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VF-171 / Destroid
The New Unified Forces Mobile Weapons that sustain Macross Frontier

Caption: Battroid Mode

Caption: Fighter Mode

Caption: VF-171 equipped with the AAS-171 Armour Pack kit were seen in the latter period of the Vajra Campaign. In addition to that, it was also possible for the VF-171 to be equipped with the L.A.I. Co. made Super Fold Booster.

Caption: A VF-171 carrying out hand-to-hand combat with the Vajra. Even though the VF-171's firepower was improved upon after the initial encounter, it had a hard fight with the Soldier Vajra, which had superior mobility in close combat.

Up: VF-171 Nightmare Plus
The aircraft that's based on the special operations VF-17 has had improvements applied to it orientated toward general pilots. Even though a great number of VF-171 were deployed in Macross Frontier, they came to fight hard against the Vajra.

Right: Destroid Cheyenne II
A redesigned Destroid based on the Destroid Cheyenne, which was operated at the time of the Unification War. In addition to the New Unified Forces, it was also deployed to the Civilian Military Provider S.M.S..

Caption: The Cheyenne II was also deployed to S.M.S.'s Macross Quarter, and took charge of anti-aircraft interception functions, as a substitute for anti-aircraft gun platforms.

Right: Destroid Works
The Destroid for work, which is a Cheyenne II that has had its armaments removed. In the Frontier Fleet, they are widely used by not only the New Unified Forces, but also by civilians.

Caption: After the first Vajra encounter, the Works performed the work to transport the Vajra remains (in the upper-left of the picture).

Aircraft Explanation
In the "Vajra Campaign" that the Frontier Fleet experienced in 2059, the main manned mobile weapons of that fleet were the VF-171 Nightmare Plus and the Destroid Cheyenne II. Both of them were airframes with reliable performance, which were redesigns based on airframes that had earned constant high valuations in the past. However, they were only reliable airframes that boasted non-standard performance as mobile weapons, and they couldn't sufficiently respond to the Vajra that the Fleet encountered. As a result, despite the New Unified Forces depending on the support of the Civilian Military Provider S.M.S., and temporarily maintaining the war situation in the initial stage of the campaign, they came to hasten the development of "Implant Shells", which were anti-Vajra ordnance.

Size Comparison:
VF-1J, VF-171, Cheyenne II, Works

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Operation Record
As previously stated, even though it was the mobile weapons of the New Unified Forces that were forced to fight hard against the Vajra, the conventional weapons of the human side were fortunately able to deal with the Vajra armour (although there was a supposition that the defensive capabilities of the entire Vajra swarm are strengthened by experiencing a fixed amount of battle experience, at least such signs weren't seen in this campaign), and the power balance was barely maintained as, from the middle of the campaign, the VF-171 were equipped with large missiles and reaction weapons, and the Vajra, who excelled in quality and quantity, pressed the depths of their artillery.

Caption: A VF-171 performing a dogfight with a Vajra. It's said that among the VF-171, there were squadrons that were prohibited from hand-to-hand combat with the Vajra, and they were devoted to missile strikes from long range.

Caption: The mobility of the VF-171 was overwhelmed by the Vajra, and cases where the Vajra easily approached and shot down the VF-171 weren't unusual.

Caption: A Destroid unit intercepting the Soldier Vajra that had penetrated into Island 1. However, the Destroids were easy targets as they had slow manoeuvrability.

VF-171 Nightmare Plus
From the fact that the mass production and deployment of the New Unified Forces' main fighter VF-19, which was selected in Project Super Nova, didn't go forward because of various circumstances (although there were murmurs that the reasons where such things as the government regulating its deployment to emigrant planets and emigrant fleets, the aircraft costs being large, and a lack of pilots who could manage it, the truth is unknown), the VF-171 was conceived as a replacement aircraft for the worn out VF-11.
As a multipurpose Heavy Variable Fighter that was developed based on the VF-17, the VF-171 reduced the high production costs, which were the VF-17's weak point, at the same time as fully making the best use of its within-fuselage capacity, improved such things as the avionics to the latest versions, and aimed at an improvement in performance.
The VF-171's maiden flight took place in 2046, and due to its excellent all-purposefulness and ease of handling, its mass production and deployment rapidly progressed; and it took an active part on emigrant planets and in emigrant fleets virtually as the main fighter aircraft. Even though the ones that were operated by the Frontier Fleet were the New Unified Forces standard specification Block II (2055 product year update version), in 2059, the Frontier Fleet completed improvement work on some of the aircraft to Block IIIF, which was an original update. Given that this Block III improved the avionics class to the AA/AS/SF-06 Integrated Matrix, which was developed for the VF-25, and exchanged the engines for the FF-2550F Thermonuclear Turbine Engines, the improvements finished with an even stronger aircraft (the instillation of the EX System was possibly put off in the balance with the cost of the improvements).

Caption: The VF-171 Armoured Pack consists of additional armour on the chest and legs, and the dedicated armaments on the right arm (a large bore gun and a 30 mm machine gun Composite Weapon Pack).

Caption: VF-171 flying loaded with large quantities of ordinance. Even if the VF-171 is equipped with armaments on the outside of the fuselage, the 3rd generation Active Stealth System maintains the VF-171's great stealthiness.

Data
Length: 15.65 m
Empty Weight: 12,950 Kg
Engine: 2x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry / P&W / Royce FF-2250F Thermonuclear Turbine Maximum Engine Thrust Outside of an Atmosphere: 2x 67.5 t
Vernier Engine: P&W, HMM-6B
Cruising Speed: Mach 4.3+ (at 10,000 m, in a clean state without external equipment on the airframe) / Mach 21+ (at 30,000 m or higher)
Standard Armament: 2x Bifors AMG-30 30 mm Heavy Machine-gun, 2x Ericon AAB-9A Beam Gun, 2x Internal Bifors BLM-02S Micro-missile Launcher, 1x Howard GU-14B Kai Gatling Gun-pod
* In addition, it is possible to combine such things as: the Bifors AAMM-05D Medium Range Anti-Aircraft Missile, the 6-tube Sentinel FXA-60A High-Speed Armour-Piercing Rocket Pod, the 3-tube L.A.I. AAMS-02A Short Range High-Manoeuvrable Anti-Aircraft Missile Pack, or the 4-shot Sentinel AVM-11R Anti-Ship Missile Pack (able to be equipped with reaction weapons), on the 5 main wing additional weapon stations. Also, it's possible to equip a maximum of two Large Anti-Ship Reaction Weapon Missiles on the weapon station on the underside of the main wings.

Caption: GERWALK Mode

Up: In the Anti-Vajra War, it's said that there were pilots who cast aside the manoeuvrability of Fighter Form, and challenged the Vajra to hand-to-hand combat in GERWALK Form, which could easily manage the armaments.

Destroid Cheyenne II
The Destroids, whose main duties were anti-aircraft attacks, were applied to such things as intercepting the Vajra who had penetrated into the general sections of such places as Island 1. Although their firepower itself boasted the power to shoot down the Vajra, the Destroids couldn't hit the Vajra, who flew about with high manoeuvrability, and it is assumed that the Destroids could only put up a barrage that put a degree of restraint on the Vajra's movements.

Caption: Cheyenne II intercepting the Vajra, who were attacking the Macross Frontier concert venue, with Gatling guns, at the beginning of 2059.

Caption: In the second Vajra engagement, when the Macross Quarter tried the Macross Attack on the Large Vajra Warship, the Cheyenne II were deployed on the deck and simultaneously shelled the Vajra.

Destroid Works
The work Destroid that's based on the Destroid Cheyenne II. Equipment for combat has been removed, such as the firearms and radar, and a pair of manipulators for fine work are equipped on the right and left arms. In the Vajra Campaign, they took an active part in the work to remove the destroyed rubble, the recovery of the wreckage of the Vajra that had been shot down, and so on. More than the VF-171 and Cheyenne II, which couldn't give telling blows against the Vajra, it's said that there were statements from the Fleet Government that the movements of the Works just about correspond to its cost. Also, in the Vajra Campaign, the Works took an active part in establishing such things as the residential blocks on the Vajra homeworld, where the fleet had begun to emigrate to.

Caption: After the Vajra Campaign, the Works were engaged in residential facility work on the Vajra homeworld (picture center).

Related Matter: The Civilian Destroid Works
The Works was also operated as the heavy machinery for civilian public works within the fleet. It's said that public works machinery manufacturers also developed options for work, which were supported by the Works' manipulators, such as excavators and pneumatic drills.

Caption:From the Super-Dimensional Heavy Equipment Exhibition held in 2059. A Works that's holding an excavator in its hands can be seen on the right side.

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© Aaron Sketchley