Front

Zero, M, FB, Plus, 7, 7Gin, D7, F

Illustrated by Tomotake Kinoshita

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Unmanned Aircraft
The group of unmanned aircraft that conformed to the requests of the era, and advanced to become the main fighter.
As of 2059, the New Unified Forces jointly uses the manned VF-171 and the unmanned Ghost aircraft (at present, the QF-4000 series craft, which were released from the 2040's, are the main craft), and they are used for different purposes to match the situation.* Manned aircraft are often inserted into such situations as cases where advanced flexibility are required and unmanned craft fall into dysfunction from such things as jamming. On the other hand, unmanned aircraft stand out in examples such as when they are used in combat missions and in the dispatch to unexplored areas that are dangerous for manned aircraft to be dispatched to.
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* Translator's note: Originally was: "As of 2059, the New Unified Forces jointly uses the manned VF-171 and the unmanned QF-4000 series craft, the so-called "Ghost", and they are used for different purposes to match the situation."

Related Matter: The VFs That Have Unmanned Aircraft Control Systems
The control methods of the unmanned Ghost series aircraft are ones by autonomous AI and ones by external control. The external control isn't only from large platforms, such as military vessels, but it's possible from VFs equipped with unmanned aircraft command and control devices, and the VF-171 series and VF-25 series are known examples of the equipment.

Caption: The VF-171 Unmanned Fighter Aircraft Commander model and VF-171EX Aegis Pack equipped model (Luca Angelloni craft) are famous as unmanned aircraft control craft.

Right: RVF-25
The S.M.S. Aegis Pack Kai equipped RVF-25 (Luca Angelloni craft). It can control the unmanned QF-4000 aircraft from the outside by a reedited control guidance program.

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Reverse

The Structure Of The Unmanned Aircraft
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AIF-7S
Illustration by Tokiko Yuzawa (Twinbell)

Right: Nose
There isn't a cockpit in the nose, but it is equipped with composite sensors and armaments. The nose is thought to have an acute angled design because the unmanned aircraft are considered to be for operations within the atmosphere.

Right: Armaments
A great number of VF class firearms are built into the aircraft, such as large-calibre machine-guns, beam guns, and missile launchers. In contrast with the airframe size, the payload is large, and they also excel in fire power.

Left: Fuselage
The fuselage itself is a non-transforming type, and they have a tendency toward being small and light-weight. Their bodies are large compared to their compact wings, they are loaded with VF class engines and armaments, and are thought to have measures for maintaining stealthiness.

Up: Engine
Thermonuclear engines were installed into unmanned aircraft from the QF-3000, and even their output was equal to a VF. As the airframes are light, they excel in the thrust to weight ratio, and they demonstrated manoeuvrability that outdoes the VFs.

The Points Of Difference Between Unmanned Aircraft And VFs
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The Presence Or Absence Of A Pilot
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Multi-purposefulness And Augment-ability
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The Presence Or Absence Of The Variable Mechanism
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Excellent Cost Performance
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The Evolution Of Unmanned Aircraft
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The Ghosts Of The Unification War Period
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Left: QF-2200D-B*
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* Translator's note: originally was: "QF-2200"

Right: QF-2200D-A*
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* Translator's note: originally was: "QF-2001"

The Ghosts Of The First Interstellar War Period
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Right: QF-3000
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The Ghosts From The 2040's
Around 2040, the plan to make the main fighter an unmanned aircraft spread internally in the Unified Forces, and the super-high performance unmanned X-9 aircraft was prototyped. Even though the main fighter didn't shift to unmanned aircraft due to distrust in the AI, the mass production X-9 (it is called the "QF-4000 series" in this text) was later deployed as the main fighter in reality.*

* Translator's note: originally was: "Even though the main fighter didn't shift to the unmanned aircraft due to distrust in the AI, the X-9's mass production QF-4000 series was later deployed as the main fighter in reality.".

Down: AIF-7S
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Up: X-9
(...) The AI was seized by Sharon.*

* Translator's note: errata. Originally was: "The AI was the completely autonomously controlled Sharon model."

Left: AIF-9V
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© Aaron Sketchley