Macross Elint Seeker

[JB0]

So, you're saying that DYRL was filmed years after the events of the original series using the current VF series models, which would include final production trainers and AWACS? I dunno...

Seems reasonable to me. Let's be honest, if someone was doing a movie now about the introduction of the F-14, would they make sure they got period-appropriate planes, or would they be "Well, that's more or less what the dash looked like on the news in Desert Storm, I think it's close enough."?

I fully expect to see someone do a movie about the Vietnam War in a few years with Tomcats and Blackhawks everywhere.

[Aries Turner]

Exactly that. Every movie have its share of goofs. From an in-universe point of view, using more modern VF-1A would be imperceptible for everyone but the nitpickers, even if it constitutes an anachronism. We are debating if the VT-1 and VE-1 are also anachronism or not, but it is sure those weren't used in the original series. Zentraedi equipment also appears to have been considerably improved, at least the Nousjadel-Ger and the Nupetiet-Vergnitz. Q-Rau modifications are too slight to be able to say it is a modified batch instead of cosmetic make-up for the shake of movie drama. It matches 'Macross-7 Encore' model.

Also, there is an entire scene with holography which a young earthling of the 2020s can relate too as an entertainment form, but was period-inappropriate for SDF-1 shakedown cruise.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Aries Turner

[Seto Kaiba]

So, you're saying that DYRL was filmed years after the events of the original series using the current VF series models, which would include final production trainers and AWACS? I dunno...

The in-universe movie Do You Remember Love? was, yes, filmed about two decades after the war ended using (to a limited extent) actual VF-1 Valkyries, Zentradi Army mecha, and starships, sometimes aided by holography like how the Boddole Zer mothership was played by a West Point-class training ship.

They used later production blocks of VF-1 because that's what was available... but the cosmetic differences are not period-inappropriate because those models of VF-1 were, in fact, in service during the First Space War. Also, because of the way there isn't one definitive version of the First Space War, there also may have been Block 6 VF-1s on the Macross. In later appearances, like Macross 30, a First Space War-era Hikaru is shown wearing a DYRL pilot suit and flying a Block 6 VF-1.

You could have pointed to the presence of at least a spare VF-1D whereas no VT-1 was onboard. There was also a significant portion of atmospheric fighters and helicopters other than the ES-11D.

The Macross wasn't carrying any atmospheric craft... and, to the best of my knowledge, the Prometheus was only carrying a handful of atmospheric craft like Sea Sergeant helecopters, ES-11 Cat's Eye recon planes, and Dragon II fighters, while the majority of its complement was 150 VF-1 Valkyries and a handful of Ghosts.

Exactly that. Every movie have its share of goofs. From an in-universe point of view, using more modern VF-1A would be imperceptible for everyone but the nitpickers, even if it constitutes an anachronism. We are debating if the VT-1 and VE-1 are also anachronism or not, but it is sure those weren't used in the original series.

The demonstrable, official answer is "No, they are not an anachronism". There were VT-1 units serving aboard the ARMD-02 before the war started, and aboard the ARMD-04 during the war.

Zentraedi equipment also appears to have been considerably improved, at least the Nousjadel-Ger and the Nupetiet-Vergnitz. Q-Rau modifications are too slight to be able to say it is a modified batch instead of cosmetic make-up for the shake of movie drama. It matches 'Macross-7 Encore' model.

As we have seen, and I have pointed out, on many occasions... both the TV and DYRL versions of mecha exist in canon side-by-side. In truth, it's really more like the DYRL versions of a few mecha like the Nousjadeul-Ger totally replaced the TV series versions... though we do see things like the TV and DYRL version of Zentradi body armor side-by-side in the same units (like the NUNSM Zentradi garrison on Gallia IV).

[Aries Turner]

to the best of my knowledge, the Prometheus was only carrying a handful of atmospheric craft like Sea Sergeant helecopters, ES-11 Cat's Eye recon planes, and Dragon II fighters

I was even unaware of those Dragon II, but was either those or Avenger II. Or both. That complement of atmospheric craft was the one I was refereeing to. You can also safely account for the Comancheros that Daedalus *must* had if she was properly stocked. Plus some form of troop transport.

As we have seen, and I have pointed out, on many occasions... both the TV and DYRL versions of mecha exist in canon side-by-side. In truth, it's really more like the DYRL versions of a few mecha like the Nousjadeul-Ger totally replaced the TV series versions... though we do see things like the TV and DYRL version of Zentradi body armor side-by-side in the same units (like the NUNSM Zentradi garrison on Gallia IV).

But we can't discard one of those, or even both, are movie props, as we can't assure if Macross 7 Encore are real, slightly different mecha from another batch, or DYRL? reused props. The same applies for Gallia-4 scene. Edited October 5, 2016 by Aries Turner

[Seto Kaiba]

I was even unaware of those Dragon II, but was either those or Avenger II. Or both. That complement of atmospheric craft was the one I was refereeing to. You can also safely account for the Comancheros that Daedalus *must* had if she was properly stocked.

That's great, but apart from the very high probability that the Prometheus was where that VEFR-1 came from, I'm not really seeing the relevance...

But we can't discard one of those, or even both, are movie props, as we can't assure if Macross 7 Encore are real, slightly different mecha from another batch, or DYRL? reused props. The same applies for Gallia-4 scene.

Movie props? There's a key point here I must not be communicating properly... those weren't props.

The in-universe movie Do You Remember Love? used real VF-1 Valkyries and Zentradi mecha for its action sequences and stunts. Some of the ships, like Boddole Zer's mobile fortress, were faked up using holographic projections over smaller starships, but otherwise they used real military hardware. That the mecha in DYRL? are real in-universe was a detail established about 22 years back... and the same goes for many of the changes made to characters, etc. Official explanations like that the TV and Movie VF-1 are the same fighter built to two different production block standards came out of that period.

(It is, as noted previously, not interchangeable with the real world movie that came out in 1984... as we've seen in-series evidence it contains scenes that were not in the 1984 film like the wedding of Max and Milia.)

Edited October 5, 2016 by Seto Kaiba

[Aries Turner]

First, Nousjadel-Ger differences are more acute, and thus point to two different batches.

Second, I meant the cosmetic differences between both Q-Rau models. While those can also be two batches of the Q-Rau, if you take into account *all* the series are a retelling of events, it could be *one* batch of Q-Rau, with and without dramatic, cosmetic, make-up. Forget it. While cosmetic, those are still significant enough to justify two different batches. Most changes in apparent shape can be done with new painting scheme, but having a different total height is not that easy.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Aries Turner

[Galaxy_Stranger]

Ok, I'm good with accepting that the technology level in DYRL is the standard for the years after SDFM. The rest of the timelines I'm completely unfamiliar with. But this finally puts DYRL in some sort of context. To me, continuity is important. As it is, there is no way to reconcile DYRL with SDFM without . And other shows like Plus are completely cut-off, unless they're also a show within a show...which I don't think I have the stomach for...

Edited October 5, 2016 by Galaxy_Stranger

[Seto Kaiba]

Ok, I'm good with accepting that the technology level in DYRL is the standard for the years after SDFM.

Well, kinda... in VF terms, the DYRL? VF-1 represents the state of technology during the First Space War pretty much everywhere but aboard the Macross. The carrier "air" wings aboard the Macross and Prometheus were among the first to receive VF-1 Valkyries... which were drawn from the very earliest production blocks so their pilots had time to train on their new aircraft. As a result, a lot of their VF-1s belonged to Block 1 thru 5 (the "TV" version). They would have been upgraded gradually to the Block 6 spec had they not ended up cut off from Earth and logistical support.

Even before the Macross left port and then accidentially teleported itself and said port to the fringes of the solar system, the carrier "air" wings assigned to the ARMDs and bases on Earth and its moon were receiving fighters from the same early blocks and also an assortment of craft from later blocks as production ramped up and incremental improvements were made in each new production block. So you had some cases like ARMD-02 where they were operating "TV" and "Movie" VF-1s side by side in 2009, with some training squadrons flying VF-1Ds while others had been issued the newer VT-1.

After the war ended, the surviving VF-1 Valkyries were gradually upgraded to meet Block 6+ ("movie") specs... and the new VF-1s produced in that period were built to the Block 6 and later production standard.

The rest of the timelines I'm completely unfamiliar with. But this finally puts DYRL in some sort of context. To me, continuity is important. As it is, there is no way to reconcile DYRL with SDFM without . And other shows like Plus are completely cut-off, unless they're also a show within a show...which I don't think I have the stomach for...

Officially, DYRL? and SDF:M are both equally valid competing views of the First Space War. Neither is a 100% "true" depiction of the events of the conflict, but the official publications generally favor the TV series for continuity purposes even while later shows and other narrative material favors the aesthetics of DYRL? for reasons explained previously.

[Aries Turner]

While still unconvinced about VT-1 and VE-1 being available before Space War, I'll byte the bullet for the fan fiction I am working about. VFMF may not be canon today, but as more and more authors embrace it as 'truth', I expect sometime in the future for it to be upgraded to canon. So I desist upholding the case.

I am interested in the VT-1C initial availability, before M7 Dynamite.

[Seto Kaiba]

While still unconvinced about VT-1 and VE-1 being available before Space War, I'll byte the bullet for the fan fiction I am working about. VFMF may not be canon today, but as more and more authors embrace it as 'truth', I expect sometime in the future for it to be upgraded to canon. So I desist upholding the case.

So... I'm guessing you forgot, or overlooked, when I pointed out that Master File was just regurgitating official material in that case? The technical and continuity article that was published in the official artbook This is Animation: Macross Plus (the "Variable Fighter Aero Report") explains a lot of the technical backstory leading up to the YF-19 and YF-21, including how the TV and DYRL VF-1s fit together and introduces a number of fighters that hadn't even appeared yet (like the VF-5000, VA-3, etc.). That'd be where the idea that the VE-1 and VT-1 were in use in 2009 came from... and it even offers an example or two of squadrons and ships using them from that period.

I am interested in the VT-1C initial availability, before M7 Dynamite.

Per Macross Chronicle, the VT-1C was made available as a civilian market variable aircraft circa 2030.

[Aries Turner]

Thanks!

[JB0]

In later appearances, like Macross 30, a First Space War-era Hikaru is shown wearing a DYRL pilot suit and flying a Block 6 VF-1.

Also happens twice in Macross 7. Once during production of the (admittedly wildly inaccurate) Lynn Minmay Story, and again later on the (admittedly even more inaccurate) tabloid cover claiming Basara is the illegitimate child of Hikaru and Minmay.

(I happen to be rewatching 7 lately.)

[Aries Turner]

It just occurred to me that while SDFM series drama seems most accurate about events than DYRL?, as a lot of UNSpacy mishaps and bad judgements are not censored out, it could be the opposite regarding equipment. When you take Zero into account, cockpit controls actually go retro for the VF-1 block 1-5.

Actual military specs are irrelevant to cover SDFM story, so Gloval may have permitted or even endorsed filming all events without obscurities or cover-ups, but may have not been so inclined to show actual hardware technology. He may have leased pre-production (*) crafts found stored somewhere and garments for the series, to not divert still in use assets, to avoid technology leaks or both. That would explain why Hikaru appears in 30 as in DYRL?.

That also means that while events are near what SDFM depicts, hardware used could well have included VT-1 and VE-1, and even not a single VF-1G VEFR

(*) Or VF-1 blocks 1-5 are real production birds, but deployed to some ARMDs, GC 1-6 as reserve/last line of defense, while Macross SDF-1 received the best for inauguration, block 6 onward.

[Edit]: But that would again contradict VFMF Squadrons that, at this point, could have made a mess even worse instead of making sense of it. Maybe is Zero events serialization what is at fault about too modern cockpit controls. Man, is this frustrating.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Aries Turner

[Master Dex]

It just occurred to me that while SDFM series drama seems most accurate about events than DYRL?, as a lot of UNSpacy mishaps and bad judgements are not censored out, it could be the opposite regarding equipment. When you take Zero into account, cockpit controls actually go retro for the VF-1 block 1-5.

Actual military specs are irrelevant to cover SDFM story, so Gloval may have permitted or even endorsed filming all events without obscurities or cover-ups, but may have not been so inclined to show actual hardware technology. He may have leased pre-production (*) crafts found stored somewhere and garments for the series, to not divert still in use assets, to avoid technology leaks or both. That would explain why Hikaru appears in 30 as in DYRL?.

That also means that while events are near what SDFM depicts, hardware used could well have included VT-1 and VE-1, and even not a single VF-1G VEFR

(*) Or VF-1 blocks 1-5 are real production birds, but deployed to some ARMDs, GC 1-6 as reserve/last line of defense, while Macross SDF-1 received the best for inauguration, block 6 onward.

[Edit]: But that would again contradict VFMF Squadrons that, at this point, could have made a mess even worse instead of making sense of it. Maybe is Zero events serialization what is at fault about too modern cockpit controls. Man, is this frustrating.

It is best not to take all of it too literally. As Seto has said, the shows we are seeing are not necessarily the shows they are seeing, or even the true version of events used as history within the narrative. This basically means there may not be a way to rationalize things based solely on what we have seen. Each show or movie is one spectrum of a sliding scale of canonical accuracy and the true canon history lies in some foggy region in the middle. All we have are clues to go on.

[Seto Kaiba]

It just occurred to me that while SDFM series drama seems most accurate about events than DYRL?, as a lot of UNSpacy mishaps and bad judgements are not censored out, it could be the opposite regarding equipment. When you take Zero into account, cockpit controls actually go retro for the VF-1 block 1-5.

There's actually a fairly straightforward explanation for that.

The VF-0 Phoenix was still being used as a technology demonstrator and testbed aircraft at the time the Mayan Island incident broke out and they were pressed into combat service. The base design of the VF-1 had been pinned down the year before, and development of the VF-X-3 and VF-X-4 had already been going on for several years. The VF-0 has a Block 6+ model cockpit because it was being used to evaluate that production-intent cockpit installed on all but the first few production blocks of VF-1 (and which those early blocks would swiftly be upgraded to).

If it helps, think of the Block 5 cockpit as a legacy of the VF-X-1 prototype, something that was better suited to testing than combat use, and was replaced by a more production-worthy design shortly after trial production ended. The "TV" VF-1s had the older cockpit because they were the very first batches of VF-1s off the production lines, rushed off to meet the February launch date only about two months after the first aircraft came off the line.

Actual military specs are irrelevant to cover SDFM story, so Gloval may have permitted or even endorsed filming all events without obscurities or cover-ups, but may have not been so inclined to show actual hardware technology.

You're really overthinking this "TV production" thing... the only one that's actually applied to is DYRL?.

[Aries Turner]

Of course I do! Where is the fun if not? I am even doing a fanfic on the whole thing.

I don't miss however that while DYRL? is confirmed fiction within fiction, SDFM is only strongly suggested. Your explanation about Zero makes a lot of sense and I like it as is, but still there was another explanation I didn't take into account: Macross Zero being done, in-universe, way after the events. It would have clarified things if in 'Legend of Zero' Macross-F episode, the actors actually looked as Shin and Sara while being addressed by their actual actor names, and Ranka sporting a fake tan and a Mao haircut and coloring. That would have meant Zero OVA is the film production made in Frontier, and Zero cockpit being actually the VF-25 one, with a redress.

However, there is no limit to the number of remakes: in M-7, Mylene and Basara were doing a remake of DYRL?..

There is however the issue of real Hikaru appearing in Macross 30 as in DYRL?

Edited October 16, 2016 by Aries Turner

[JB0]

However, there is no limit to the number of remakes: in M-7, Mylene and Basara were doing a remake of DYRL?..

The Lynn Minmay Story wasn't really a DYRL remake, it was just another Space War 1 movie.

Think of them like Pearl Harbor and Tora Tora Tora. Two different movies about the same historical subject.

[Seto Kaiba]

I don't miss however that while DYRL? is confirmed fiction within fiction, SDFM is only strongly suggested.

There's kind of a fine distinction to be made here.

The version of DYRL? that we've seen, the one that was released in '84, is not the version that's actually an in-universe movie. The in-universe film Do You Remember Love? is supposed to be mostly the same as the film in the real world, but it also has content that wasn't in the real film like Max and Milia dogfighting in space and their wedding that's seen in snippets from Macross 7.

The actual film Macross: Do You Remember Love? is one of several titles that collectively exist in the vague and nebulous "Whose First Space War is it anyway?" period. All or none may be authentic and correct versions of the war, given Kawamori's view that each Macross title is an island unto itself (though Big West seems to diagree via Chronicle).

It would have clarified things if in 'Legend of Zero' Macross-F episode, the actors actually looked as Shin and Sara while being addressed by their actual actor names, and Ranka sporting a fake tan and a Mao haircut and coloring. That would have meant Zero OVA is the film production made in Frontier, and Zero cockpit being actually the VF-25 one, with a redress.

It would've been interesting, but I don't think even Kawamori is seriously committed to the idea of Macross titles as dramatizations of events rather than depictions of events... I think he'd rather just tell a story instead of trying to explain away every little example of zeerust and their assumptions about the future made decades ago not lining up with reality (like there being no cellular phones in 2009).

Like his notion that each Macross series is an island unto itself, it's just a clever way ot telling fans to go away and stop asking him about fiddly little details.

[Aries Turner]

this finally puts DYRL in some sort of context. To me, continuity is important.

You are welcome... to madness.

A thing I remember about SDFM ES-11D deployment is that it was made after SDF-1 sensor cluster was destroyed in an attack. Mind you, limited fighter range in space limits usability, as ship mounted giant antennas would still have a longer reach: smaller seafaring vessels have other restrictions, like atmosphere dissipation or Earth horizon, that spacefaring vessels do not. Without fold boosters or in presence of such huge vessels sensor arrays, tiny AWACS don't even make sense.

the manufacturing station at Earth-Moon L5 which served as Earth's primary shipyard until the capture of the Esbeliben AWDAP facility after the war?

VFMF VF-1 Space Wings #85 cites the facility as destroyed during Op. Trapeze. I suppose this is one of those cases where a VFMF contradicts canon. Edited October 17, 2016 by Aries Turner

[Seto Kaiba]

A thing I remember about SDFM ES-11D deployment is that it was made after SDF-1 sensor cluster was destroyed in an attack. Mind you, limited fighter range in space limits usability, as ship mounted giant antennas would still have a longer reach: smaller seafaring vessels have other restrictions, like atmosphere dissipation or Earth horizon, that spacefaring vessels do not. Without fold boosters or in presence of such huge vessels sensor arrays, tiny AWACS don't even make sense.

The Macross had actually lost her main sensor system twice over... first she lost her cross-dimension radar when the fold system vanished during the botched fold jump that landed them at Pluto's orbit, and then her main radar when Quamzin "accidentally" shot it.

It's not clear how good a ship's cross-dimension/fold wave radar is at spotting small targets like fighters over long distances, and the conventional radar's range is limited by the noise of background radiation and intervening obstacles, so a small craft-mounted reconnaissance and electronic warfare system with a high-powered radar makes a fair amount of sense. (Particularly once they switched from conventional radars to cross-dimension/fold wave ones.)

VFMF VF-1 Space Wings #85 cites the facility as destroyed during Op. Trapeze. I suppose this is one of those cases where a VFMF contradicts canon.

Not sure it's talking about the same installation, to be honest... the base at L-5 was a manufacturing station and shipyard, not a lab, and IIRC the Squadrons book has the VF-1L's being built there in 2011. Edited October 17, 2016 by Seto Kaiba

[Aries Turner]

A fighter based AEW has its usefulness, as checking the other side of a planet or moon for ambushes. I didn't say it is worthless. I just said its usefulness is limited if a ship radar is present when there is no nebula or other interference, and those are scarce within the Sun system (although Saturn rings were depicted as dense, those are not).

Not sure it's talking about the same installation, to be honest... the base at L-5 was a manufacturing station and shipyard, not a lab, and IIRC the Squadrons book has the VF-1L's being built there in 2011.

The same book cites the exact manufacturing plant there, later, but as L-5 being only the location, it could meant that such production facility was put where the lab was before. Just ended reading both Space and Stratosphere Wings. Apollo Base, on the Moon, survived, even the ARMD that was defendind L-5 base. The L-5 base itself, apparently did not survive February of 2010.

I weren't doubting you. I was in fact somewhat asking if that Satellite acquisition and operation was described somewhere else as canon and if VFMF was thus in contradiction, as one is advised to take into account.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Aries Turner

[Seto Kaiba]

A fighter based AEW has its usefulness, as checking the other side of a planet or moon for ambushes. I didn't say it is worthless. I just said its usefulness is limited if a ship radar is present when there is no nebula or other interference, and those are scarce within the Sun system (although Saturn rings were depicted as dense, those are not).

That largely depends on the capability of the ship's radar, but yes... their limited utility is probably why they fairly swiftly became one of the Option Pack choices for normal aircraft instead of a dedicated aircraft (barring an assortment of amusing unofficial designs in Master File).

The same book cites the exact manufacturing plant there, later, but as L-5 being only the location, it could meant that such production facility was put where the lab was before. Just ended reading both Space and Stratosphere Wings. Apollo Base, on the Moon, survived, even the ARMD that was defendind L-5 base. The L-5 base itself, apparently did not survive February of 2010.

I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion, given that the "Space Wing" VFMF book mentions the L-5 Industrial Station is still very much around in 2029.

There's a Zentradi factory satellite at L-5 as well, but to the best of our knowledge that's called the New Frontier shipyards after its capture.

[Aries Turner]

I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion, given that the "Space Wing" VFMF book mentions the L-5 Industrial Station is still very much around in 2029.

There's a Zentradi factory satellite at L-5 as well, but to the best of our knowledge that's called the New Frontier shipyards after its capture.

I didn't came to that conclusion: L-5 base, a lab, was destroyed, as per VFMF Space Wings. It is *its* conclusion, black over white. As L-5 is a Lagrangian point, whether it is the one in the Sun-Earth system or the Earth-Moon system (and it appears it is this last one), whatever is placed next in that area becomes L-5 station. And a Zentraedi Factory Satellite placed in L-5 is certainly a very large L-5 Industrial Station, whatever the name you put on it, very much alive and kicking as by any account had not to endure Bodolza fleet.

Unless you mean that in February 2010, Bodolza fleet destroyed the L-5 Labs but spared the necessarily pretty near L-5 Factories. Maybe. Highly unlikely, but maybe.

Choose your favorite L-5:

Edited October 18, 2016 by Aries Turner

[Seto Kaiba]

I didn't came to that conclusion: L-5 base, a lab, was destroyed, as per VFMF Space Wings. It is *its* conclusion, black over white.

Ah, no... the problem is you're assuming the L-5 Manufacturing Station that built the majority of the UN Spacy's early fleet is the same installation as the L-5 Lab Station which Master File alleges existed and was destroyed by the Zentradi.

Where the logical flaw in that assumption comes in is that the L-5 manufacturing station is allegedly producing new VF-1s and so on in the period between the First Space War ending in 2010 and the first mission to capture a factory satellite in 2011.

(You have to admit, dead workers in a destroyed factory building new fighters and ships for the newly established New UN Government would be a work ethic above and beyond the call of duty...)

As L-5 is a Lagrangian point, whether it is the one in the Sun-Earth system or the Earth-Moon system (and it appears it is this last one), whatever is placed next in that area becomes L-5 station.

For the record, the L-5 in question for both the Manufacturing Station and Zentradi factory satellite is Earth-Moon L5. (This is very briefly visible on Exsedol's console while they're folding the factory satellite back to Earth.)

[Aries Turner]

I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion, as there is nothing in what I said that precludes the existence of two facilities before or after 2010. I think you made the assumption that, if I were pointing that there is no implication that there are more than one after 2010, I had written in stone that there was only one.

Sorry, no.

My only assumption is that Bodolza fleet made a good job wasting whatever station *or* stations were at Earth-Moon Lagrangian point 5, basing such assumption in millions of years of Zentraedi military experience and the fact that they indeed destroyed at least *one*, also damaging but not destroying its ARMD escort and wasting some of her VF-1 wing. Of course, mistakes do happen. But you in turn seem to be making the assumption that such mistake did indeed happen, because you seem unable to accept the possibility of replacing a manufacturing base in the lapse of a year.

OK. Maybe not.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Aries Turner

[VF-1A Grunt]

This is a really good discussion about some of the more interesting VFs in the Macross series. However, I have to point out that it sounds like some of you might not be familiar with how real AEW aircraft are employed. One of the main reasons for using them is to protect the capital ships that they support by allowing the ships to run "dark" (no electronic emissions) while the AEW aircraft do the broadcasting. This helps conceal the precise location of your much more valuable assets while placing only the AEW aircraft at risk. Yes, the SDF might have larger, long-range sensors, but as soon as it turns them on, it immediately broadcasts its location to the enemy. Placing a Cat's Eye or other aircraft out some distance from the "mother ship," at an offset azimuth, helps conceal the SDF from the enemy, unless they in turn are willing to reveal their location by using their sensors to search.

One of the fundamentals of reconnaissance is to make contact with the enemy with the smallest element possible to protect the main force. This would certainly apply in a space conflict, and the various AEW aircraft in the UN Spacy fleet would serve this purpose.

[NZEOD]

And make EXCELLENT bait and decoys for drawing off forces