anti artillery weaponry - sdf-1

[dedalus001]

i must confess that my favorite part of watching Macross Plus isn't Isamu saving his rape victim of a friend, but watching the Macross in beautiful new reanimation. you get a really good feel for what the fortress looked like in comparison to the red white n' blue one from '82. anyway, i'm sure you have noticed the part (now, its very brief) when isamu is going towards the macross' command tower, and we see these anti-artillery guns start firing on him. i realize that these weapons were controlled by sharon during the incident, but during space war one, were these simply computer/OT operated? or were they manned? also, is there a definite count on how many of those guns there were on the macross? theyre so cool, on their ball/socket joint like the ventral gun of a b-17.

so please, if anyone knows it'd be much appreciated to share with me your extensive gun knowledge.

[ewilen]

They're anti-aircraft guns, not "anti-artillery". (Maybe you're thinking of AAA, which means "anti-aircraft artillery".)

Anyway, the listing at the Compendium doesn't have anything about the small guns.

http://www.mahq.net/mecha/macross/sdfmacross/macross.htm has pictures of the AA guns and, strangely, also uses the term "anti-artillery". However, that site isn't always accurate, even though it's a good resource and relatively free of RPG-type speculation.

[dedalus001]

thanks anyways.

i don't know if this is a reliable source, but i took a look at the Animeigo macross box cover for the whole set, and i noticed that it gives a list of the SDF-1's specs, particularly "dual 400mm howitzers x48." i guess the howitzers are what were firing on the yf-19, but i could be wrong.

[dedalus001]

thanks anyways.

i don't know if this is a reliable source, but i took a look at the Animeigo macross box cover for the whole set, and i noticed that it gives a list of the SDF-1's specs, particularly "dual 400mm howitzers x48." i guess the howitzers are what were firing on the yf-19, but i could be wrong.

here's the pic: http://www.animeigo.com/images-jpg/macross/Macross-WRAP.jpg

[Aurel Tristen]

thanks anyways.

i don't know if this is a reliable source, but i took a look at the Animeigo macross box cover for the whole set, and i noticed that it gives a list of the SDF-1's specs, particularly "dual 400mm howitzers x48." i guess the howitzers are what were firing on the yf-19, but i could be wrong.

Oh jeez.... lol

Are you serious? I told Gus (Garoquel) to remove that crap before AnimEigo got it.

Strange though... because that isn't listed on my box set case.

[ewilen]

The dual-400 mm howitzer stat is also at http://macrossmilcomnet.net/sdf1.htm But I don't know where they get their info.

400 mm howitzers are awfully big for AA purposes. That's about the size of a battleship's guns. (Exactly the size of the Bismarck's guns, for example.) I think about the biggest any AA gun gets in the real world is 100 mm.

Edit: Don't know what I was thinking--400 mm is closer to 16" than 15". The Bismarck's guns were 15". 16" guns are found (most famously, though not exclusively) on the Iowa class battleships--the largest built by the U.S. In reference to comments below--I doubt that a reference to the Yamato class is being made, since those battleships had 460 mm (18.1") guns.

Edited March 25, 2004 by ewilen

[Aurel Tristen]

thanks anyways.

i don't know if this is a reliable source, but i took a look at the Animeigo macross box cover for the whole set, and i noticed that it gives a list of the SDF-1's specs, particularly "dual 400mm howitzers x48." i guess the howitzers are what were firing on the yf-19, but i could be wrong.

Oh jeez.... lol

Are you serious? I told Gus (Garoquel) to remove that crap before AnimEigo got it.

Strange though... because that isn't listed on my box set case.

Oh I see, that isn't the finalized box.... it was later corrected. *phew* They have an earlier, incorrect version still online there.

[dedalus001]

k so we have 2 probs here:

1) this info isn't exactly valid

2) if it is, 400mm cannons aren't exactly anti aircraft material, possibly more of an anti-ship role, okay, definitely an anti-ship role. i don't see cannons doing much to zentraedi vessels, but whatever...

[Southcross]

k so we have 2 probs here:

1) this info isn't exactly valid

2) if it is, 400mm cannons aren't exactly anti aircraft material, possibly more of an anti-ship role, okay, definitely an anti-ship role. i don't see cannons doing much to zentraedi vessels, but whatever...

I would assume that the "artillery systems" whether they are AA or traditional (well as traditional as you can get with OT) artillery, they are "computer operator" controlled. i.e. person sitting at a computer to "man the gun". so presumably in Macross Plus when the Sharon AI took over the Macross, it took over all computer consoles. Giving it uninhibited access to firing control. Also the Sharon AI had "entranced" the populous. like how she had the "guards" try to kill Myung when she escaped Sharons strangle hold. Its possible that Sharon had "control" over the firing control techs and was making them try to shoot down Isamu.

Regardless of what type of 'artillery' the Macross had during Space War I. presumably they would have "upgraded" them 35 years later to particle/beam weapons.

[dedalus001]

k so we have 2 probs here:

1) this info isn't exactly valid

2) if it is, 400mm cannons aren't exactly anti aircraft material, possibly more of an anti-ship role, okay, definitely an anti-ship role. i don't see cannons doing much to zentraedi vessels, but whatever...

I would assume that the "artillery systems" whether they are AA or traditional (well as traditional as you can get with OT) artillery, they are "computer operator" controlled. i.e. person sitting at a computer to "man the gun". so presumably in Macross Plus when the Sharon AI took over the Macross, it took over all computer consoles. Giving it uninhibited access to firing control. Also the Sharon AI had "entranced" the populous. like how she had the "guards" try to kill Myung when she escaped Sharons strangle hold. Its possible that Sharon had "control" over the firing control techs and was making them try to shoot down Isamu.

Regardless of what type of 'artillery' the Macross had during Space War I. presumably they would have "upgraded" them 35 years later to particle/beam weapons.

i don't think the macross would necesarilly be upgraded. it only got the two ARMDs and the rebuilt cannon because, well, they kinda got demolished by kamjin. look at the USS intrepid in NYC, its just a monument, just like the macross is representing human ingenuity and such, so i don't think that the macross got such a thorough overhaul in the weapons dept.

[Boxer]

But you have to remember that despite it's age and state of repair, the SDF-1 Macross is the flagship of the UN Spacy...even though it will probably never see space travel again.

[EXO]

The dual-400 mm howitzer stat is also at http://macrossmilcomnet.net/sdf1.htm But I don't know where they get their info.

Garoquel runs the Macrossmilcomnet. Same person that designed the AnimEigo box.

[Southcross]

But you have to remember that despite it's age and state of repair, the SDF-1 Macross is the flagship of the UN Spacy...even though it will probably never see space travel again.

I'm sure they kept it fairly well armed as a city defense. its not only a monument, its a symbol of power and perseverence... if it could still preform, even at a Civil Defense level, why castrate it? and turn it into a "statue"...

[dedalus001]

But you have to remember that despite it's age and state of repair, the SDF-1 Macross is the flagship of the UN Spacy...even though it will probably never see space travel again.

i dunno, i mean, look how heavily the earth is guarded after the war. i am specifically referring to what we see in macross plus, which might be a bit excessive due to the war anniversary, but still, the earth is headquarters to humanity, which has seen what becomes of an unprotected planet, so i stay with my argument that the sdf-1 probably didn't get beam weapon upgrades. heck, is anyone sure if its reflex cannon remained operational at all? or did they just rebuild the booms?

[Boxer]

My defeatist and pessimistic point of view shouts 'Of course! Why would they possibly spend hundreds of dollars to make thier flagship remotely threatening?'

My romantic and optomistic side says 'Of course they rebuilt them! why would they leave the Macross, the title flagship of the seires, become nothing more than a flying statue of liberty?"

Usually my Pessimistic side is correct

Then again I could be wrong...when was the last battle of Macross city?

[Boxer]

Nothing here. Move along...

Edited March 21, 2004 by Boxer

[ewilen]

From http://macross.anime.net/mecha/united_nati...ross/index.html

After the (First Defensive) Battle of Macross City and the resulting heavy damage on the Macross in January 2012, the United Nations authorized a complete overhaul, including redesigned bow-firing cannon and improved bridge layout. Overhaul largely completed by September 2012 before the space launch ceremony of the SDF-2 Megaroad-01. Space flight and combat tests of the Ghost X-9 unmmaned fighter conducted from the Macross under ship captain Higgins. "Sharon Apple Incident" occurs during the Space War I Armistice 30th anniversary ceremony and Ghost X-9 public unveiling 2040 March. To date, it continues to fulfil its assigned task of planetary defense.

[F-ZeroOne]

The dual-400 mm howitzer stat is also at http://macrossmilcomnet.net/sdf1.htm But I don't know where they get their info.

400 mm howitzers are awfully big for AA purposes.

It could be that someone got a bit mixed up and meant "40mm" originally ( or they just scaled up from that ); the 40mm Bofors was pretty much the standard Allied naval AA gun and was also used by the Germans as well.

Alternatively, I guess it depends if you class a Zentraedi vessel as an "aircraft"...

Or it may even be a tribute to the absolute biggest AA guns of all time, which were the 18-inch guns mounted on the Yamato and Musashi...! ( really - an anti-aircraft round was designed for use in these guns, but it never worked very well and I believe the Musashi was actually damaged by its own shells when test-firing...! )

[Cdr Fokker]

The 400mm's are probably the same guns as the HWR-00 MKII Monster (if these emplacements are in fact on the Macross) - its main armament consists of four 400mm (40cm) cannon.

As for the AAA systems; as others have said, most likely controlled through a computer operator. When Sharon took over the Macross, she would have overridden the "operator" factor and controlled the systems direct through the "intermediary" - the computer systems.