VX-26 Aegis Striker

[Jacs]

What does Macross World think of this little project? I'm hoping that maybe I can get some custom artwork for this as well? ^^;

(Still a work in progress...)

VX-26 Aegis Striker

Following development of the YF-24 Evolution, local technicians and NUNS officers at the Susia Weapons Research Plant create a purely experimental figher called the VX-26. The main purpose of this test bed is to experiment the integration of the Aegis leg carrier system, new gunpod technology, and the passive camouflage system which allows the fighter to change the hull color to match it's enviroment. Also another unique feature to Aegis is it's custom FAST packs. Although there are two missile pods for added arms, there is a system which acts similar to the Omnidirectional Barrier System of the SDF-1 Macross - except it's now in a stable, weaponized form called the Omni Striker System.

Equipment Type: Experimental Variable Fighter

Government: NUNS

Manufacturer: Shinsei Industries

Accomodation: One pilot

Controls: Conventional digital flight control scheme

Structure: Unknown space metal frame / SWAG armor

Powerplant: 2 x FF-3005A stage II thermonuclear turbine engines

Propulsion: 2 x 1650kN w/ many HMM-10 vernier thrusters

Performance:

Fighter Mode: Mach 5+ @ 10,000m

Special Design Features:

- VF-25 transformation style

- Active stealth system

- Ex-gear equipment w/ inertia store converter

- Fighter-scale pin-point barrier (PPB)

- Clawed finger manipulators

- Passive camouflage system - Example

- Omni Striker system

-Armament-

3 x Mauler ROV-115 15mm beam guns

Location: Head in battroid mode / center dorsal in gerwalk & fighter modes

ROF: 6000 pulses-per-minute (per gun)

AC: Unlimited

1 x Howard AG-5A

Based on the VF-19's GU-15 (rear half) and the VF-17's gunpod (front half), the AG-5A is a true multipurpose assault gunpod with several integrated pieces of equipment. First is the single-barreled 30mm railgun, which uses caseless bullets and fed from 500-round magazines which make up the stock part of the weapon. An additional magazine is stored behind the anti-projectile shield. The rate of fire is clocked in at 2000 rounds-per-second and burst settings include five-round short burst, ten-round standard burst, and 25-round long bursts. Next is the underbarrel 70mm quantum beam grenade launcher with a self-contained battery for seven shots. Finally is the sniper scope, which is embedded into the top of the receiver until it pops out for zooming on targets greater than two miles.

2 x Mauler ROV-25 25mm beam machine guns

Location: Hips on battroid mode / outside either engine nacelle

ROF: 1200 pulses-per-minute (per gun)

AC: Unlimited

2 x Aegis leg carrier systems

Designed from the VF-19 Little Rock leg launchers to carry a wider variety of armaments, the Aegis leg carrier systems have a multitude of pallets with the following options:

- 25 micro-missiles; 50 total; standard

- 6 medium-range missiles; 12 total

- 2 long-range missiles; 4 total

- 2 AG-5A magazines; left carrier only

1 x Anti-projectile shield

Synchs with PPB when impacts occur.

4 x Wing hardpoints

-FAST Packs / Omni Striker System-

The FAST packs of the VX-26 are very much similar to that of the VF-25's super packs, but there are only the two missile pods as the others serve as the Omni Striker system. Throughout the FAST packs there rotating generator disks which are embedded into the armor. When all of these pop out they, very briefly, form an impenetrable energy barrier before sending out shockwaves of destructive energy in a three-mile radius. Unfortunately when the attack occurs, no other weapons can be used.

2 x Micro-missile pods

- 20 missiles per pod; 40 total

Leg armor - Two disks; Four total

Torso armor - One disk; Two Total

Wing Booster packs - Three disks; Six Total

[Mr March]

Hmm, that Omni-Stryker system is an interesting twist on Macross technology. Not a bad idea. But you definitely don't want to deploy that thing in squadrons

The passive camo is kinda cool too. I made a weird variant called the VF-19 Stalker which used a Direct Light Camouflage as part of the energy converting armor system. The DLC basically canceled light that hit the hull, resulting in an opaque hull which made the craft ideal for space-based low-visibility.

I always thought one of the best ways to go when building new Valkyries would be to play with real world adaptations to the fighters using the Macross OverTechnology. I like ideas like the Omni-Styker, the VF-27 Beam Gun/Beam Grenade, the fighter-sized Pin-Point Barrier/Fold Booster and the Electromagnetic Rail Sniper Rifle.

I also still like the funky idea of fold missiles

[Jacs]

Thanks. ^^ There are a couple things I still need to add though like using only the Omni Striker packs in space since added armor usually means it's not atmosphere-friendly. =P With this design I wanted to keep it simple, but add an extra kick. Your VF-19 Stalker actually gave me the idea of making a valkyrie stealthy physically instead of just on radar with the active stealth. The passive camouflage, I would think, would be a more cost-effective means to make it even stealthier and would probably look favorable as the next special forces fighter, coming after the VF-22.

[SchizophrenicMC]

It's my guess that Jacs likes Gundam Seed

Not bad. Can't wait for some art.

Got one thing to say: It doesn't sound passive, in that an effort must be made by the valk to camouflage it. If it simply ties into the ECA system, then it's borderline for me, but it sounds like a cool system. Makes me think of metamaterials...

GO VISUAL CAMOUFLAGE!

[Jacs]

LOL Actually I haven't even came to reference Gundam Seed one bit while making this. XP Here's what I did mostly:

Omni Striker System

- Armored Core 4: For Answer = Assault Armor

- Metal Siren Valkyrie = Barrier attack system

- SDF-1 = Omnidirectional barrier system

- Outlaw Star = Leilong's hand/spinning disc lightshield ( Example )

Passive camouflage

For me; active camouflage means to just cloak the entire fighter by bending light around it. So I just termed it 'passive camouflage' because it doesn't have the light-blending qualities of a true cloaking device. It's roughly the same concept as stealth: there's active stealth where radar is simply of no use against the active stealth system and passive stealth, where the whole frame of the fighter blends to deflect radar waves.

Edited January 6, 2009 by Jacs

[SchizophrenicMC]

LOL Actually I haven't even came to reference Gundam Seed one bit while making this. XP Here's what I did mostly:

Omni Striker System

- Armored Core 4: For Answer = Assault Armor

- Metal Siren Valkyrie = Barrier attack system

- SDF-1 = Omnidirectional barrier system

- Outlaw Star = Leilong's hand/spinning disc lightshield ( Example )

Passive camouflage

For me; active camouflage means to just cloak the entire fighter by bending light around it. So I just termed it 'passive camouflage' because it doesn't have the light-blending qualities of a true cloaking device. It's roughly the same concept as stealth: there's active stealth where radar is simply of no use against the active stealth system and passive stealth, where the whole frame of the fighter blends to deflect radar waves.

Ah... So it was a misunderstanding. Well that is passive stealth...

Gundam Seed:

Omni: The army of one of the factions (This comes into play... NOW!)

Striker: The name of a weapons pack for the main character's gundam, similar to a FAST, Strike, or Armor pack

Strike: The name of the Main Character's gundam

Aegis: The name of the secondary antagonist (And later, secondary protagonist)'s gundam

^

|

That's how I saw it. I knew the Omni thing was likely the omni-directional barrier, but I had to put that as an extra reason I coulda referenced it...

[badboy00z]

I'd love to see some concept art of it. This place needs some more original/ custom VF designs.

Edited January 7, 2009 by badboy00z

[anime52k8]

- Outlaw Star = Leilong's hand/spinning disc lightshield ( Example )

Thanks a lot, now I have to go out and buy all of outlaw star (I haven't watched that in ages, god that was an awesome show. More awesome SK ship designs.)

Seriously though, so far very interesting design you've got going on. You need to get some pics going so we can see what this baby looks like.

My only critique would be that I just find issue with you're overall armament list. The gunpod for one is a bit too FZ-1-esk for me. It just seems like having a 2000RPM railgun (seems a bit fast to me) a Quantum beam grenade launcher and a sniper scope all on the same weapon is a bit much for one gun pod.

And I think that having the Quantum grenade launcher and the Omni Strike thinggy at the same time as having visual stealth and a full load of conventional valk armaments is a bit much. Its kind of like Pixy's jet at the end of AC Zero where he's got guns, missiles, burst missiles, a laser and an ECM all at once. I like the visual stealth and the omni striker system, they're something that hasn't been done before. I think it would be better if you ditched uber-gunpod and focused on the systems that a unique to your valk.

also two little things: I think the claws on the fingers a little silly (the enemy valks in Mac7 had claws, and they were goofy looking things). also, why did you decide to give your valk new model of head lasers (as apposed to using the ROV-217 or ROV-20 like the VF-25/27)?

[Jacs]

-Schizo-

I can clearly see those resemblances. XP Originally I was just going to leave it as the Aegis, but the Omni Striker system was that last moment idea that popped up and added that. Plus I partially intended it to be a heavy strike fighter so 'Aegis Striker' stuck.

-Badboyz-

I'm very bad at drawing. >< The pictures are there mentally, but putting them to paper is just.... blah! x_x

-Anime52k8-

Thanks for the input. ^^ Yeah, the electronic scope part of the AG-5A was what I was considering taking off, but also the ROF of the 30mm railgun was also in consideration. Using a small round (for a Macross gunpod) and no casings to work through the chamber, the ROF would be considerably higher.

Take for example the GAU-8 Avenger, which is a 30mm gatling gun with a ROF of 3,900 rounds-per-minute. Hmmm.... (Dr. House pause) ...so I may change it 4,000 rounds-per-minute because those Stargate Atlantis railgun turrets were mad fast! XD Though if I took off the quantum beam launcher, it would make the AG-5A incredibly thin and flimsy looking since there's only one barrel.

Well anyhoo, the attached quantum beam gun is limited by a seven-shot capacity and the Omni Strike system is limited to space only, but I may put a long recharge timer on it like... ten minutes (thirty minutes just seems absudly long in the middle of a battle).

-Goes back to continue reworking stats.-

[SchizophrenicMC]

Thanks a lot, now I have to go out and buy all of outlaw star (I haven't watched that in ages, god that was an awesome show. More awesome SK ship designs.)

Seriously though, so far very interesting design you've got going on. You need to get some pics going so we can see what this baby looks like.

My only critique would be that I just find issue with you're overall armament list. The gunpod for one is a bit too FZ-1-esk for me. It just seems like having a 2000RPM railgun (seems a bit fast to me) a Quantum beam grenade launcher and a sniper scope all on the same weapon is a bit much for one gun pod.

And I think that having the Quantum grenade launcher and the Omni Strike thinggy at the same time as having visual stealth and a full load of conventional valk armaments is a bit much. Its kind of like Pixy's jet at the end of AC Zero where he's got guns, missiles, burst missiles, a laser and an ECM all at once. I like the visual stealth and the omni striker system, they're something that hasn't been done before. I think it would be better if you ditched uber-gunpod and focused on the systems that a unique to your valk.

also two little things: I think the claws on the fingers a little silly (the enemy valks in Mac7 had claws, and they were goofy looking things). also, why did you decide to give your valk new model of head lasers (as apposed to using the ROV-217 or ROV-20 like the VF-25/27)?

In Jacs' defense, I believe the number is the caliber of the gun. ROV-20 was used several times throughout the Macross universe, so I think it's the caliber, and not a gun type.

But, past that...

Ok, first off, science lesson: Railguns use magnetic propulsion to fire a projectile at high speed. The advantages of this system are extremely high range, high penetration power, and no recoil. However, a railgun requires a lot of electricity to run, and can only fire ferrous projectiles. In other words, brass bullets ain't gonna work. You'll have to make the thing out of iron, which has its own problems, mostly in expense. Also, they're not suited for high rates of fire.

While the idea of a railgunpod is a solid one, it'd have to be an enormously high caliber sniper rifle. No automatic gunpod for you.

GRENADE LAUNCHER? What is this, Tiamat's Hugeass?* You can't get a grenade launcher on that thing, and Quantum Beam weapons are just that. Beam weapons. They fire a continuous beam of energy at a target for a period of time. It can be short or long, but it can't be a grenade.

You needn't a sniper scope. The head unit can detect visually sufficiently enough on its own. In fact, the VF-25G had a specialized head sensor for this. No scope. However, the VF-25F can use it. The pod has no scope, but the 25F's sensor is sensitive enough to zoom in rather far. 2 miles is nothing in an air combat, and from my guesses, a space combat, either. In MF25, we see a large furball in space. There is a HUGE expanse between the 2 opposing NMCs. Each NMC is 1 mile long (Not quite so big in attack mode, but...). Then, the Macross Quarter hit it at that range with its Macross Cannon. So, 2 miles is nothing in space combat. Shipboard visual sensors are likely less powerful than fighter-borne ones (A fighter needs it, but the ship doesn't), and the target was hit at at least 20 miles distance. So, I would assume a scope isn't necessary. This isn't to mention that a round will continue infinitely through space until it impacts something or is caught in a gravity well.

Another balance issue: The Omni Striker system. Ok, lemme break it down. You get one, that's ONE, special capability at a time. You can have the stealth, but the Omni Striker disables it. With the Omni Striker, the barrier is unstable and drains power quickly, limiting it to times when one is under a lot of fire, and lasting just long enough to get away. (45-75 seconds sounds fair)

I agree with Anime. Use a GU-15, 17, or Quantum Beam Gun, and stop it with the custom gun here. The VF's systems are powerful enough, and are quite unique. Let THAT be the focus on this so-far wonderful custom. The gunpod's not as important. The VX-26 Aegis Striker is a capable VF, and it has many unique features. I like all of them. I think the gunpod's a bit much, and the overall power of the thing is crazy, but I like it.

I'm not ripping on you, or anything, but... God mechs are frowned upon in the Macross community?

*A mod for Halo: Custom Edition for the PC. The standard assault rifle that acts as a player's default spawn weapon had an RPG launcher on it, taking the place of grenades.

[badboy00z]

The gunpod for one is a bit too FZ-1-esk for me. It just seems like having a 2000RPM railgun (seems a bit fast to me) a Quantum beam grenade launcher and a sniper scope all on the same weapon is a bit much for one gun pod.

The homing bullets are freaking awesome!

[badboy00z]

-Badboyz-

I'm very bad at drawing. >< The pictures are there mentally, but putting them to paper is just.... blah! x_x

I have the same problem! Lol. =(

[anime52k8]

In Jacs' defense, I believe the number is the caliber of the gun. ROV-20 was used several times throughout the Macross universe, so I think it's the caliber, and not a gun type.

But, past that...

I like to believe that the ROV-20 on the VF-27 is the same as the ROV-20 on the VF-1, it would just be cool to me. but anyways.

Ok, first off, science lesson: Railguns use magnetic propulsion to fire a projectile at high speed. The advantages of this system are extremely high range, high penetration power, and no recoil. However, a railgun requires a lot of electricity to run, and can only fire ferrous projectiles. In other words, brass bullets ain't gonna work. You'll have to make the thing out of iron, which has its own problems, mostly in expense. Also, they're not suited for high rates of fire.

While the idea of a railgunpod is a solid one, it'd have to be an enormously high caliber sniper rifle. No automatic gunpod for you.

I'm not going to go into subtle technical details but overall I share this position, a rail gun is good for Long range and high valocity but not high ROF. now for a dedicated sniper rifle it would be good (hence why the VF-25G has one), I just think that if you want High ROF go with something a little different (how about a valk with a caseless revolver cannon?)

GRENADE LAUNCHER? What is this, Tiamat's Hugeass?* You can't get a grenade launcher on that thing, and Quantum Beam weapons are just that. Beam weapons. They fire a continuous beam of energy at a target for a period of time. It can be short or long, but it can't be a grenade.

In Jac's defense, the official term for it is "Quantum Beam Grenade Launcher." I have no idea why it's a grenade when it's clearly a beam, but that's what the official sources (chronicles I believe) call it.

You needn't a sniper scope. The head unit can detect visually sufficiently enough on its own. In fact, the VF-25G had a specialized head sensor for this. No scope. However, the VF-25F can use it. The pod has no scope, but the 25F's sensor is sensitive enough to zoom in rather far. 2 miles is nothing in an air combat, and from my guesses, a space combat, either. In MF25, we see a large furball in space. There is a HUGE expanse between the 2 opposing NMCs. Each NMC is 1 mile long (Not quite so big in attack mode, but...). Then, the Macross Quarter hit it at that range with its Macross Cannon. So, 2 miles is nothing in space combat. Shipboard visual sensors are likely less powerful than fighter-borne ones (A fighter needs it, but the ship doesn't), and the target was hit at at least 20 miles distance. So, I would assume a scope isn't necessary. This isn't to mention that a round will continue infinitely through space until it impacts something or is caught in a gravity well.

but the VF-25G's sniper rifle did have a sniper scope. I'm not sure what function it serves exactly, but it does have a scope, and I can think of a few ways it could work.

Another balance issue: The Omni Striker system. Ok, lemme break it down. You get one, that's ONE, special capability at a time. You can have the stealth, but the Omni Striker disables it. With the Omni Striker, the barrier is unstable and drains power quickly, limiting it to times when one is under a lot of fire, and lasting just long enough to get away. (45-75 seconds sounds fair)

I don't think that it's that over the top, I kind of like it actually. I still say keep the striker thing and the stealth but ditch the crazy gunpod. I think you should try to narrow down the weapons you have rather than imposing a bunch of restrictions. actually I think it would be cool if you put one more disk on some armor that covers the shield so that you could only that one disk and use it as a directional weapon. you could also use individual disks as a standoff countermeasure system, fire off one disk at a time to deflect/destroy incoming missiles/enemies.

I should stop now, I'm going off on a tangent again and I don't want to highjack you're project away from you.

I agree with Anime. Use a GU-15, 17, or Quantum Beam Gun, and stop it with the custom gun here. The VF's systems are powerful enough, and are quite unique. Let THAT be the focus on this so-far wonderful custom. The gunpod's not as important. The VX-26 Aegis Striker is a capable VF, and it has many unique features. I like all of them. I think the gunpod's a bit much, and the overall power of the thing is crazy, but I like it.

I'm not ripping on you, or anything, but... God mechs are frowned upon in the Macross community?

let me say that in a way that's more friendly; I like you're design, I really do. it's got some very original ideas going on that I think would be really interesting to see it brought along further. but I think that the overloaded gunpod kind of cheapens a otherwise impressive concept.

[hobbes221]

Sounds like a good design. On the ROV-20 I believe that it is the same gun on both the VF-1 and VF-27 and it is listed as a 20mm for the VF-27, that kinda makes it the Macross equivalent of the M2 .50 cal of today's world, the good old Ma Deuce been around and kickin' since WWII. (Both having been around for around fifty years, give or take)

Ok, first off, science lesson: Railguns use magnetic propulsion to fire a projectile at high speed. The advantages of this system are extremely high range, high penetration power, and no recoil.

On that if you are going by Sci-fi tech and the like then rail guns are most often shown to not have recoil but the rail guns that are being tested right now do have to deal with recoil.

here's a bit from the wiki page

Considerations in railgun design

Materials

The rails and projectiles must be built from strong conductive materials; the rails need to survive the violence of an accelerating projectile, and heating due to the large currents and friction involved. The recoil force exerted on the rails is equal and opposite to the force propelling the projectile. The seat of the recoil force is still debated. The traditional equations predict that the recoil force acts on the breech of the railgun. Another school of thought invokes Ampère's force law and asserts that it acts along the length of the rails (which is their strongest axis)[5]. The rails also repel themselves via a sideways force caused by the rails being pushed by the magnetic field, just as the projectile is. The rails need to survive this without bending, and must be very securely mounted.

Design considerations

The power supply must be able to deliver large currents, sustained and controlled over a useful amount of time. The most important gauge of power supply effectiveness is the energy it can deliver. As of February 2008, the largest known energy used to propel a projectile from a railgun was 32 million joules.[6]. The most common forms of power supplies used in railguns are capacitors and compulsators.[citation needed]

The rails need to withstand enormous repulsive forces during firing, and these forces will tend to push them apart and away from the projectile. As rail/projectile clearances increase, arcing develops, which causes rapid vaporization and extensive damage to the rail surfaces and the insulator surfaces. This limited some early research railguns to one shot per service interval.

The inductance and resistance of the rails and power supply limit the efficiency of a railgun design. Currently different rail shapes and railgun configurations are being tested, most notably by the United States Navy and BAE Systems.

[Jacs]

Awesome! This is the kind of input I was looking for. =3 Tomorrow I'll be reworking the stats, especially the gunpod. I had a few concepts going so I may use one of those. For the Omni Striker I was thinking about adding one more disc (I should end it with a 'c' XP ) to the FAST pack anti-projectile shield, except as a low-powered defense barrier in battroid/gerwalk only (but it's just an idea I'm playing around).

Here's a concept I was coming up before the AG-5A.

- Beam gunpod - Uses a mini reactor like most Zentradi hand weapons, but only fires in bursts instead of optionally having charged shots like the BGP-01. Also can only sustain automatic fire for a few hours until overheating and going into a locked cooling phase.

Otherwise I was thinking about using either a GPU-9 or GU-17A with a 200-round ammunition cap like the GU-11. The biggest problem I have a hard time with is ammunition size and capacities because SK is quite notorious for not listing the actual gunpod information except for the GU-11 (55mm/200-rounds), GPU-9 (35mm/550-rounds), and the GSH-371 (55mm/120-round magazines). In the anime Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, I was able to find a little reference to mecha weaponry as the M9 Gernsback 40mm assault rifles have 150-round standard magazines and 60-round short mags.

Edited January 7, 2009 by Jacs

[Mr March]

I know there's this perception spread around MW that the variable fighters are more real or grounded than other mecha shows, but the plain fact is ANY Valkyrie armed with reaction weapons is a god mech. There's really no way of getting around that.

Besides, if a pin-point barrier, fold system, or Heavy quantum beam cannon can be miniaturized on a fighter, why not a Full Barrier?

My problem with the Omni-Stryker would be the usefulness of the technology. Since a barrier explosion is harmful to both friend and foe, a fighter armed with such a device would have to be deployed like a strategic high-energy weapon. If that's the case, why not just use a reaction missile, which is faster, more versatile and likely more powerful?

[Jacs]

The Omni Striker is basically a take from the Metal Siren valkyrie, which kills capital ships with it's barrier system along with a whole loadout of beam and railgun weaponry. Plus it would outlast reaction weaponry since the pilot can use it repeatedly against enemy ships while on most standard fighters you'll get only get four reaction missiles tops. Remember the VX-26 is merely an experimental valkyrie testing new weapon theories along the mainstream timeline. ^^

[SchizophrenicMC]

March: Well, yeah, but how many times (Oustide of Frontier...) out of 10 are reaction warheads used? In every, single combat in Gundam, Evangelion, and the like, a God Mech is used.

Hobbes: I wasn't going by SciFi. Maybe "NO" is the wrong word at this time, but, in comparison with conventional firearms of the same caliber, recoil is vastly reduced... And, on that note, that was the page I read the no recoil thing a few months back. (The wikipedia page, right?)

Anime: Well, my thinking behind limiting stealth is that the OMNI pack is made of different materials than the fighter itself, which uses materials that facilitate stealth. Also, the OMNI pack is likely to disrupt the Stealth profile of the plane. From there, giving the barrier an overload, at least, would make it a more grounded valk, overall...

Jacs: Again, man, not rippin. Just giving advice... Wish that kid with the WraithVerge was as accepting of friendly advice as you. Also, I'm kinda confused about the barrier. Is it like an Omni-directional barrier (Surrounds the entire craft in a bubble) or a disc that stops hits at that particular area?

[Knight26]

Ain't no stealth in space, you produce heat, so you aren't stealthy no matter what radar waves you cancel, sorry. You can limit energy output but never be completely stealthy. As for this Death Blossom, er Omni-Striker system, it is an interesting concept but would still have limitations. Such a massive energy output would either leave the ship dead in space for a short period, as all energy was just dumped rather violently, or would at least have a serious recharge time for its capacitors to recharge. Heck even when OZma protected the bridge of the quarter he took a few seconds to start moving again, yes he had his monologue to give, but the amount of energy he probably dumped into his barrier was probably playing merry hell on his other systems, who knows how many breakers he was probably resetting with his toes while talking there.

[anime52k8]

Besides, if a pin-point barrier, fold system, or Heavy quantum beam cannon can be miniaturized on a fighter, why not a Full Barrier?

My problem with the Omni-Stryker would be the usefulness of the technology. Since a barrier explosion is harmful to both friend and foe, a fighter armed with such a device would have to be deployed like a strategic high-energy weapon. If that's the case, why not just use a reaction missile, which is faster, more versatile and likely more powerful?

but a missile flies a predictable path and can be shot down, in theory a fighter would have a better chance of getting closer since it can maneuver, and then on the last part of it's approach it's got an all over barrier to protect it before detonation.

of course if you had a fold bomb...

[Mr March]

The Omni Striker is basically a take from the Metal Siren valkyrie, which kills capital ships with it's barrier system along with a whole loadout of beam and railgun weaponry. Plus it would outlast reaction weaponry since the pilot can use it repeatedly against enemy ships while on most standard fighters you'll get only get four reaction missiles tops. Remember the VX-26 is merely an experimental valkyrie testing new weapon theories along the mainstream timeline. ^^

Still sounds like a more expensive approach to me. It's probably better to simply use a lot of reaction missiles. They'd be cheaper and more plentiful. But that's just me.

March: Well, yeah, but how many times (Oustide of Frontier...) out of 10 are reaction warheads used? In every, single combat in Gundam, Evangelion, and the like, a God Mech is used.

Reaction weapons are used in every Macross show, with the exception of M+ (for obvious reasons). I know Kawamori and Co. love to pay lip service to reaction weapons, making them sound all restricted/powerful/awe-inspiring (which is good, since you want the audience to understand that reaction warheads are high-energy nuke-like bombs). But the plain fact of the matter is, reaction weapons are flying every time there's a conflict. SDF Macross, DYRL?, Macross 7, Macross Dynamite 7, Macross Frontier, etc. They may say reaction weapons are rare, limited, etc. But in practice, reaction weapons are available by the thousands and are deployed in every war, without fail. The UN Spacy is one nuke-happy, nuke-toting, nuke-loving military

Reaction weapons are as common to Macross as transforming fighters and idol singers. Valkyries with reaction missiles are sadly the norm and not the exception. Granted, reaction weapons aren't used in EVERY fight, but I think you're also exaggerating the god mechs from other anime shows

[Jacs]

Wow, lots of conflicting arguments, but all the more to perfect my design. Let me run over the facts over these different pieces of equipment.

Omni Striker System

-

- The pop-up parts would be the discs, which would spin and build a barrier first. Then the shockwave will come after.

- Since it is a FAST pack system, it does not tie in line with the passive camouflage system.

- The Omni Striker is primarily designed for anti-ship attacks (much like how the SDF-1 used it's full barrier inside Bodole's fortress in the TV series) and also for groups of clustered enemies. So most likely only special forces pilots from NUNS-SOC would fly this.

Passive Camouflage System

- Yes, of course, nothing can stand out more than a giant robot. However, the passive camouflage merely changes the hull color and somewhat conceals the heat signature to a point. Consider the stealth paintjob of the F-117. It's not just a black paintjob, but also help deflect radar waves. So instead of having a valkyrie with a solid color suddenly change battle environments, it would be counter-productive to have an all-black paint scheme from space in an Earth-class atmosphere with blue skies all around. So with the help of updated avionics, the passive camouflage can change hull color according the environment conditions.

VX-26

- It's an experimental testbed; never likely to be mass-produced on any level.

- It's meant to try new theories on a valkyrie, so it would be a waste of time sticking with the same old tactics that are simply upgrades of the old deals.

Right now I'm heading back to the drawing board mainly to redo the gunpod and clean up the information tables, but feel free to add more stuff.

[Mr March]

but a missile flies a predictable path and can be shot down, in theory a fighter would have a better chance of getting closer since it can maneuver, and then on the last part of it's approach it's got an all over barrier to protect it before detonation.

of course if you had a fold bomb...

So you launch them later or launch them in swarms (DYRL? anyone?). It still seems like a using reaction missile would be cheaper and easier even if you need more of them. Plus you have way more options with reaction warheads.

[Jacs]

Here it is, revised stats. I changed the head turret caliber, redid the gunpod, added the assault knife, and seperated the Omni-Striker FAST packs.

VX-26 Aegis

Following development of the YF-24 Evolution, local technicians and NUNS officers at the Susia Weapons Research Plant create a purely experimental figher called the VX-26. The main purpose of this test bed is to experiment the integration of the Aegis leg carrier system, new gunpod technology, and the passive camouflage system which allows the fighter to change the hull color to match it's enviroment.

Equipment Type: Experimental Variable Fighter

Government: NUNS

Manufacturer: Shinsei Industries

Accomodation: One pilot

Controls: Conventional digital flight control scheme

Structure: Unknown space metal frame / SWAG armor

Powerplant: 2 x FF-3005A stage II thermonuclear turbine engines

Propulsion: 2 x 1650kN w/ many HMM-10 vernier thrusters

Performance:

Fighter Mode: Mach 5+ @ 10,000m

Special Design Features:

- VF-25 transformation style

- Active stealth system

- Ex-gear equipment w/ inertia store converter

- Fighter-scale pin-point barrier (PPB)

- Clawed finger manipulators

- Passive camouflage system

-Armament-

3 x Mauler ROV-20 20mm beam guns

Location: Head in battroid mode / center dorsal in gerwalk & fighter modes

ROF: 6000 pulses-per-minute (per gun)

AC: Unlimited

1 x BGP-5

In an effort to cut the size and weight of the standard gunpod, but retain the same firepower, the BGP-5 is introduced as the first direct-energy PDW. Styled like the ancient P90 (lacking the sight system) and taking some design from the Gsh-371, the new 50mm gunpod uses interchangeable capacitors with enough energy for 500-shots each. One spare capacitor is stored on a special clamp under the right arm. Although a compact weapon, the BGP-5 has a high rate-of-fire (3000 pulses-per-minute) and has the same range of standard gunpods, but is set for ten-round bursts.

2 x Mauler ROV-25 25mm beam machine guns

Location: Hips on battroid mode / outside either engine nacelle

ROF: 1200 pulses-per-minute (per gun)

AC: Unlimited

2 x Aegis leg carrier systems

Designed from the VF-19 Little Rock leg launchers to carry a wider variety of armaments, the Aegis leg carrier systems have a multitude of pallets with the following options:

- 25 micro-missiles; 50 total; standard

- 6 medium-range missiles; 12 total

- 2 long-range missiles; 4 total

- 2 BGP-5 magazines; 4 total

1 x Anti-projectile shield

Synchs with PPB when impacts occur.

1 x AK/VF-M9 asault knife

Stored under anti-projectile shield and shielded by the PPB when in use.

4 x Wing hardpoints

VX-26 Aegis Striker

-FAST Packs / Omni Striker System-

An added feature to the VX-26 is the Omni Strike packs. Very similar to the VF-25's super packs, the Omni Strike system features a number of embedded shield generator discs. When these pop out in 'attack mode', the discs spin at a high rate of revolution to first create an impenetrable barrier. Once the barrier is charged to full power it then blasts a shockwave of energy in a three-mile radius. Everything in this radius will become obliterated if not equipped with the proper protection fields. There are some drawbacks to using this weapon though.

- Since it is a FAST pack system, it does not tie in with the passive camouflage system nor can it work in an atmospheric environment.

- It can only fire in battroid mode with no other weapons operating at that moment.

- Other than the long (ten minute) recharge time, the Omni Striker has a maximum of three shots before the circuitry is fried and becomes nothing more than added armor to the fighter.

2 x Micro-missile pods

- 20 missiles per pod; 40 total

Leg armor - Two discs; Four total

Torso armor - One disc; Two Total

Wing Booster packs - Three discs; Six Total

Edited January 7, 2009 by Jacs

[SchizophrenicMC]

So you launch them later or launch them in swarms (DYRL? anyone?). It still seems like a using reaction missile would be cheaper and easier even if you need more of them. Plus you have way more options with reaction warheads.

Yeah, but if you beat your way in with a valkyrie and launch them, it's assured win... And you only use one. Nukes are 'spensive, March...

[anime52k8]

So you launch them later or launch them in swarms (DYRL? anyone?). It still seems like a using reaction missile would be cheaper and easier even if you need more of them. Plus you have way more options with reaction warheads.

you know now that I think about it, aren't Reaction weapons sort of outmoded now that they've got DE warheads available. they appear to be more powerful and more effective than any other form of warhead/ammunition and can be built at any scale.

then again is there any way to produce them other than through Vajra harvested Fold quartz? (I think this is the first time I've brought up any of these things since the end of MacF, odd)

[Knight26]

Nukes might expensive but valks would be even more so. Try this for an example, an F-22 costs around $339 million, whereas a tactical nuke costs something around $10 million. So, for the risk cost of a single F-22 going in and deploying its super energy weapon you could have instead launched about 34 tactical nukes, do all of them get through, probably not, but at least one would, if not more and would probably do equivalent damage.

If anything I see that Omni-Striker being more a weapon of last resort, a one shot that burns itself out after use. Think about it, you're alone, the last of your squad and surrounded by hostiles you have no chance of getting out to initiate your emergency one time use fold drive because it will put you on too straight a course for too long. So you lure in the enemy and fire off the omni-striker after which it is dead and you beat feet to escape.

[Mr March]

Yeah, but if you beat your way in with a valkyrie and launch them, it's assured win... And you only use one. Nukes are 'spensive, March...

There's no way a reaction weapon would even approach the expense of a variable fighter. All factors being equal, the valkyrie is easily a hundred times more complex than a bomb.

you know now that I think about it, aren't Reaction weapons sort of outmoded now that they've got DE warheads available. they appear to be more powerful and more effective than any other form of warhead/ammunition and can be built at any scale.

then again is there any way to produce them other than through Vajra harvested Fold quartz? (I think this is the first time I've brought up any of these things since the end of MacF, odd)

Despite the Red Vajra units evolving and adapting defenses to reaction weapons, the Yellow Vajra and the Vajra ships were still vulnerable to both reaction weapons and heavy quantum reaction cannons of sufficient power (VF-27's fighter-scale gun is the exception that require modification). But I suppose the MDE bomb are that much better, so they might become the weapon of choice. I'm not sure about the nature of the MDE warhead itself. I got the impression it was just technology, not "vajra-dependent tech" like the GU-17V gun pods using Vajra materials. Maybe I'm wrong; it's seems a bit unclear to me at this point.

[Jacs]

Okey dokey.... NON-GODMODE version 1.3. Tell me what you think.

VX-26 Aegis

Following development of the YF-24 Evolution, local technicians and NUNS officers at the Susia Weapons Research Plant create a purely experimental figher called the VX-26. The main purpose of this test bed is to experiment the integration of the Aegis leg carrier system, new gunpod technology, and the passive camouflage system which allows the fighter to change the hull color to match it's enviroment.

Equipment Type: Experimental Variable Fighter

Government: NUNS

Manufacturer: Shinsei Industries

Accomodation: One pilot

Controls: Conventional digital flight control scheme

Structure: Unknown space metal frame / SWAG armor

Powerplant: 2 x FF-3005A stage II thermonuclear turbine engines

Propulsion: 2 x 1650kN w/ many HMM-10 vernier thrusters

Performance:

Fighter Mode: Mach 5+ @ 10,000m

Special Design Features:

- VF-25 transformation style

- Active stealth system

- Ex-gear equipment w/ inertia store converter

- Fighter-scale pin-point barrier (PPB)

- Clawed finger manipulators

- Passive camouflage system

-Armament-

3 x Mauler ROV-20 20mm beam guns

Location: Head in battroid mode / center dorsal in gerwalk & fighter modes

ROF: 6000 pulses-per-minute (per gun)

AC: Unlimited

1 x GU-18 27mm quad-barrel light gunpod

Location: Center ventral in fighter mode / hand-carried in gerwalk & battroid

ROF: 4,000 rounds-per-minute

AC: 250-round linkless-feed magazines; 2 spare magazines stored behind shield

2 x Mauler ROV-25 25mm beam machine guns

Location: Hips on battroid mode / outside either engine nacelle

ROF: 1200 pulses-per-minute (per gun)

AC: Unlimited

2 x Aegis leg carrier systems

Designed from the VF-19 Little Rock leg launchers to carry a wider variety of armaments, the Aegis leg carrier systems have a multitude of pallets with the following options:

- 25 micro-missiles; 50 total; standard

- 6 medium-range missiles; 12 total

- 2 long-range missiles; 4 total

- 2 GU-18 magazines; left carrier only

1 x Anti-projectile shield

Synchs with PPB when impacts occur.

4 x Wing hardpoints

VX-26 Super Aegis

-FAST Packs-

Cover almost everything on the fighter like the VF-25 super packs, but leaves the lower legs open for Aegis carriers.

2 x Micro-missile pods

- 20 missiles per launcher; 40 total

2 x Sentinel HBC/HS-35B 35mm beam machine guns

- Mounted on wing booster packs

2 x AK/VF-M9 assault knives

- Mounted in torso armor slots

Edited January 8, 2009 by Jacs

[Knight26]

I don't think we ever said to get rid of the Omni-Striker, just scale it back, maybe make it a single/emergency use only item, otherwise, yes it does make it a God mode vehicle.

[Jacs]

Well it just seemed like a big hassle so I went ahead and simplified it. I may add the shield generator disc to the super pack shield for like a last ditch barrier.

[badboy00z]

There's no way a reaction weapon would even approach the expense of a variable fighter. All factors being equal, the valkyrie is easily a hundred times more complex than a bomb.

Despite the Red Vajra units evolving and adapting defenses to reaction weapons, the Yellow Vajra and the Vajra ships were still vulnerable to both reaction weapons and heavy quantum reaction cannons of sufficient power (VF-27's fighter-scale gun is the exception that require modification). But I suppose the MDE bomb are that much better, so they might become the weapon of choice. I'm not sure about the nature of the MDE warhead itself. I got the impression it was just technology, not "vajra-dependent tech" like the GU-17V gun pods using Vajra materials. Maybe I'm wrong; it's seems a bit unclear to me at this point.

I don't think the Red Vajra can adapt to the MDEs. How would be it possible to be invulnerable to what is essentially a black hole?

[anime52k8]

Well it just seemed like a big hassle so I went ahead and simplified it. I may add the shield generator disc to the super pack shield for like a last ditch barrier.

well if you're considering seriously downsizing it, do you mind if I barrow the idea? it gave me an interesting idea that I'd like to flush out more if you don't mind. by the way, with super packs I would think you could still mount armor on the lower legs. I know you need cleance for the missile racks, you could probebly get away with having the armor move out of the way when the missiles launch. (it worked on the YF/VF-19's it should work here.)

[Jacs]

Yeah sure, go on ahead. I mainly took the concept from the VF Metal Siren.

[SchizophrenicMC]

well if you're considering seriously downsizing it, do you mind if I barrow the idea? it gave me an interesting idea that I'd like to flush out more if you don't mind. by the way, with super packs I would think you could still mount armor on the lower legs. I know you need cleance for the missile racks, you could probebly get away with having the armor move out of the way when the missiles launch. (it worked on the YF/VF-19's it should work here.)

I was gonna say that. The armor on the legs opens on a hinge, allowing attached armor packs to do the same.