False Prophet wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2019 10:59 pm
What is the "Heavy Quantum Beam Gun" on the YF-29 exactly? How is it difference from normal beam guns?
The "quantum" in "heavy quantum" in
Macross doesn't refer to zero point energy. Rather, they're using the less commonly used (today) more conventional meaning of "quantum" to mean "an amount of something", as in the title
Quantum of Solace.
Heavy quantum beam weaponry is a subset of dimensional weaponry, which fire a beam or bolt composed of exotic matter that exists simultaneously in realspace and in higher dimensional (fold) space.
"Heavy quantum", in this case, refers to a type of exotic matter from fold space that partially protrudes into three-dimensional spacetime and can be created using energized fold carbon or fold quartz as a catalyst. Its enormously high mass is mostly trapped in fold space unless excited by certain frequencies of fold resonance waves, which are tuned to cause part (or all) of its mass to briefly drop into realspace. This aspect of heavy quantum is essential to gravity manipulation, which is used to create artificial gravity and antigravity reactionless flight in spaceships, for fuel compression and plasma containment in fold reactors, for creating gates into foldspace for interstellar travel using space folds, as implosion triggers in thermonuclear reaction warheads, as the warhead itself in dimensional warheads (dimension eaters), and in highly destructive beam weaponry.
Most dimensional beam weapons are heavy quantum reaction beam weapons - also known as the super dimension energy cannon - which you could say are
Macross's riff on the mega particle beam cannon. They produce a quantity of heavy quantum and use a resonance fold wave to excite it until its mass drops all the way into three-dimensional space time and it auto-ignites in a thermonuclear fusion reaction due to its own colossal mass. The fusion detonation is focused by any of several means to collimate it into a high velocity, high mass fusion plasma beam that carries enormous destructive power.
Lately, a less powerful but less energy-intensive variant of this technology has been introduced. Heavy quantum beam weapons generate heavy quantum using fold quartz or fold carbon, but instead of trying to trigger a fusion reaction in the heavy quantum they just fire the heavy quantum itself as a beam or bolt while exposing it to the resonance fold waves to cause part of its mass to drop into realspace. The heavy quantum fired isn't a superhot plasma beam, it's a chunk of ultra-high mass matter moving at high speeds like a depleted uranium bullet.
You could think of it the heavy quantum reaction beam cannon like using a gas canister to feed a plasma torch to cut through things, while the heavy quantum beam cannon is like just chucking the gas canister at someone to do blunt force injuries.
There is a third class called a MDE (Micro Dimension Eater) beam weapon. This type works by using fold quartz to produce superheavy quantum that has mass in excess of regular heavy quantum produced by fold carbon, and fire that excited superheavy quantum as what amounts to a particle beam made up of micro black holes that suck any matter they come into contact with into fold space.
"Regular" beam weapons in
Macross depends on what scale of beam weapon you're talking about. For ships, heavy quantum reaction beam weaponry is the norm for everything from your anti-aircraft gun turrets on up the scale to anti-warship gun turrets and (where present) the massive main gun systems used for bombarding enemy planets and wiping out small fleets in a single shot. There are a bunch of different minor variations of it, which use different methods to focus or direct the heavy quantum fusion plasma beam to its target. Some guns use an actual gun barrel, some warp space-time into a gun barrel as needed, and some can even twist space time hard enough to bend the beam after it leaves the barrel to avoid needing a repositionable turret.
For mecha, "regular" beam weapons usually means charged particle beam weaponry of one type or another. The Zentradi favor electron particle beam weapons, for instance. Usually they don't get more specific than "charged particle beam" though. Dimensional beam weapons were miniaturized sufficiently to mount on VFs starting with the 4th Generation (built-in heavy quantum reaction beam guns were an option on the YF-19 and YF-21), but the high energy requirements and resulting low rate of fire from those weapons means most beam weaponry used on VFs is charged particle beams. (Laser weapons, typically mounted on the head of a VF, are not counted as beam guns.)
False Prophet wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2019 10:59 pm
Also, is it said anywhere how many percentage of VF-25's components does the Durandal and Perceval have respectively? Isn't the Durandal kind of a patchwork machine?
Not that I've seen, all we know is that the Macross Frontier fleet's YF-29 Durandal shared a lot of components with the YF/VF-25 that was developed in parallel with it and that one and only prototype produced contained an even greater amount of VF-25 parts to allow it to be rushed to completion.