Click Images For Larger View
YF-29 Battroid mode
YF-29 GERWALK mode
YF-29 Fighter mode
Color Code Transformation Guide
AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife
|
YF-29 Durandal
Equipment Type: variable fighter
Government: Strategic Military Services (SMS)
Manufacturer: Shinsei Industry/Macross Frontier Arsenal Original Development/L.A.I.
Introduction: 2057 (delayed)
Operational Deployment: 2059
Accommodation: pilot only (deployable auxiliary seat for passenger)
Dimensions:
Battroid Mode: height unknown
Fighter Mode: wingspan 14.15 meters (with main wings deployed); height 3.88 meters (without landing gear); length 18.73 meters
GERWALK Mode: unknown
Mass: empty 15.62 metric tons or 11.92 metric tons (not including space equipment)
Structure: SWGA energy conversion armor; energy converting armor thickness is double (or 4 times the operating strength) of a VF-25 Armored Pack
Power Plant: two Shinsei Industry/ P&W/ RR FF-3001/FC1 Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engines; two Shinsei Industry/ LAI/ RR FF-3003J/FC1 Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine ramjet engines
Propulsion: 2 x 2,105 kN (maximum thrust in space); 2 x 1,470 kN or 2 x 1,970 kN (maximum thrust in space)
Thrust-to-weight ratio: (empty) range from 49.85 to 69.70 (*see SPECIAL NOTE below)
Performance:
Fighter Mode: at 10,000 m Mach 5.5+, on account of fuselage heat-resistance limit; speeds of Mach 10+ possible for brief periods
Maximum Airframe Design Load: 40.0G (Fighter mode), 32.5G (Battroid mode, due to structural reinforcement)
Design Features: 3-mode variable transformation; forward-swept wings; wing engines can rotate; the ramjet can be switched to high-speed mode in atmosphere for thrust increase; four section design; fold wave projector system; fold quartz amplifier (installed on each side of the fuselage); fold wave system [(1) improves performance of thermonuclear reaction turbine engine, allows engine to generate thrust to the design load limit, (2) energy from fold quartz allows full operation of energy converting armor, (3) enables detection, amplification and analysis of fold waves]; capable of attaining unassisted orbital velocity over an Earth-class planet; ISC TO22 (Inertia Store Converter), TO22 installed because existing ISC TO21 could not buffer the Gs [TO22 can counterbalance maximum instantaneous acceleration of 30.0Gs]; active stealth system; chaff/flare/smoke discharger system; cockpit for EX-Gear equipped pilot; external remote control of the variable fighter is possible via EX-Gear connect slave function; linear actuators; rear auxiliary seat in cockpit (hidden by cover, which can be pulled away allowing seat to rise)
- Armament -
Guns:
1 x Howard/L.A.I. HPB-01A Heavy Quantum Beam gun pod (mounted ventral fuselage in Fighter mode, in arm manipulator for GERWALK/Battroid modes); anti-armor bayonet mounted on YF-29B
2 x Remington ES-25A 25mm high-speed machine guns (firing anti-Vajra enhanced AP rounds; 25 mm machine gun and gun pod are later refit with the anti-Vajra MDE warhead specification) NOTE: the Macross Chronicle designates the ES-25A guns as mounted on the head, making the YF-29 the only Valkyrie to feature head-mounted projectile guns. No mention is made of any weapons within the fuselage mounts left/right of the engine intakes where the 25mm guns are normally mounted, despite the CG model clearly depicting firing ports for guns. At this time it is unknown if this is an intentional design choice for the YF-29 or a trivia mistake)
1 x TW2-MDE/M25 twin MDE beam cannon (concealed type, stored in center rear dorsal section, features retracting/extending deployment mount)
1 x Heavy-Armored Shield (mounted center rear dorsal fuselage in Fighter mode, mounted on arm in GERWALK/Battroid modes); the shield is laminated with enhanced energy conversion armor used in the APS-25A/MF25 Armored Pack
1 x Ka-Bar OTEC AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife, 1.65m, super strong material reinforced by pin-point barrier system (mounted under left arm shield block)
1 x pin-point barrier system (fold wave system allows pin-point-barrier to operate in fighter mode)
Bombs & Missiles:
can store up to 100 x micro-missiles in 12 x Bifors MBL-02S micro-missile launchers (two exit ports each in left/right engine pod; four exit ports each in left/right conformal armament pods); small missiles equipped with the shoulders and sides of the engines/legs; engine/leg sections can separate from the center into 2 blocks capable of launching missiles at angles up to 270 degrees
Optional Armament:
Super Pack system (includes propellent pods with high maneuver thrusters) for space on each outer wing engines pod; carries propellent required for the four engines; in atmosphere tanks on the outer wing engine pods are removed; two SLE-7A chemical rocket boosters from the VF-25 Super Pack mounted rear of the main wing (can be purged when fuel is exhausted); two high-powered fold wave projector/micro-missile launchers
micro-missile warheads converted to anti-Vajra MDE warhead specification
|
In 2048, the Vajra threat became apparent to the New UN Spacy as a result of the Gallia 4 incident (the details of which were not made public). To combat the Vajra specifically, the YF-29 was developed in secret with the intention to exceed capabilities of the YF-24, a more general purpose next generation variable fighter being developed at that time. Hence, the YF-29 Durandal became a sibling unit of the similarly designed VF-25 Messiah in which L.A.I. and the Macross Frontier Fleet engineers played a central role. The most significant difference from the VF-25 Messiah is that the YF-29 Durandal features four thermonuclear reaction turbine engines producing a breakthrough in maneuverability performance as a result of greater thrust. The main wings can extend and contract, allowing the wing-mounted engines to be brought closer into the airframe's center of gravity. The VF-25 Messiah – despite being an excellent craft – requires additional equipment like the Armor pack or Tornado pack to effectively oppose the Vajra. The Tornado pack is trial-production hardware for proof-of-concept/data collection and as such it makes the VF-25 Messiah airframe cumbersome. The aerodynamic performance of the YF-29 is improved over the Tornado pack because the twin beam cannon can be stored within the fuselage. In contrast to the VF-25 Tornado pack, the YF-29 features Fold Quartz (extracted from the Vajra) integrated into various systems such as energy converting armor or the fold wave projectors. This fold quartz integration grants the YF-29 Durandal capabilities greater than equivalent standard equipment. Though the YF-29 Durandal shares the VF-25 silhouette, the reworked airframe deviates significantly such that fuselage strength is improved. The YF-29 has acquired the armor strength of the VF-25 Armored pack.
The application of natural-shaped, highly-purified "Philosopher's Stone" fold quartz is the most important design element of the YF-29 Durandal, but is difficult to acquire from Vajra corpses. To harness the fold quartz requires use of an innovation called the Fold Wave system which produces an inexhaustible supply of energy for the YF-29. The Fold Wave hardware is an overdrive system featuring four Fold Quartz and a total of four fold wave devices. These devices were named after the four relics contained in the golden hilt of the saintly sword Durandal; "Saint Peter's tooth", "Saint Basil's blood", "Saint Denis' hair", and "piece of the Blessed Virgin Mary's raiment". Once completed, the YF-29 featured impressive anti-Vajra performance that made operation of the craft very distinctive. In addition to capabilities like communications tracing, the YF-29 can jam Vajra communications through intervention and obstruction of Vajra fold networks via fold waves.
The YF-29 development had been advanced because of the need for anti-Vajra deployment. Although YF-29 development was effectively completed by 2057 it was delayed due to difficulty acquiring fold quartz. SMS pilot Alto Saotome operated a YF-29 Durandal hastily built by arranging parts from the VF-25 Messiah. Therefore, it has unique performance unlike the original design. However, the combat performance of the existing airframe was surpassed in actual combat. Pilot Saotome even used the Super Pack missile launchers to fire while ejected from the YF-29 itself. The fold wave capability of the YF-29 Durandal delivered the fold song to the front lines that played a major role at the end of the conflict with the Vajra.
*SPECIAL NOTE: The first officially published YF-29 Durandal trivia (Macross Ace vol. 7, published by Kadokawa Shoten, December 2010) described two different weights and two ramjet engine thrust ratings. This trivia is written in different combinations in books such as Great Mechanics DX no. 16 (published 2011), to Official Complete Macross Frontier: The Movie Sayonara no Tsubasa (published by Kadokawa Shoten, April 2011) and the Macross Chronicle 2nd Edition (published by DeAgostini 2013). The reason for two sets of official figures is unknown nor is it known which pairing of weight/thrust is accurate. The two variables allow four possible T-W ratios: 69.70 (MIN weight, MAX thrust), 61.14 (MIN weight, MIN thrust), 56.83 (MAX weight, MAX thrust), and 49.85 (MAX weight, MIN thrust). Therefore, the YF-29 Durandal thrust-to-weight ratio will be listed as a range.
|
Debut: Macross Frontier The Movie: Sayonara no Tsubasa (The Wings of Goodbye)
Pilot(s): Alto Saotome
Other appearances: none
Original mechanical designer: Shoji Kawamori |
Information Courtesy of the Macross Compendium: www.macross.anime.net/wiki/Main_Page
Images From - Macross Chronicle and other macross books
C. Wilson - Writer, Editor and Colorist
|
|
