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Illustrated by Jun Wada
Caption:
• The "Grand Cannon" is a gigantic weapon for defending the Earth that is designed to fight giant aliens. These cannons were built by applying the theories of the main gun of the SDF-1 Macross, and in a battle against the Bodoru Main Fleet, as many as 800,000 enemy ships were destroyed with just one shot.
Grand Cannon:
A Wide-area Attack Weapon Developed As The Ace In The Hole For The Earth's Defence
A Grand Cannons is an underground, super-sized, wide-area attack weapon developed to defend the Earth from giant aliens whose existence was discovered in the investigation of the ASS-1. In other words, it is a weapon with a huge beam cannon buried underground, however its power and scale far exceeded that of existing weapons. Unit 1 (Grand Cannon I), which was attached to the Alaska Base where the Unified Forces Headquarters was located, occupies most of the base facilities that extend 6 km underground (it can be said that this scale was calculated backwards from the size of the Grand Cannon). Also, the cannon is modelled on the Macross's OTM bow gunnery system, that is, the Macross's main gun. On top of being based on the theories of the Macross's main gun, the Grand Cannon has a 6 km size, and is one of the greatest weapons in human history. In fact, the Grand Cannon I, which was used in battle against the Bodoru Fleet, destroyed 800,000 ships in the Zentrādi Fleet in a single attack, demonstrating a power far beyond that of such weapons as the Macross's main gun and reaction weapons.
Even though the Grand Cannon takes pride in an immense power, it is also true that there are several questions, such as the need for non-portable weapons, and the effectiveness of the plans to intercept the aliens near the Earth. One answer to those questions was the sheer size of the expected military power of the aliens. As we can see from the Bodoru Fleet that appeared later, the Zentrādi military power was on an unimaginable scale. The Unified Forces, who had predicted the scale of the alien's military power to a certain extent from the ASS-1, judged that due to the overwhelming difference in military power between them and the aliens, they would be forced to make a defensive battle in the Earth sector of space. Therefore, in order to minimize the damage to the Earth, defeating the aliens in a short period of time became an unconditional requirement, and the Unified Forces presented a plan to "annihilate the enemy's main forces at once by simultaneously operating multiple wide-area attack systems." The weapon developed and constructed for this purpose was the Grand Cannon, and a total of five units were scheduled to be completed in various parts of the world, including the first unit in Alaska.
Related Matter: The Wide-Area Attack Weapons Of The Unified Forces
After the Humankind Dissemination Plan, the need for non-portable weapons such as the Grand Cannon diminished, and restrictions were placed on the use of Reaction Weapons as well. However, it is also true that weapons with a fire power in the class of the Macross's main gun are needed to protect Emigrant Fleets from hostile aliens, alien life forms, and so on.
▶ The Main Gun Of The SDF-1 Macross
The "OTM Bow Bombardment System" is generally referred to as as the main gun. It took pride in having enough firepower to destroy a Zentrādi ship in satellite orbit even from the surface of the Earth.
▶ [7] Macross Cannon
The main gun of the Battle-class Variable Stealth Space Attack Carrier, and is positioned on par with the Macross's main gun. The Macross Quarter is also equipped with a cannon of the same name.
The Grand Cannons And The Assumptions Of The Unified Forces
The Unified Forces assumed that multiple Grand Cannons (five were planned) could be fired simultaneously to destroy the alien forces in lunar orbit. The Grand Cannon is often thought to be difficult to fire continuously due to its power, but it was able to fire several times in rapid succession due to its energy capacitor (which seems to have been a kind of energy charging system). Also, it was expected that only a small number of enemy units would remain after the parallel attack of the Grand Cannons, and it was thought that VFs equipped with Reaction Weapons could deal with the enemy units in space and that VF and Destroid units could deal with the ones that descended into the atmosphere. In reality, only the Grand Cannon I at the Alaska Base had been completed, so parallel operations could not be conducted. However, considering the results of the battle with the Bodoru Main Fleet, it can be said that the Unified Forces' initial assumptions were not so far off the mark.
⬢ Grand Cannon Construction Sites
As mentioned above, the Grand Cannon is a weapon system designed for the simultaneous firing by multiple units. Construction of a total of five units—four on the Earth and one on the Moon—had started, and if all units were completed, the defence capability in lunar orbit was expected to increase dramatically. However, only the first unit in Alaska was actually completed.
◼ No.4 Cannon (Grand Cannon IV)
Construction Site: Moon (with Apollo Base?)
Construction Start: Mar. 2006
◼ No.2 Cannon (Grand Cannon II)
Construction Site: Australia
Construction Start: Mar. 2004
* Blown up by the Anti Unification Alliance in Nov. 2005.
◼ No.3 Cannon (Grand Cannon III)
Construction Site: Victoria Autonomous Region, Africa
Construction Start: Oct. 2004
◼ No.1 Cannon (Grand Cannon I)
Construction Site: Alaska (with the Unified Forces Headquarters)
Construction Start: May 2000
Caption:
• Unit 1 at the Alaska Base is the only one that attained actual use. It was completed in the latter half of the First Interstellar War, and it is thought that the project itself was delayed.
◼ No.5 Cannon (Grand Cannon V)
Construction Site: Brazil
Construction Start: May 2007
Caption:
• Confidence in the performance of the Grand Cannon is said to be one of the reasons why the Unified Forces did not change their policy even after being informed of the true state of the Zentrādi by the Macross, which had returned to the Earth.*
* Translator's note: originally was: "Pride in the Grand Cannon is considered to be the reason why...".
Actual Operations
The Grand Cannon was first used in Feb. 2010 during the battle against the Bodoru Main Fleet. Alaska Base, which survived the Bodoru Main Fleet's space-to-ground attack, fired the Grand Cannon at the enemy fleet deployed in space above the base. At this time, the firing angle was deflected 120°, and the firing time was 40 seconds. This resulted in the destruction of 800,000 enemy ships, but Alaska Base was destroyed immediately afterwards in a counterattack by the Bodoru Main Fleet. The Grand Cannon also ceased functioning without firing a second shot.
Caption:
• The firing system at the bottom of the cannon barrel was activated, and the beam was fired.
⬢ Structure Of The Grand Cannons
The Grand Cannon is a special weapon called a giant, wide-area attack system, however its basic structure is almost identical to other beam guns. It has a firing system at the bottom, a gun barrel with a cylindrical wall surface, and a muzzle with a beam deflection field generator at ground level, along with such things as a control room, and reactors for power generation.
◼ The Firing Port
The firing port that is normally closed by shutters. Beam deflection field generators are installed in the firing port.
◼ The Wall Surface
A 6 km-long cylindrical wall, which is also the barrel of the Grand Cannon. Elevators for personnel are also installed in the wall surface.
◼ Firing System
The main system at the bottom. It is composed of multiple devices, such as beam dischargers, energy capacitors, and gravitational field–energy converters.
Caption:
• Even though everything is in a nonstandard size and it has special devices such as the "gravitational field-energy converters", the Grand Cannon is basically a giant beam gun.
◼ Around The Shaft
It houses facilities such as the Unified Forces Headquarters facility, control rooms, living quarters, power generation reactors, material stockpiles, evacuation shelters, and storage for reaction weapons and so forth.
Captions:
• A beam-deflecting generator on the surface of the ground deflects the beam and determines the final firing angle.
• The beam directly hit the enemy fleet that was deployed in space over Alaska Base. Due to that, 800,000 Zentrādi ships were destroyed.
⬢ The Grand Cannons As Base Facilities
Since the Grand Cannon I is integrated with the Alaska Base, it also functions as a base facility. In fact, in addition to the Unified Forces Headquarters and residential facilities, as well as elevators/rail transports that travel to and fro within the vast facility.
Caption:
• The functions as a military headquarters were substantial, and information from all over the world was sent to it in real time. Survivability was also high because it was an underground facility.
Caption:
• Not only Destroids but VF-1 were deployed to the base in large numbers. These troop units were housed in the Grand Cannon's vast underground facility.