Alpha Veritech VFA-6

The Alpha Veritech - designation VFA-6 - is a fictional transforming aerospace strike fighter used in the Robotech universe.

The VFA-6 Alpha Fighter's design is borrowed from the AFC-01 Legioss Armo-Fighter in the Japanese series Genesis Climber Mospeada. The VF-X-6 Genia prototype of the Alpha was developed with another Veritech fighter design, the Condor, and the two share very strong visual similarities. By the time the Robotech Expeditionary Force departed in 2022, Alpha Veritechs could combine with the VF-X-7 Beta Veritech prototype. The VF-X-6 project was developed slowly through the early teens as an alternate to the then-favored YF-4; when the YF-4 project ended the Robotech Defense Force pushed the VFA-6 into high gear while the Army of the Southern Cross pressed their weight behind the VF-8 Logan Veritech Fighter and VHT-1 Spartas Veritech Hover Tank. In REF service the fighter quickly matured into a powerful and flexible aerospace strike fighter, capable of toting large weapons loads into battle. Several mission-specific models were developed and procured.

Variants
VFA-6Z Alpha Fighter

By 2044, the Alpha is seen in several models:

* VFA-6H Combat Officer's Alpha - The VFA-6H typically is painted blue. In obsolete references, this model was called the "VAF-6C Combat Alpha." In Mospeada, this was called the AFC-01H Legioss Armo-Fighter.[1]
* VFA-6I Standard Alpha - Painted dark green. This model has a different head than the officer's Alpha. In obsolete references, it was called the "VAF-6R Recon Alpha." In Mospeada, this was called the AFC-01I Legioss Armo-Fighter[2]
* VFA-6Z Alpha Optimized for Aerial Combat - Optimized for atmospheric operations. The VF/A-6Z typically wears a dark red paint scheme when used in theatres where heavy conflict with the Invid is expected. It was called the "VAF-6J Combat Alpha" in obsolete references. In Mospeada, this was called the AFC-01Z Legioss Armo-Fighter.[3]
* VFA-6X Veritech Shadow Fighter - A stealth model. It contains a device called the "Shadow" device, which masks the fighter's protoculture emissions. It also uses a set of simple claw manipulators instead of more rounded hands. In obsolete references it was called the "VAF-7A Shadowfighter." In the Palladium Books role-playing game the art for the Shadow Fighter was used for a conjectural "final model" of the VF-1 Valkyrie, called the "VF-1V Vindicator", due to a scaling error by the game's writers (even if the writers' scaling had been correct, the fighter seen in Mospeada/RTNG is so different from the VF-1 that no rational designation scheme would assign the older craft's designation number to it). In Mospeada, this was called the Dark Legioss Armo-Fighter. In Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, it is revealed that the cloaking device of the VFA-6X is fatally flawed, designed by the mysterious Shadow to allow them to more easily destroy the Robotech Forces.
* VQ-6X Veritech Shadow Drone - An unmanned version of the VFA-6X. Virtually identical except for some modified equipment (most notably, additional missiles). Visually distinct in battloid mode by the fact that the VQ-6X has no head. In the Palladium Books RPG, the art for the VQ-6X was used for the VAF-7A (VFA-6X). In Mospeada, this was called the unmanned Legioss Armo-Fighter.[4]

Most models of the Alpha have a heavy missile armament of sixty short-range missiles which it complements with the three-barreled beam cannon. The Shadow Fighters replace this with a bulky disruptor cannon, called a 'Destabilizer', which they use to breach Invid force fields. It has a maximum speed of 3000-3250 km/h at high altitude and requires the assistance of the Beta Fighter to transit into space.

In the fictional world of Robotech, the VFA-6 remains operational as of the last known date in the storyline (circa 2044).

The VFA-6 Alpha was preceded in service by the VF-1 Valkyrie.



Design

The VFA-6 design appears to be loosely based on the Soviet Mig-29 with similarities only apparent in the forward section of the fuselage, cockpit and