| VF-171 Nightmare Plus | |
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Manufacturer |
Stonewell/Grunder Industries |
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Type |
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Generation |
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Known Operator(s) |
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Developed From |
VF-17 Nightmare |
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Known Pilots |
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The VF-171 Nightmare Plus is a mass production, heavy combat variable fighter developed by Grunder Industries as a replacement for the venerable VF-11 Thunderbolt .
Technologies and Combat Characteristics[]
In building the VF-171 Nightmare Plus, the most outwardly noticeable changes Grunder Industries made were to extend the nose and enlarge the cockpit canopy for a superior field-of-view. The engine/leg units were also redesigned and the main wing, fuselage and arm units were changed for improved aerodynamic characteristics.
Instead of excessively high performance, the Nightmare Plus's design focuses on providing robust multi-role combat capability and ease-of-control for its pilots. Using less powerful engines and a more aerodynamically-stable design, the Nightmare Plus achieves a standard of performance that both exceeds what the original VF-17 was capable of without overwhelming inexperienced pilots. The inclusion of a 3rd Generation active stealth system and a pinpoint barrier considerably improved the Nightmare Plus's stealth and defensive capabilities, while the armament itself has remained largely unchanged, except for the addition of under-wing pylons for longer-ranged ordinance. All that aside, the VF-171's biggest selling points are its comparatively low production and maintenance cost, and that its design is versatile enough to be adapted to serve as an attack plane, light bomber, or even reconnaissance craft with very little modification.
Specifications (VF-171EX Nightmare Plus)[]
- Crew: 1 Pilot (Accommodations for a passenger).
- Length (Fighter): 15.65 Meters
- Wingspan (Fighter): 14.18 meters
- Height (Battroid): 15.1 Meters
- Powerplant: 2 x FF-3001L Stage II Thermonuclear Reaction Engines
- Airframe G Limit + EX-Gear: 25+12 /-22'Gs
- Armament (Standard):
- 1 x AVPAGC/MEDC30 anti-gravity particle cannon/30mm beam gun attachment
- 1 x Sentinal AVM-11R Missile Launcher/8 missiles
- 2 x ROV-127L 12.7mm beam guns (Head mounted)
- 2 x AAB-8A 30mm cannons (Anti-ECA ammunition)
- 2 x Internal micro-missile launchers/15 missiles per launcher.
- 6 x Underwing hardpoints.
- Shielding: Pin-Point Barrier Mk.V-Type B (20% increase in armor strength)
- Armor: Energy Converting Armor Mk.VI.
- Additional Avionics/Features:
- EGP-06ASU
- AA/AS/SF-06R3 Unified Sensor Matrix
- 360 degree panoramic cockpit.
- Countermeasures Suite
- 4th Generation Active Stealth System
- Optional Equipment:
- AAS-171 Strike Pack
- AP-SF-01+ Aegis Early Warning/Electronic Warfare Pack (Fold wave specification)
- 2 x Super Fold Boosters
History[]
Development of the VF-171 can be traced back to the aftermath of the Vagan conflict in 2575. The VF-11 Thunderbolt, which had served as the mainline UCR variable fighter from 2556, was showing it's age against the Feios (A Vagan equivalent to 3rd Generation VFs), and the new Block III VF-19s, while fully capable of fighting against the Feios on equal term were too difficult for inexperienced pilots to operate, resulting the aircraft to be assigned to ace pilots. Realizing the need for a new mainline 3rd generation fighter the UCR military contracted L.A.I and Grunder Industries in Project Nova, however L.A.I would drop out of the project soon after to focus their in house project, leaving Grunder Industries as the sole company in the project.
Grunder Industries was well known for developing variable fighters with radical but unproven technologies for their mainline fighter bids (The VF-22 being the most notable example). Learning from their past projects, the Grunder development team decided to use the VF-17 Nightmare, a variable fighter possessing strong space performance, defense and stealth capabilities, as the basis for the new fighter. Various changes were made to make the new craft more aerodynamic, resulting in a recognizable but still distinct new air frame. 16 YF-171 prototypes were manufactured in January of 2576 and sent to Ceras Point on Sapin for extensive atmospheric and space tests, which were concluded on July of 2576 and pre-production of the block I VF-171 was approved of August the same year.
New Horizon[]
In early October of 2576, VF-171s from the UCR Stargazer took part in the destruction of several facilities belonging to New Dawn remnants, and provided close air support to the ground forces involve. This was the first combat mission of the VF-171.
TRM Civil War[]
12th CARCOMGRP VF-171s and Stargazer Class Destroyers patrolling Winterfell during the TRM Civil War.
VF-171s saw extensive action against Peter Snow's Coup d'etat forces in the 2576-77 TRM Civil war. The Nightmare Plus unsurprisingly proved to be superior than any aircraft in the Coup forces' inventory. Aerospace and Marine pilots compared the one sided engagements to seal clubbing.
NUNS Intervention at Nippon[]
UCR VF-171s later saw combat at Nippon during the NUNS Intervention Operation in 2577 against CGE forces.
2580's[]
By the dawn of the new decade, the VF-171 had fully phased out the VF-11 Thunderbolt as the primary variable fighter of the UCR. The VF-171 was also adopted by NUNS members such as Voldor and Nilo, as well as a replacement for New Dawn War era Variable Fighters still being used by other friendly nations.
Cineris-Dominion War[]
UCR Marine and Aerospace Forces VF-171s saw action against Dominion air and space forces during the Battle of Corneria in the CMF led Operation CERULEAN ACE II. The VF-171s proved to be effective against swarms of Droid starfighters and TIE Drones, but suffered losses to sneak attacks from AD Venom fighters during the campaign. RVF-171s from SVQ-782 "Enchanter" provided electronic support to allied air forces during the final push to the AD HQ. Other RVF-171s served as control ships to QF-4000 "Ghost" UCAVs also used to counter the AD's droid swarms.
Variants[]
- VF-171 Nightmare Plus Block I: Initial production single seat version. Powered by 2 FF-2110A Thermonuclear turbine engines. Default armaments are one GU-14A 40mm Gunpod, two 30mm ventral heavy beam cannons, two laser cannons face the rear of the aircraft that becomes the head guns in battroid mode, two internal micro-missile launchers and six hard points mounted in the wings for missile and other munitions. Can equip special mission packs.
- VB-171 Nightmare Plus: Variable Bomber variant. Equipped with eight hard points under the wings.
- RVF-171 Nightmare Plus: Radome equipped variant. Can perfom recon, ELINT, electronic support/warfare and drone control roles.
- VF-171 Nightmare Plus Block II: New block modification introduced in late 2578 for standard NUNS use. Improvements include the installation of the new Ariel II airframe and fire control A.I, replacement of the AA/AS/SF-05D USM with the AA/AS/SF-06 Unified Sensor Matrix, and slightly up-tuned FF-2110C Thermonuclear Reaction Engines. The original laser cannons were replaced by 2 REB-22 22mm beam guns.
- VF-171 Nightmare Plus\Voldor Type-1: Block 2 sub variant locally produced by Voldor. Minor modification includes enhanced electronic warfare and targeting capabilities.
- VF-171 Nightmare Plus\Nilo Mod-1C: VF-171 sub-variant locally produced by Nilo. Changes include installation of modified FF-2110N engines, giving a 10% increase in power output.
- VF-171EX Nightmare Plus EX: Latest VF-171 variant that first entered production in 2589. Features an EX-Gear compatiable cockpit resulting in a slightly shorter frame compared to Block II 171s (15.52 meters vs 15.65 meters), new FF-3001 engines used by other UCR 4th Gen VFs as well as updated avionics, weaponry and a redesigned head unit featuring a twin visor set, bringing the VF-171 up to 4th generation standards. Data from the VF-171X was used in the development of the 171EX, however the ISC did not make it into the final production model.
Special variants[]
- VF-171 Nightmare Plus "Command Wolf": A custom version of the VF-171 Nightmare Plus piloted by Morgan Adolpho. This variant boasts higher speed and agility thanks to up-tuning the engines.
- VF-171X Nightmare Plus EVALA : The VF-171X Nightmare Plus EVALA (Evaluation Airframe) are a batch of six VF-171 airframes that were rebuilt from the ground up in order to incorporate an ISC unit for testing and evaluation purposes to for the feasability of future ISC equipped 171 batches. The EVALA 171s are operated by the 601st Flight Evaluation Squadron based on Fera Air Base.
Gallery[]
Credits[]
- Infobox picture of the VF-171 was made by Luis Venegas of the Macross World Forums for the Macross New Horizon RPG group.