Macross Frontier Mecha/Technology Thread II *Read 1st Post*

[taksraven]

That's what Ozma and Alto are for. If the fight somehow gets too close to Mikhail, then it's their job to give him enough cover to pull back and redeploy.

And Mikhail does serve a very useful purpose in the squad. Currently he's the only squad member with a gun that can actually hurt a Vajra with a single shot. Clan Clan tried a point blank blast with her cannon and barely cracked the armor.

If they were going to specialise the Valkyrie squadrons SO much I think they would need to do more to improve a Valk for close range Mêlée combat. It would seem that all of the VF-25's are equipped with the PPB knife but after watching Alto grappling with the Vajra in the latest episode I thought it was pretty clear that he needed a more effective weapon in such a situation.

Maybe a PPB bayonet mounted on the gunpod (we have seen that used effectively in Macross before, yay) or *maybe* (and I know that this is going to start people howling and saying that Macross will end up looking more like Gundam), maybe even some sort of PPB sword.

I mean, if you look at Alto's fight with the Vajra, I think its pretty clear that the bug is able to hold off the knife to prevent Alto from stabbing him again. A sword would reach easier, would probably do more damage and generally would be more effective. Not all units would need them, just units that engage at closer quarters (in other words anything other than snipe and radar units). Plus, it would look cool. As long as its not just a lightsaber rip off.

Other options would be things such as maces, flails or axes I guess. I know that this would change the combat style of Macross but we all know that the combat styles have undergone radical changes for this series.

Anybody else got thoughts on this?

Taksraven

[Garou Kuroryuu]

If they were going to specialise the Valkyrie squadrons SO much I think they would need to do more to improve a Valk for close range Mêlée combat. It would seem that all of the VF-25's are equipped with the PPB knife but after watching Alto grappling with the Vajra in the latest episode I thought it was pretty clear that he needed a more effective weapon in such a situation.

Maybe a PPB bayonet mounted on the gunpod (we have seen that used effectively in Macross before, yay) or *maybe* (and I know that this is going to start people howling and saying that Macross will end up looking more like Gundam), maybe even some sort of PPB sword.

...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I think I would stop watching Macross if that happened. Would maybe switch to PowerRangers

Edited May 30, 2008 by Garou Kuroryuu

[Master Dex]

Maybe in Robotech...

In Macross, nothing was special about ASS-1 to the Zentradi. It was special to humans, but to the Zentradi, it was just another target to hunt down. No special folding capabilities, and of course, no magical flowers.

Well Robotech did make SDF-1 a bigger deal to the Zentradi and the others that were associated (I wouldn't know, I only ever watched the Macross portion of it anyway before migrating to actual Macross) but I don't think that is where I got that idea. I'm probably thinking of something else entirely but I can't remember what so I was thinking maybe it was this.

[junior]

I dunno.

It seems like the primary point of grappling with an opponent is to hold them steady long enough for Mikhail to shoot them. Admittedly, this technique does have its problems (as shown in episode 9). But it's probably a lot safer for a VF to hold its opponent's arms still than it is for the VF to try and keep one arm free so that it can hit the other guy with a close combat weapon.

And Alto did get a knife stab in at the start of the fight. Another issue when fighting the Vajra seems to be just finding a weak point on the things. A sword's not going to do you much good if sticking a blade into your opponent doesn't really stop them.

In any case, Alto and Ozma aren't flying specialized Valks. They're both flying general purpose fighter craft. Standard dogfighting should generally be enough to keep the fight away from Mikhail and Luca. And if any enemy craft do break off to try and go after the two support members of Skull Squadron, then presumeably Alto or Ozma can run them down before they really become a problem. The role assigned to Alto and Ozma is to set the "front lines" of the engagement, and keep them there so that Luca and Mikhail have a safe place to operate from.

[taksraven]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I think I would stop watching Macross if that happened. Would maybe switch to PowerRangers

Bah, grow up!!

Taksraven

[Mr March]

Anybody else got thoughts on this?

Taksraven

Macross has already featured mecha-sized clubs (the Destroid Spartan's baton), bayonets (the VF-11 anti-armor bayonet) and knives (VF-25 combat knife). If you count Macross II, it's had scythes as well Personally, I don't see any problem with a sword if it fits the story Macross Frontier wants to tell. Macross is certainly in no danger of abusing the Gundam staples and at this point such a weapon would simply be yet another example of a theme that has run throughout the franchise. Besides, if we fans can suffer past absurdity like Sound Boosters and guitar controls, I'll take a sword any day

Edited May 30, 2008 by Mr March

[Garou Kuroryuu]

Bah, grow up!!

Taksraven

Refer to mi signature

[taksraven]

I dunno.

It seems like the primary point of grappling with an opponent is to hold them steady long enough for Mikhail to shoot them. Admittedly, this technique does have its problems (as shown in episode 9). But it's probably a lot safer for a VF to hold its opponent's arms still than it is for the VF to try and keep one arm free so that it can hit the other guy with a close combat weapon.

Yes, but if Alto could take out the enemy by himself it would make more sense

And Alto did get a knife stab in at the start of the fight. Another issue when fighting the Vajra seems to be just finding a weak point on the things. A sword's not going to do you much good if sticking a blade into your opponent doesn't really stop them.

I did note that he had already stabbed the Vajra. A sword would certainly do more damage at the very least and it would improve the chances of the Valkyrie pilot to remove a limb or head or cannon from the enemy.

In any case, Alto and Ozma aren't flying specialized Valks. They're both flying general purpose fighter craft. Standard dogfighting should generally be enough to keep the fight away from Mikhail and Luca. And if any enemy craft do break off to try and go after the two support members of Skull Squadron, then presumeably Alto or Ozma can run them down before they really become a problem. The role assigned to Alto and Ozma is to set the "front lines" of the engagement, and keep them there so that Luca and Mikhail have a safe place to operate from.

I will definitely dispute you on that one. Most of the time that we have seen Ozma fly out for combat he has been using heavier armor than a standard valk, with more missiles, etc. He is specialised most of the time in combat. Remember, he usually gets to have the Itano Circus fun with all the missiles he is carrying.

As for Alto's valk, I think others pointed out after the Deculture edition of Ep 01 that Gilliams Valkyrie (Which Alto has inherited, as well as Gilliams role in the squadron), was a Pursuit Valkyrie. Lighter armour and weapons but FASTER, thats how Gilliam managed to almost keep up with the Vajra unit attacking the Frontier in Ep 01, when others like Ozma could not keep up and arrived at the battle inside the city late.

I think its fair to say that all units in the Skull squadron have specialised duties they are expected to perform. I think that giving at least one unit better weapons to deal with hand-to-hand combat would be fair. I know that a lot of people don't like swords so how about a bayonet, eh?

Taksraven

[kalvasflam]

This goes back to the question of whether or not skull squadron is just 4 planes or not. Sniper/specialized sharpshooter make perfect sense in combat situations, but the ratio shouldn't be 1 sniper to 1 or 2 combat valks.

Mr. March, I agree that in battle fields, there are specialized roles. I just wonder how useful a sharpshooting role truly is in fighter combat, I can see AWACS role. May be an analogy would be that Mikhail would be running an F-14 loaded with Phoenix missiles, and the others would be running F-15/F-16 superiority/dogfighters. But if you mix squadrons like that, you would have better ratios right? If I think about a squad of soldiers, you wouldn't have one sniper to one direct combat guy in that ratio, probably more like one or two snipers to about eight or so close combat. Or may be think about it in terms of MLRS units vs tanks in terms of ratio.

[Mr March]

Well, there's only so many characters to ago around and you can't have a group of cannon fodder craft following around the main cast every episode. Keep in mind that Macross Frontier is an animated television series first and everything else second. Whatever works better within the confines of drama, pacing, clarity, simplicity, budget, editing and all the other production concerns are obviously going to take priority. The point is the creators are living up to the real robot genre and at least offering the appearance of a more realistic, multi-role, combined arms military, even if the type of audience for this show demands that the fictional SMS military needs to be staffed with a bunch of high school kids and one or two adults

[junior]

Yes, but if Alto could take out the enemy by himself it would make more sense

The problem is that a sword doesn't guarantee Alto a kill, or even necessarily make it more likely. His stab might have killed the Vajra, but we don't know that his knife actually was at an angle to hit a vital spot. And if he had one arm swinging a sword, then the enemy would have at least one arm free to flail around at him with. So there are trade-offs either way.

I will definitely dispute you on that one. Most of the time that we have seen Ozma fly out for combat he has been using heavier armor than a standard valk, with more missiles, etc. He is specialised most of the time in combat. Remember, he usually gets to have the Itano Circus fun with all the missiles he is carrying.

But isn't Ozma's load-out the result of the options that he chooses for his fighter? Right before Alto leaves on his combat trial, he tells the flight crew to equip the super-pack for his plane.. So it appears that Alto and Ozma have some options as to what they can equip their planes with that Luca (and possibly Mikhail, depending on whether the sniper equipment is optional or not) don't have.

Though I suppose it's possible that even the radome on Luca's plane is an optional pack that can be removed in the hanger to make room for combat equipment.

This goes back to the question of whether or not skull squadron is just 4 planes or not. Sniper/specialized sharpshooter make perfect sense in combat situations, but the ratio shouldn't be 1 sniper to 1 or 2 combat valks.

I'm fairly confident at this point that Skull is only four planes. But I wouldn't be surprised if there were more teams on the Macross Quarter than just the Skull and Pixie teams. That's an awfully big ship for just seven craft.

[Heron]

Beam Sabers for Variable Fighters? Hell they already have the shields...

Edited May 31, 2008 by Heron

[d3v]

This goes back to the question of whether or not skull squadron is just 4 planes or not. Sniper/specialized sharpshooter make perfect sense in combat situations, but the ratio shouldn't be 1 sniper to 1 or 2 combat valks.

Mr. March, I agree that in battle fields, there are specialized roles. I just wonder how useful a sharpshooting role truly is in fighter combat, I can see AWACS role. May be an analogy would be that Mikhail would be running an F-14 loaded with Phoenix missiles, and the others would be running F-15/F-16 superiority/dogfighters. But if you mix squadrons like that, you would have better ratios right? If I think about a squad of soldiers, you wouldn't have one sniper to one direct combat guy in that ratio, probably more like one or two snipers to about eight or so close combat. Or may be think about it in terms of MLRS units vs tanks in terms of ratio.

I think it would be safe to assume that the "specialized" valks can still perform well in a dogfight and are thus armed with the requisite amount of mcro-missiles and whatnot. In the training ep (episode 4) we see them go 3 vs 3 against the Pixies I think it's safe to assume that while Alto was chasing down Nene, the other two were similarly engaged.

Now as for melee, well you know what they say about knives...

Edited May 31, 2008 by d3v

[Kurisama]

Beam Sabers for Variable Fighters? Hell they already have the shields...

Yeah, but shields are really cool - and logical.

[taksraven]

And if he had one arm swinging a sword, then the enemy would have at least one arm free to flail around at him with. So there are trade-offs either way.

Don't forget, the Vajra have 7 limbs (4 arms, 2 legs and a tail, plus some cool wings that we need to see again), so unless you put some extra arms on a Valkyrie (where would they fit), they will always be difficult to tangle with.

But, if you have a sword and get a chance to swing it, the more limbs increases the chance of being able to cut something off, you would think. Even the heavy cannon mounted on top. That would at least make the Vajra stop and think.

Then you have a special magical speaker that can play music across the vacuum of space mounted on your Valkyrie, or better still, speakers that are fitted into missiles, so you can get the Vajra to hear some of Ranka's singing so it gets distracted so you can cut it to bits, lick your lips and then put it into Leon's big Vajra boiling tank. Then the Vajra can wake up again, break the glass and we can watch as Cathy Glass faints for no apparent reason!!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Taksraven.

Thanks to Mr March for the cool Vajra pic.

[d3v]

Then you have a special magical speaker that can play music across the vacuum of space mounted on your Valkyrie, or better still, speakers that are fitted into missiles, so you can get the Vajra to hear some of Ranka's singing so it gets distracted so you can cut it to bits, lick your lips and then put it into Leon's big Vajra boiling tank. Then the Vajra can wake up again, break the glass and we can watch as Cathy Glass faints for no apparent reason!!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Taksraven.

Why do you think Sheryl's training to be a pilot?

[taksraven]

Don't forget, the Vajra have 7 limbs (4 arms, 2 legs and a tail, plus some cool wings that we need to see again), so unless you put some extra arms on a Valkyrie (where would they fit), they will always be difficult to tangle with.

But, if you have a sword and get a chance to swing it, the more limbs increases the chance of being able to cut something off, you would think. Even the heavy cannon mounted on top. That would at least make the Vajra stop and think.

Then you have a special magical speaker that can play music across the vacuum of space mounted on your Valkyrie, or better still, speakers that are fitted into missiles, so you can get the Vajra to hear some of Ranka's singing so it gets distracted so you can cut it to bits, lick your lips and then put it into Leon's big Vajra boiling tank. Then the Vajra can wake up again, break the glass and we can watch as Cathy Glass faints for no apparent reason!!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Taksraven.

Thanks to Mr March for the cool Vajra pic.

Actually, looking at the pic of the Vajra, maybe thats *not* a tail. :lol:

Taksraven

[junior]

But, if you have a sword and get a chance to swing it, the more limbs increases the chance of being able to cut something off, you would think. Even the heavy cannon mounted on top. That would at least make the Vajra stop and think.

You need room to swing it, though. During the knife fight at the beginning of the episode, Alto didn't have enough room for a sword. Of course, after the initial stab his knife wasn't long enough, since a second stab got his arm grabbed by the Vajra just before the knife hit.

Then you have a special magical speaker that can play music across the vacuum of space mounted on your Valkyrie, or better still, speakers that are fitted into missiles, so you can get the Vajra to hear some of Ranka's singing so it gets distracted so you can cut it to bits, lick your lips and then put it into Leon's big Vajra boiling tank. Then the Vajra can wake up again, break the glass and we can watch as Cathy Glass faints for no apparent reason!!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Pff... Making Vajra listen to Ranka just makes them go berserk!

Or, as the old saying goes... "Everyone's a critic!"

And Cathy obviously fainted so that Ozma would catch her! It worked, too...

[taksraven]

Pff... Making Vajra listen to Ranka just makes them go berserk!

Yeah, what about the time in frontier when Ranka's scream (yeah, I know, not singing) was enough to distract the Vajra so much that Ozma had the chance to run up from a fair distance and knife it?

And Cathy obviously fainted so that Ozma would catch her! It worked, too...

It didn't really bother me, I just found that bit interesting since it is a very old-school SF female reaction.

Then again, it was demonstrated when Cathy threw up after the destruction of the Vajra cruiser that she is easily *distressed*. Any girl probably would be after letting Leon the Lech all over them. Eeeewwwwwwwww. AND with his tongue.... EEEEWWWWWWWWWW

Taksraven

[Morpheus]

I like the modular transport ship on epi.9. Somehow this ship manage to survive the Vajra.

The VF-171 mainly use the side cannon instead of the gunpod, probably the gunpod is stored in the legs like VF-17.

[Kronnang Dunn]

Actually I can't understand why many ppl would hate the idea of having Gundam inspired weapons in Macross. One of Kawamori's inspirations for the first Macross series was (among others) Gundam (hell, he even was in a Gundam fan club). Gundam is Real Robot genre just like Macross.

Melee combat weaponry is not a bad idea, specially if u are dealing with creatures like the Vajra. They remind me a lot of the enemies from Genesis Climber Mospeada. They're like Inibit on crack... The human mecha from that show had melee weapons... Like the VR-041H Brough Superior.

Maybe S.M.S./N.U.N.S. technicians could develop better close combat weapons against the Vajra. A beam/plasma saber attached to the shield would be pretty neat. Also weaponry specifically designed for macronized Pixie squad members would be very very useful...

Edited May 31, 2008 by Kronnang Dunn

[Final Vegeta]

I like the modular transport ship on epi.9.

Is it me or that's a mugen punch?

The VF-171 mainly use the side cannon instead of the gunpod, probably the gunpod is stored in the legs like VF-17.

Probably it doesn't have a gunpod at all as a standard equipment.

Anyway, I can withstand the idea of melee weapons, it's just that swords, despite being effective, are kinda unoriginal in anime (even knives are not rare since Evangelion). I thought a chainsaw on the edge of the shield would have looked cool.

FV

Edited May 31, 2008 by Final Vegeta

[Graham]

OK, I wanna discuss what we know (or think we know) about the VF-27's capabilities and features:-

• Call sign "Purple 1".
• NUNS & Galaxy markings shown on the craft in eps 7 & 9.
• Seems not to have conventional canopy. Instead, pilot seems to be in some sort of virtual cockpit.
• Possibly controlled by some sort of brain control (advanced version of YF-21's system?).
• At least as fast and manauverable as a VF-25, probably more so.
• Seems to be a single seat craft.
• Has 4 engines, 1 in each leg and 1 in each mid-wing nacelle (clearly shown in ep 9).
• Possibly has internal fold booster. VF-27 shown in fold space without a fold booster at the end of ep 7.
• Armed with some type of missiles (looks to be micro-missile), uses them to destroy a yellow Vajra in ep 9. Likely carried internally.
• Seems to be armed with some type of fast firing cannon or beam weapon located in the front of each mid-wing nacelle. Uses them to destroy multilpe yellow Vajra in ep 9.
• Main gunpod seems to be some sort of variable power energy weapon. Seems to be able to fire fully automatic at a lower power level, or barrel splits open to fire a single high-powered blast of energy capable of destroying a Guantanamo class carrier with a single shot. Recharge time (if any) unknown after firing high power shot. Also unknown if firing a high power shot drains all the energy.
• Looks to have wing-root/hip mounted guns of some sort like the VF-25 & SV-51, but these have not been shown firing yet.
• Some type of blade in the shield (shown in ep 9). I suspect, that rather than a removable knife or sword, this actually extends and retracts from the shield.
• I suspect some sort of advanced armour or barrier system. Perhaps a brain controlled pin point barrier system. In ep 9, the VF-27 is shown taking hit's from the shoulder cannon and arm guns of Klan's Q-Rea without apparent damage, but it's lower leg is blown off by hits from Alto's gunpod. I suspect a thought controlled system, as Brera was surprised by Alto and so perhaps wasn't able to get the PPB in place to protect the knee in time.
• Transformation system for arms legs and noes, possibly similar to VF-25. Wing/back unit is obviously different.

.

Anything I've missed?

Other theories welcome.

Graham

[d3v]

OK, I wanna discuss what we know (or think we know) about the VF-27's capabilities and features:-

• Call sign "Purple 1".
• NUNS & Galaxy markings shown on the craft in eps 7 & 9.
• Seems not to have conventional canopy. Instead, pilot seems to be in some sort of virtual cockpit.
• Possibly controlled by some sort of brain control (advanced version of YF-21's system?).
• At least as fast and manauverable as a VF-25, probably more so.
• Seems to be a single seat craft.
• Has 4 engines, 1 in each leg and 1 in each mid-wing nacelle (clearly shown in ep 9).
• Possibly has internal fold booster. VF-27 shown in fold space without a fold booster at the end of ep 7.
• Armed with some type of missiles (looks to be micro-missile), uses them to destroy a yellow Vajra in ep 9. Likely carried internally.
• Seems to be armed with some type of fast firing cannon or beam weapon located in the front of each mid-wing nacelle. Uses them to destroy multilpe yellow Vajra in ep 9.
• Main gunpod seems to be some sort of variable power energy weapon. Seems to be able to fire fully automatic at a lower power level, or barrel splits open to fire a single high-powered blast of energy capable of destroying a Guantanamo class carrier with a single shot. Recharge time (if any) unknown after firing high power shot. Also unknown if firing a high power shot drains all the energy.
• Looks to have wing-root/hip mounted guns of some sort like the VF-25 & SV-51, but these have not been shown firing yet.
• Some type of blade in the shield (shown in ep 9). I suspect, that rather than a removable knife or sword, this actually extends and retracts from the shield.
• I suspect some sort of advanced armour or barrier system. Perhaps a brain controlled pin point barrier system. In ep 9, the VF-27 is shown taking hit's from the shoulder cannon and arm guns of Klan's Q-Rea without apparent damage, but it's lower leg is blown off by hits from Alto's gunpod. I suspect a thought controlled system, as Brera was surprised by Alto and so perhaps wasn't able to get the PPB in place to protect the knee in time.
• Transformation system for arms legs and noes, possibly similar to VF-25. Wing/back unit is obviously different.

.

Anything I've missed?

Other theories welcome.

Graham

Klan missed, she hit an asteroid (go to around 14:46 and you'll see it clearly hits the asteroid).

And the wings and back are actually quite similar to the 25 in that they both fold upwards/backwards, although I dont think the 27 has variable geometry wings.

[Graham]

I'm pretty certain that Klan actually gets several hits on the VF-27 during their dogfight. Will watch again and try to get screen shots.

Graham

[kensei]

I'm pretty certain that Klan actually gets several hits on the VF-27 during their dogfight. Will watch again and try to get screen shots.

Graham

I do too. those shots seemed to bounce off though and didn't do much damage. Same goes the other way around. That beam cannon shot(the haymaker of that fight) did not hit. Clearly an asteroid got in the way just before it was about to hit him.

[Graham]

Agree that Klan's last shoulder beam cannon shot hit the asteroid, but before that it does look to me like she got a few hits in with her arm guns, which just appear to spark off the VF-27's armor.

Graham

[Final Vegeta]

• Armed with some type of missiles (looks to be micro-missile), uses them to destroy a yellow Vajra in ep 9. Likely carried internally.
• Some type of blade in the shield (shown in ep 9). I suspect, that rather than a removable knife or sword, this actually extends and retracts from the shield.
• I suspect some sort of advanced armour or barrier system. Perhaps a brain controlled pin point barrier system. In ep 9, the VF-27 is shown taking hit's from the shoulder cannon and arm guns of Klan's Q-Rea without apparent damage, but it's lower leg is blown off by hits from Alto's gunpod. I suspect a thought controlled system, as Brera was surprised by Alto and so perhaps wasn't able to get the PPB in place to protect the knee in time.

.

-Missiles are probably in the same place of the VF-25, although up to now it is only a speculation this place is the legs. There is something that looks like an exit port in the calves.

-From shots of the back I noticed the shield on the arm does not form a bodyflap in Fighter mode like the VF-11/19/25. I suspect the whole shield is detachable and becomes some kind of weapon, probably something like a trident.

-Although an asteroid blocked the hit, the VF-27 could actually have some kind of beam coating.

FV

[d3v]

Agree that Klan's last shoulder beam cannon shot hit the asteroid, but before that it does look to me like she got a few hits in with her arm guns, which just appear to spark off the VF-27's armor.

Graham

I'm pretty sure she misses all her shots. Any time she actually gets close to hitting him, he just transforms and flies away quickly (watch it again, everytime he seems to get grazed, it's actually the yellow burst from his engines). Meanwhile Alto takes his leg clean off with a short burst. It seems that overall manueverability (mainly due to amazing acceleration from the four engines) is the VF-27s main advantage, the reason Alto was able to get the leg was because he used his missiles to confuse Brera and surprise him. Also, despite the VF-27 being able to accelerate faster, the VF-25 seems to be able to catch up.

All things taken into consideration, while the VF-27 seems to pack more tech than the VF-25, it seems that SK means for them to be evenly matched (similar to the YF-19 and YF-21 from Macross Plus).

Edited May 31, 2008 by d3v

[Duke Togo]

Alto essentially does to Brera what Brera did to Klan in that battle.

[Beltane70]

I noticed in one of the screenshots that the VF-27 seems to have two guns in the head unit just under each "horn".

[d3v]

Alto essentially does to Brera what Brera did to Klan in that battle.

Nice to see Alto is showing some development in terms of his ability as a combat pilot.

[Fade Rathnik]

OK, I wanna discuss what we know (or think we know) about the VF-27's capabilities and features:-

• Call sign "Purple 1".
• NUNS & Galaxy markings shown on the craft in eps 7 & 9.
• Seems not to have conventional canopy. Instead, pilot seems to be in some sort of virtual cockpit.
• Possibly controlled by some sort of brain control (advanced version of YF-21's system?).
• At least as fast and manauverable as a VF-25, probably more so.
• Seems to be a single seat craft.
• Has 4 engines, 1 in each leg and 1 in each mid-wing nacelle (clearly shown in ep 9).
• Possibly has internal fold booster. VF-27 shown in fold space without a fold booster at the end of ep 7.
• Armed with some type of missiles (looks to be micro-missile), uses them to destroy a yellow Vajra in ep 9. Likely carried internally.
• Seems to be armed with some type of fast firing cannon or beam weapon located in the front of each mid-wing nacelle. Uses them to destroy multilpe yellow Vajra in ep 9.
• Main gunpod seems to be some sort of variable power energy weapon. Seems to be able to fire fully automatic at a lower power level, or barrel splits open to fire a single high-powered blast of energy capable of destroying a Guantanamo class carrier with a single shot. Recharge time (if any) unknown after firing high power shot. Also unknown if firing a high power shot drains all the energy.
• Looks to have wing-root/hip mounted guns of some sort like the VF-25 & SV-51, but these have not been shown firing yet.
• Some type of blade in the shield (shown in ep 9). I suspect, that rather than a removable knife or sword, this actually extends and retracts from the shield.
• I suspect some sort of advanced armour or barrier system. Perhaps a brain controlled pin point barrier system. In ep 9, the VF-27 is shown taking hit's from the shoulder cannon and arm guns of Klan's Q-Rea without apparent damage, but it's lower leg is blown off by hits from Alto's gunpod. I suspect a thought controlled system, as Brera was surprised by Alto and so perhaps wasn't able to get the PPB in place to protect the knee in time.
• Transformation system for arms legs and noes, possibly similar to VF-25. Wing/back unit is obviously different.

.

Anything I've missed?

Other theories welcome.

Graham

I don't think that the missiles are stored in the legs as they are slimmer then on the 25, the 27's legs do not have the structure that is suspected to be the internal launcher.

Klans suit armor seems to stop most of the rapid fire shots from the 27's gun till he gets a few solid semi auto shots on her. He then keeps constant fire on her till a secondary explosion. The gun is powerful but not uber so.

Alto shot him in the knee, no armor there, I imagine a GU-11 round would have done much the same with as good a hit.

I'd say maneuver and speed are quite well matched between 25 super and 27. In atmosphere I'd have to give it to the 27 as it doesn't have to shed its wing engines. However the 25 might be a touch faster at certain altitudes due to slimmer profile and VG wings.

I think alto and klan are the better pilots though. Is it has been stated the 25 exceeds the battle suit in performance and alto was on that guy like white on rice, didn't give him one inch, and Klan would have had him had he not had cover. So if the 27 is more advanced then it's being piloted by someone less capable.

Also I've been trying to sort out the markings on the leg, they seem like stylized English. If so the the first four letters are ANTA i think the next 3 are IZS or IZ5(but i am not sure these are the hardest to make out) and the last three being 101 so its either ANTAIZS101 or ANTAIZ5101.

Edited May 31, 2008 by Fade Rathnik

[wolfx]

To add to Graham's list: VF-27 seems to have new OTEC stealth technology since it freely launches and docks with the Frontier without anyone's knowledge....unless they were hackd.

[Duke Togo]

To add to Graham's list: VF-27 seems to have new OTEC stealth technology since it freely launches and docks with the Frontier without anyone's knowledge....unless they were hackd.

Unless it was allowed to...