False Prophet wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:27 am
Say, after the VF-4, how many years does a VF model usually serve in the NUNS before it is replaced?
It varies, but for a Main Variable Fighter the average life expectancy seems to be around 30 years.
Their actual tenures as Main Variable Fighter can be shorter depending on need or the pace of the advancements being made in technology, but in terms of the time between when they're introduced and when they're retired by the New UN Forces and either scrapped or sold off is about 30 years. (As evidenced by the VF-11, which entered service c.2028 and was in the process of being retired by the New UN Forces c.2058.)
False Prophet wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:27 am
I suddenly have the thought there is pretty much no reason for any big budget VF project by the time of Delta. I mean, the whole spectrum of cost-to-performance has been filled by then. If you want something cheap, there is the VF-171, QF-4000 and VF-31. If you want something powerful, there is the YF-27. And if you want something in the middle, there is the VF-25. Feels like if you want to add a new VF, the story after Delta will have to be set several years in the future.
So... the VF-171's not really in the current picture, as such. By 2067, the VF-171 Nightmare Plus is a twenty year old previous (4th) generation design that is nearing the end of its useful service life. The VF-171 was itself a late introduction into its generation, with the actual 4th Generation's operational requirements being thirty years old by 2067.
Performance-wise, the 5th Generation VFs that started from the YF-24 Evolution outclass the VF-171 by quite the large margin. That excessive level of performance was deemed necessary to combat the Vajra, which is why the 5th Generation VF requirements were drawn up the way they were, but now that 5th Generation VFs have begun entering military service it's only a matter of time before most New UN Government member states upgrade with an eye towards maintaining parity of arms with their neighbors.
While many New UN Government member states doubtless purchased licenses to locally build 5th Generation VFs that were developed elsewhere like the VF-24 or VF-25, there are reasons beyond performance and the strategic picture that can make developing their own VF locally advantageous.
Macross likes to mirror developments in the real world, and the backstory of the Brisingr Alliance's decision to develop their own 5th Generation VF (in the form of the VF-31) broadly mirrors modern Japan's own 5th Generation fighter program. While they could've simply continued build-under-license agreements to produce fighters developed by their close allies, they opted for developing their own next-generation fighter as a form of economic stimulus. The goal was to stimulate the flagging economy of the Brisingr globular cluster by doing all the development and manufacture locally, creating jobs and so on, and to develop this new VF with an eye towards exporting it to other governments themselves to bring money in from outside their territory. While it not explicitly stated, it's a very safe bet the Frontier fleet's VF-25 program had similar motives, though that government was much more economically prosperous.
There's no real "high end" option available. The VF-27's specs were never disclosed to the New UN Government's agencies as required by law, so the VF-27 is still considered to be the YF-27. It's also basically illegal to operate them, since cyborg soldiers are illegal under New UN Government law and the VF-27's ISC can't keep up with the fighter's performance so a cyborg is basically a requirement to operate the aircraft safely. The VF-25, VF-31, and monkey model VF-24 are presumably all hovering around the same basic level of capability, while the YF-29 and YF-30 are simply too expensive to even consider mass production.
False Prophet wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:27 am
Anayway, when did the practice of exporting monkey models to the colonies and fleets began?
After the so-called "Sharon Apple Incident" depicted in
Macross Plus.
When the YF-19 and YF-21 unintentionally demonstrated the ability to independently break through Earth's orbital defenses, compromising the most secure planet in the New UN Government, the New UN Government and New UN Forces joint staff became somewhat anxious about the prospect of such craft ending up in the hands of rebellious emigrant governments or terrorist organizations. Conflicts with both had been on the rise in the 2040s, leading to crackdowns as Earth attempted to centralize more governing authority on itself under the influence of an Earth-supremacist faction in the government and military called Latence.
False Prophet wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:27 am
Or rather, how far does Earth's direct political and military sphere of influence extend to?
Prior to 2051, Earth exerted a lot of direct control over emigrant governments and was trying to tighten its grip on many of them in the name of defense.
After Latence was ousted following the so-called Second Unification War and their attempted coup via hijacking of Earth's defense force flagship
Macross-13, government reforms reduced Earth's direct authority over emigrant governments and granted individual New UN Government members more governing autonomy. The reforms made a number of changes to the New UN Forces as well, granting local governments more control over their own defenses and imposing new oversight over the central New UN Forces to prevent abuses of authority.
Earth is still more or less the "first among equals" in the New UN Government since it's home to the New UN Gov't general assembly and has the most manufacturing and technological muscle of any member state by a truly huge margin and provides arms to the central New UN Forces. Its authority is still much-diminished in the 2050s and 2060s compared to before, when Earth exerted a lot more direct control.
yazi88 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 3:55 pm
VF-31 is not cheap. It uses cheaper parts compared to the prototype YF-30, but its performance and cost is still pretty high. Only the big corporations can afford it in Delta, similar to how SMS could afford the VF-25 and YF-29 in the Frontier fleet. Same with the YF-27 with the Galaxy Fleet. Non of the actual NUNS local fleets can afford such expensive machines.
Sort of? None of the 5th Generation VFs are cheap, but the VF-31 is actually intended to be more economical than many of the alternatives. The Brisingr Alliance's main goal with it, apart from stimulating its own economy directly via job creation, was to make money selling it in export to governments that were presumably not interested in the VF-24's export variants or VF-25.
That said, it's not correct to say that only big corporations can afford them. The reason we see PMCs using them in combat before we see the New UN Forces operating them is actually way more awful (and explained directly in the early episodes of
Macross Frontier).
SMS and Xaos were contracted to carry out operational evaluation testing on the next-generation VFs for the local New UN Forces they were developed for. The reason? As civilian contractors, there's less red tape involved to get them mobilized. More importantly, if they are somehow killed in the process of testing as a result of some defect in the aircraft or they die in combat their death is legally considered to be an accident. If a PMC pilot snuffs it, it means less red tape in the form of procedural inquiries, no lawsuits for wrongful death, and their next of kin don't receive any posthumous military benefits. Legally speaking, SMS and Xaos are expendable redshirts for their local New UN Government member states. They don't even own the fighters they're flying... those are on loan to them from the local New UN Forces specifically for the testing they've been contracted to do. It's doubtful that even a megacorp could afford to field large numbers of a state of the art VF.
In both cases, the 5th Gen VF in question is noted to be on track for adoption by the local New UN Forces within a few years. The VF-25 is noted to have already begun phasing into service with the New UN Forces in the Frontier fleet and elsewhere in 2061, and it's noted the VF-31 is set to enter New UN Forces service in the Brisinger cluster in either 2069 or 2070.