VF-19 Excalibur - Background

Background

The VF-19 Excalibur is the production-line version of Shinsei Industries' YF-19 AVF Prototype which won the Project Super Nova design contest of 2040. Although destined to eventually replace the aging VF-11 Thunderbolt as the main variable fighter for the UN Spacy, distribution to date has been slow. Currently the Excalibur is being used as a fighter for UN Spacy colonization fleets. The rare VFs are usually only piloted by the best and brightest pilots, similar to the status enjoyed by the VF-17 Nightmare. The VF-19 will gradually phase out and replace the VF-11 as the main fighter of the UN Spacy.

Several design changes have taken place since the YF-19 was selected as the winner of Project Super Nova. The FF-2500E engines in the prototype were replaced with newer FF-2550J thermonuclear turbine engines that could provide 17% more thrust than the earlier versions, and the P&W HMM-6J thrusters were upgraded to P&W HMM-7 units for increased maneuverability. Other than these changes, the initial production VF-19A was essentially identical to the YF-19 prototype. Later, the VF-19F model was released by Shinsei which replaced the forward canard wings with an extra bank of maneuvering thrusters for better performance in space, and also redesigned the entire wing structure of the craft, replacing the long variable-forward-sweep wing with a shorter fixed-sweep one, for better space maneuverability (by keeping the ship's mass closer to center, a higher roll rate can be achieved). The wing lasers and GU-15 gun pod were kept as main weapons for the VF-19 (all versions). It can mount medium range missiles or two banks of 24 high-maneuverability mini-missiles that are more suited for close-range high-speed mecha combat. Finally, the entire head unit was redesigned on the VF-19F and S versions, and a group of four lasers were added to complement the single head-mounted pulse laser on the VF-19S model. The VF-19 is fully compatible with a fold booster and can execute individual folds like its prototype predecessor could. Several variant models have been produced by individual colony fleets to suit their particular needs, such as the VF-19S Custom (unofficially called the Fire Valkyrie) produced by the Macross 7 Colonization Fleet.

During the Protodeviln War, only one unit of 3 Excaliburs (two VF-19Fs and one VF-19S) were stationed on board the Macross 7. This unit, called Emerald Force, served as the vanguard of the Macross 7 defense forces during the latter half of the war and was part of the historic Operation Stargazer assault on the Protodeviln homeworld. Unfortunately two of the three fighters were destroyed during this operation, and the third one was damaged a short time later during the final battle of the war. During the Operation Orpheus mission to rescue the Milky Dolls from Zentradi forces one VF-19A was stationed aboard the Valhalla III carrier. The VF-19 Excalibur is proving to be a very able design and will continue to become the main variable fighter of the UN Spacy for the foreseeable future.

Another variant, the VF-19P, was stationed on the planet Zola. It was commandeered by Fire Bomber guitarist/vocalist Basara Nekki while battling a group of space whale poachers within the planet's orbit.