Front [Pg 01-02]

Illustration by Hidetaka Tenjin

VF-25F Messiah
The attacker specification VF-25 that was taken over by S.M.S.'s child prodigy.

Aircraft Explanation:
The VF-25 Messiah is a Variable Fighter (hereafter VF) that the Macross Frontier Fleet originally developed based on the YF-24 Evolution; and the VF-25F (F model) is one of the custom versions of that VF. Among the early prototype VF-25 that the Civilian Military Provider S.M.S. carried trial operations with, improvements were applied to the details in order to satisfy various demands, and they also possessed aspects as custom aircraft. In addition, the colouring of this craft is known as the one that S.M.S. Warrant Officer Saotome Aruto operated, playing the attacker role in the VF squadron.

Data: *Data is when it is in Fighter form
Affiliation: S.M.S.
Overall Length: 18.72 m
Height: 4.03 m (not including main landing gear)
Width: 15.50 m (when main wings are fully extended)
Empty Weight: 8,450 kg
Airframe Design Maximum Load: 27.5 G
Engine: Shinsei Industry / P&W / RR made FF-3001A Stage II Thermonuclear Turbine Engine x2
Maximum Thrust in Space: 1,620 kN x2
Maximum Speed: Mach 5.0+ (10,000 m altitude)
Standard Armament: 2x interchangeable 25 mm machine gun (Remington ES-25A) or 25 mm beam gun (Mauler ROV-25), 2x 12.7 mm beam machine gun (Mauler ROV-127C), 1x new model 58 mm Gun Pod (Howard GU-17A), complete set of SWAG Energy Conversion Armour, complete set of Active Stealth System, multipurpose discharger (MDP/S-02)

Development Chart:
VF-19 > YF-24 > VF-25

Size Comparison:
VF-1J, VF-25F

Main Pilot:
Saotome Aruto

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Reverse - Left [Pg 03]

Operation Record
The VF-25 had almost completed the test run by S.M.S. in 2059, and was shifting to the mass production stage. However, it hadn't been deployed to the New Unified Forces and it's performance evaluation testing continued in parallel to its operation in SMS, where it remained. Although this colouring was operated by Skull Squadron's Captain Henry Gilliam at first, after he was killed in action in the first Vajra attack on the fleet, the craft he left behind was taken over by Warrant Officer Saotome Aruto, and the fourth Skull Squadron craft (call sign "Skull 4") was born. Even though this same craft is lost during the Galaxy Fleet rescue operation, a new VF-25 with the same specification was given to Aruto a second time, and it held up a corner of the Skull Squadron.

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Armaments
As standard armaments, the VF-25F is equipped with 2 kinds of fixed armaments: 2 fixed emplacements in the body (either Rammington ES-25A 25 mm machine-guns, Mauler ROV-25 25 mm beam guns, or a mix of both), and 2 Mauler ROV-127C 12.7 mm beam machine-guns in the head. In regard to carried armaments, the VF-25F is equipped with a Howard GU-17A New Style 58 mm gun pod.

Left: Mauler ROV-127C 12.7 mm Beam Machine-gun
The number of 12.7 mm Beam Machine-guns installed in the sides of the head monitor block differ according to the VF-25 variant; in the F model, there is one each on the left and right sides. This armament is also equipped with a long range laser communications function.

Up: Howard GU-17A New Style 58 mm Gun Pod
It's also possible to deploy the lower armour slab of the gun pod, like in the figure, in order to more quickly dissipate waste heat when firing. Later on, the gun pod was improved into the GU-17V, which could support MDE weapons.

Down: AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife
A Garber Otec. made assault knife is stored in the shield. The 1.65 m long blade is handled by the Battroid's manipulators.

Cockpit
The VF-25 is the first Variable Fighter to officially adopt the Extender Gear System (hereafter EX-Gear) in the flight system, and together with the results of ISC, which abates acceleration, the VF-25 has realized an improvement in controllability. The cockpit is constructed to interface with an EX-Gear, so that when an EX-Gear wearing pilot boards it, the VF-25 automatically recognizes the pilot and adjusts the seat position for them. Also, the pilot's handling data, that the EX-Gear has learnt, is shared with the aircraft's control assisting computer and memory chips. In addition, although the VF-25 is usually a single-seater, it is equipped with a spare seat under a panel in the rear of the cockpit, and the VF-25 can be controlled from the spare seat even by pilots who aren't wearing EX-Gear.

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Fighter Mode
The VF-25 Messiah has a simple design that directly descends from the VF-1. The Fighter form's feature is that it's control is performed with various mechanisms, in addition to aerodynamic control with the main wing and tail. There is direction control, due to the vortex controller in the upper part of the nose in addition to the BLC boundary controller, thrust axis change due to variable nozzles, and so on. Also, controls that use such things as high-manoeuvrability thrusters and air-brakes are used together with the other systems (the within atmosphere flight characteristics of the VF-25 were valued in the design, even though the functions of a part of them were only used when flying in an atmosphere). By using ISC, the VF-25 has enabled a high manoeuvrability that approaches that of an unmanned craft, by reducing the Gs produced by the complex flying behaviour of it's various mechanisms. Furthermore, even among the variants of the VF-25, the F model's specifications are picky; to the extent that it's said that the flying skills of the pilot were markedly reflected in it's flight.

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Caption: The heatproof compound material LC-212, made by the L.A.I. company, is used for the nose radome. Moreover, the APN-2000 antenna is arranged on the left and right of the underside of the nose.

Caption: The high manoeuvrability thrusters (P&W HMM-9) nozzles are arranged in various places on the fuselage, such as at the ends of the main wings and the nose. Also, Active Stealth Antennae are built into the front of the main wings.

Caption: A variable nozzle that can change it's angle up and down and to the left and right, is provided with a thrust reverser in the circumference of it's base. Battroid-use ground contact pressure and environment monitors are in the pointed end of the nozzle.

Caption: The bulge on the outside of the engine pod functions as an air/dive brake, and it has a multipurpose discharger (MDP/S-02) on the inside.

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Reverse - Right [Pg 04]

GERWALK Mode
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Caption: Aruto's craft was left stranded by a D-Pulse Burst. As the navigation system was whited out, it was impossible for him to fly the VF-25F, so he moved the craft through the jungle of Gaul 4 in GERWALK.

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Left: The legs expand in GERWALK, and it is possible to use the shield (the second generation energy conversion armour material is the same type as that used in the Armoured Pack).

Right: Equipped in the root of the nozzle built into the ankle are the nozzle-angle control/suspension actuators.

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Battroid Mode
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Up: Wrists *

* Translator's note: not on the original sheet

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© Aaron Sketchley