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VF-11D Battroid (with Super Parts)
VF-11D Battroid (with Super Parts Open)
VF-11D Fighter (with Super Parts)
30 mm Gun Pod
Super Part Micro-Missiles
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Shinsei Industry VF-11D Thunderbolt "Jamming Bird"
Equipment Type: UNS/UNSAF main variable fighter
Unofficial Codename: Jamming Bird
Government: U.N. Spacy Project M Special Unit
Manufacturer: Shinsei Industry and Macross 7 Project M Special Technologies Group
Operational Deployment: November 2045
Accommodation: two seats for pilot plus passenger (with retractable four-piece canopy cover in Battroid mode) featuring a secondary transparent spherical canopy for the rear seat
Dimensions:
Battroid Mode: height 12.92 meters
Fighter Mode: wingspan 11.2 meters; height 3.49 meters; length 16.02 meters
GERWALK Mode: wingspan 11.2 meters
Mass: with Super Parts 11.2 metric tons
Structure: SWAG energy conversion armor
Power Plant: two Shinsei Industry/P&W/Roice retuned and re-designated FF-2025S thermonuclear reaction turbine engines.
Propulsion: 31,700 kg [x g] x 2 (310.98 kN x 2); 2 x Super Part Booster Thrusters (thruster output unknown, depending on fuel load Super Part engines can be used at maximum thrust for 5 minutes); 2 x vertical two-dimensional vectored exhaust nozzles; 2 x dorsal auxiliary thruster pods; many x P&W HMM-7 high-maneuverability vernier thrusters.
Performance:
Fighter Mode: at 10,000 m Mach 2.8+; max rate of climb at S/L 24,800 meters/minute
g limit: +22.5/- 15.0
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 2.8+ below the stratosphere; two-dimensional thrust vectoring; improved waist joint system; anti-projectile (bulletproof) shield; head-turret-mounted main sensor system and rear camera; retractable four-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 Macross 7 Project M Special Technologies Group space/atmospheric Super Parts with sound energy system and sound energy converter system
- 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)
1 x fixed fighter-carried pin-point barrier system
Bombs & Missiles:
6 x micro-missile launcher systems in dorsal and leg/engine space/atmospheric Super Parts (4 x launchers mounted in two dorsal Super Parts, 2 x launchers mounted in two leg/engine nacelle Super Parts); 2 x chaff and flare dispensers (mounted in Super Part units on leg/engine nacelle sections)
Optional Armament:
Numerous optional weapons
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Despite initial misgivings the UN Forces were forced to admit that Sound Force did have a legitimate effect upon the enemy, however uneven and unpredictable the result. As such, the UN Forces decided to expand the initial mandate of Operation M and create more units using sound technology. The units were called "Jamming Birds" and comprised VF-11D Custom variable fighters built by Macross 7 Project M Special Technologies Group. One lot of 20 craft was produced and flown by trained UN Spacy pilots along with a co-pilot performer who could utilize the sound technology system. Auditions were held for Jamming Bird hopefuls and a final selection of six singers and musicians provided the UN Forces with their first new recruits.
The Jamming Birds, unlike Sound Force, were a strictly regimented military unit and the VF-11D Custom variable fighters were fully armed combat craft. The VF-11D Custom is built with a special two-seat cockpit, a secondary transparent spherical canopy for the rear seat and retractable four-piece canopy cover for Battroid mode. The Jamming Bird also features a newly designed head unit with a visor-style main sensor. The most important modifications made to the VF-11D Custom are the sound energy converter system and the Sound Boosters. The added equipment and accommodation made the VF-11D heavier than the standard VF-11C. To compensate for the additional weight, the VF-11D Custom featured enhanced engines for additional thrust, VF-19 model vernier thrusters and enlarged canard wings for better maneuverability. The Super Part Boosters enable the VF-11D Custom to achieve orbit and can be utilized both in the atmosphere and in space.
The first deployment of the VF-11D Jamming Birds in November 2045 was a complete failure. While the VF-11Ds and the sound energy systems were combat worthy hardware, the UN Forces failed to account for the human element of the assigned personnel. Unlike Nekki Basara and Ray Lovelock who had military flight experience and natural ability (and, to a lesser degree, Mylene Jenius), the singers/musicians of the Jamming Birds fared poorly under combat conditions, unable to sing effectively due to both the emotional and physical stresses of variable fighter combat. Colonel Barton, the officer in charge of the Jamming Bird unit, refused to admit failure and continued with a training program for the civilian personnel. The Jamming Birds eventually became an effective fighting force against the Varauta, but only at the final stage of the Protodeviln War.
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Debut: Macross 7, Episode 32
Co-Pilots (vocalists): Chitose Ripple, Bobby Lacoste, Randy
Other appearances: none
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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