weapons system, considering the vertical stablizers in GERWALK mode and the return to the swing wing construction of the wings. Need more info... I don't mind the idea of a pilot school. It's a fresh premise, no more far fetched than teenagers being accepted into the pilot ranks aboard the Macross. If the drama and situations are plausible, the age of the characters won't matter much...

True, the combat effectiveness of the head laser was featured in Macross Zero. Sadly it took SK 20 years to conclude this and it wasn't shown in SDFM...

Though if they are taking a year before releasing the show, it makes me wonder if it'll be a multi-seasonal show like M7.... Considering it would take longer to render out battle scenes it would make sense to have a full season in the can so you have plenty of time to produce the second season.

The Studio Nue Canon "Valkyrie II"...

I doubt it too. However I suspect it may be the main character's fighter, like the VF-19Kai was Basara's throughout Mac 7. There may be other squadrons, with different role specific fighters, that may be seen but not necessarily featured ala Emerald force (which was a flight, not a squadron)..

They could go one step further and re-comission the Skull Squadron... I doubt it. If that is the fighter to be featured in the show, then it could center around a squadron like SDFM did... Mac 7 was all about the merchandise- music and toys hence the Gundam-esque number of different fighters featured. This one may be more dramatic (if they truly wish to recapture the essence of SDFM) focusing more on the characters and their situation as opposed to valks with faces, boobs, lightning bolt paint jobs and a self important singer with piloting abilities rivaling that of the ace Max Jenius ....

Wasn't that an animation error? Well we really don't know if there are command variants of the VF-11, neither Mac Plus or Mac 7's stories required them to be shown. In both cases all that was necessary were the VF-11B for Dyson and the VF-11C CF's for Mac 7. They'd be "F" and "S" versions if the version code conventions were to be followed.

I'm expecting it to be the main line fighter similar to how the VF-11 was in Mac 7. Considering it is taking place over 20 years after Macross 7, many different fighters would have been developed by then. In the 30 years after SW1, they went from the VF-1 to the VF-22, that is a range of many generations of fighters. It is just as possible that with an emigration fleet containing 10 million people that thousands of fighters would be employed in defence and the VF-25 is cheap and effective. Unlike Mac 7 where there was a new specialty fighter flight of the week, Mac Frontier may require squadrons of special role fighters that we haven't seen yet (assuming the story will even focus on those squadrons). With the size of the fleet this series could run into several seasons, depending on how many stories SK wants to plug into it....