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VF-11C Battroid (with Super Parts)
VF-11C Fighter (with Super Parts)
30 mm Gun Pod
Super Part Micro-Missiles
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Shinsei Industry VF-11C Super Thunderbolt
Equipment Type: UNS/UNSAF main variable fighter
Government: U.N. Spacy, U.N. Space Air Force
Manufacturer: Shinsei Industry
Introduction: 2028
Operational Deployment: April 2030
Accommodation: pilot only in Marty & Beck Mk11 ejection seat (entire canopy ejectable as an emergency escape pod)
Dimensions:
Battroid Mode: height 12.92 meters
Fighter Mode: wingspan 11.2 meters; height 3.49 meters; length 15.51 meters
GERWALK Mode: wingspan 11.2 meters
Mass: empty 9.0 metric tons; with Super Parts estimated 11.2 metric tons
Structure: SWAG energy conversion armor
Power Plant: two Shinsei Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2025G thermonuclear reaction turbine engines
Propulsion: 28,500 kg [x g] x 2 (279.59 kN x 2); 2 x Super Part Booster Thrusters (thruster output unknown); 2 x vertical two-dimensional vectored exhaust nozzles; 2 x dorsal auxiliary thruster pods; many x P&W HMM-5B high-maneuverability vernier thrusters
Performance:
Fighter Mode: at 10,000 m Mach 3.5+; at 30,000+ m Mach 8.2; max rate of climb at S/L 28,500 meters/minute
g limit: +22.0/- 14.5
Design Features: 3-mode variable transformation; variable geometry sweep (VG) wing; canard forward wing; vertical Take-off and landing (VTOL); supersonic cruise and maneuvering in region of Mach 3.5+ below the stratosphere; two-dimensional thrust vectoring; improved waist joint system; anti-projectile (bulletproof) shield; retractable two-piece canopy cover (for Battroid mode); head-turret-mounted main sensor system and rear camera; 4 x conformal sensors (mounted within the main airframe's forward edge, behind canard wings, just above the air intakes); enhanced navigational equipment; 4 x special equipment hard point stations for external Shinsei Industry space Super Part units; option of two solid-fuel rocket boosters; option of radome
- Armament -
Guns:
1 x fixed rear anti-aircraft pulse laser gun (mounted center dorsal section in Fighter/GERWALK mode, becomes head turret in Battroid mode)
1 x standard external multipurpose 30 mm 6-barrel gun pod with sensor, foregrip, anti-armor bayonet (on early space models, removed on later gun pods due to high cost) and large barrel magazine (mounted ventral fuselage in Fighter mode, in arm manipulator for GERWALK/Battroid modes); 2 x spare magazines stored underneath shield
1 x standard bulletproof (anti-projectile) shield (mounted center rear dorsal fuselage in Fighter mode, mounted on arm in GERWALK/Battroid modes)
Bombs & Missiles:
4 x special equipment hard point stations for external space Super Part units for 4 x Hughes HMMM-Mk 6 micro-missile launchers, reduced from 8 on the VF-11B to cut costs (mounted on dorsal fuselage); 2 x chaff and flare dispensers (mounted in Super Part propellent tank units on engine sections)
2 x internal engine/leg weapon bays for mounting large-size missiles (Macross Chronicle 31-06)
Optional Armament:
Protect Armor System
Numerous optional weapons
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As the main variable fighter of the U.N. Spacy in 2038, numerous VF-11C Thunderbolts are stationed aboard the 37th long-distance colonization fleet as it is lead by the 7th New Macross class battleship. This version of the Thunderbolt variable fighter features enhanced navigational electronic equipment (this upgrade was eventually installed in all VF-11 fighters from 2040 onward, starting with the first squadron). In 2045 the VF-11C squadrons are deployed in combat regularly since the outbreak of hostilities against the Varauta. Originally the VF-11C benefited from improved safety features which jettisoned the entire cockpit section of the craft in the event of the variable fighter's destruction. However, this feature has not improved pilot safety in combat against the Varauta and many ejected pilots find themselves subjected to the Spiritia draining weaponry of Varauta mecha. Nonetheless, the VF-11C remains the backbone of the UNS forces for deep space colonization fleets. With hulls painted in bright blue-white, the VF-11C variable fighters of the Macross 7 fleet serve with distinction under command of Captain Maximilian Jenius.
NOTE: The internal engine/leg missile bays are not part of the official specifications for the VF-11 Thunderbolt variable fighter and are thus designated semi-official for purposes of the Macross Mecha Manual. Shoji Kawamori notes the animators working on the Macross 7 episode in which the leg bays first appeared had used a draft design of his that was not originally drawn for Macross 7. However, it should be noted Shoji Kawamori included the internal engine/leg missile bays as part of the official VF-11MAXL variant.
The design inspiration for the VF-11 is the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker and variants. The VF-11 Thunderbolt was named after the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (a World War II American fighter) and the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, a contemporary American close-support attack craft.
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Debut: Macross 7, Episode 1
Pilot(s): Milia Jenius, Kinryu, Gamlin Kizaki
Other appearances: Macross 7; Macross 7: Encore
Original mechanical designer: Shoji Kawamori, Kazutaka Miyatake (cockpit) |
Information Courtesy of the Macross Compendium: www.macross.anime.net/wiki/Main_Page
Images From - Macross 7 Animation Materials and other macross books
C. Wilson - Writer, Editor and Colorist
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