Max's heavy missile from "Blind Game"

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ESalter
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Max's heavy missile from "Blind Game"

Unread post by ESalter »

ARK/RRG Murgleis Heavy Space Torpedo
Type: Heavy short-range anti-spacecraft missile.
Service history: UnS, 2010-2025.
Length: 4 m.
Width: .7 m.
Height: 1 m.
Warhead: Armor-piercing torch/explosive.
Propulsion: Four fixed liquid-fuel rockets (differential thrust steering).
Guidance: Preset and semi-active radar homing.
Platforms: 2t hardpoint.

When Macross Island made its unintended trip to trans-Neptunian space, it brought with it many civilian engineers, who quickly started work on projects necessary for the SDF-1's survival. The employees of the ARK Weapon Development Company, for example, continued doing much the same work they did before, only more urgently: the development and manufacture of the AE/RO Space Torpedo, the main missile of the Veritech Fighter. Though the AE/RO was adequate against alien battle pods, it was disappointing to its designers. They had intended it to be an all-purpose missile, usable against both mecha and space cruisers; it was, it turned out, unlikely to be able to defeat armor much thicker than that carried by small enemy mecha. The ARK team spent most of its rare free time trying to design a new torpedo that would be able to pierce very heavy armor without resorting to a reflex warhead.
The team's first concern was propulsion. To save time they used an existing engine design; the missile would have four engines, and use them for both movement and steering. By July, test missiles had performed two successful test flights, and the team turned its attention to the warhead. This would require a closer collaboration with the Robotech Research Group; however, the RRG saw little use for such a large aircraft-launched missile, and so the project was mostly abandoned. That changed near the end of the year.
Several weeks after the SDF-1's appearance in trans-Neptunian space, its crew detected a new type of small craft at extreme sensor range. Very little was know about this craft, codenamed "Cyclops," until the end of the year, when one made a close pass and showed it could almost match the UnF's most advanced new mecha. The RRG immediately started designing a Veritech Fighter-mode modification (Tactical Intercept Vehicle - Anti-Recon) that could intercept this mecha (soon renamed Tarantula), and they wanted the new ARK torpedo as its centerpiece.
Because the Tarantula had sophisticated electronics, the torpedo was given a passive radar receiver adjusted to the Veritech's own emissions; this would ease later adjustments and protect the design from future Tarantula modifications (the RRG did not yet understand the stasis of the aliens' weaponry). Since this required the Veritech to point its radome toward the Tarantula, the torpedo was given a programmable flight path to allow its launcher free movement until the missile's terminal flight. The warhead was basically just a huge version of the AE/RO's APT/E; since the new torpedo was to be part of a massive salvo, the relatively small explosive radius of the APT/E would prevent missile fratricide. With the TIV-AR a priority and flight control complete, work was rapid, and the first torpedoes, given the name Murgleis, were ready within weeks.
The first combat use of the Murgleis was mid-January; the action was successful. However, the Murgleis large and heavy, so the AE/RO was generally preferred. Later aircraft used cluster bomb missiles for anti-recon work, and as the Valkyrie left service, so did the Murgleis.

RPG Stats
Since the RPG called the "RMS-1" an LRM and the VF-1 can carry six vs. four "Murgleis," the latter has to be something bigger. Maybe an SRM with a double LRM warhead?
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Seto Kaiba
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Re: Max's heavy missile from "Blind Game"

Unread post by Seto Kaiba »

ESalter wrote:Max's heavy missile from "Blind Game"

Huh? There's no "heavy missile" in that episode. The VF-1 Valkyrie is only depicted with three types of missile in the animation, excluding special models used exclusively on the Armored Pack and the Super Pack:
  • AMM-1 Arrow air-launched medium-range multipurpose missiles (and variants thereof)
  • RMS-1 Anti-Warship (Thermonuclear) Reaction Missile System
  • Unknown designation fire suppression missile



ESalter wrote:Warhead: Armor-piercing torch/explosive.

That's called a "High Explosive Anti-Tank" warhead.



ESalter wrote:Propulsion: Four fixed liquid-fuel rockets (differential thrust steering).

... why? One rocket with a thrust-vectoring nozzle would do the job a LOT more effectively and efficiently.



ESalter wrote:Guidance: Preset and semi-active radar homing.

This guidance setup isn't really suited to shooting a high-maneuverability target... this is more like a ship-launched surface-to-surface, surface-to-air, or anti-ballistic missile setup.

Semi-active radar homing's a poor choice in general for something like a VF due to their emphasis on high maneuverability and tendency towards highly irregular flight paths in combat, and they're also notoriously unreliable against high-maneuverability targets with the single most effective way to evade a SARH missile being just abrupt course changes to get out of the path of the guide radar's beam. Inertial guidance is also not really useful against a high-mobility target, against aircraft it's used mainly for intercepts against high-velocity, high-altitude aircraft and even then it's supported by either a GPS or command guidance system. Inertial guidance is best suited to shooting at unmoving or slow moving targets like stationary objects (buildings, terrain features, etc.) or things like boats that are naturally disinclined to violent acceleration or rapid course changes.
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Re: Max's heavy missile from "Blind Game"

Unread post by ShadowLogan »

Seto Kaiba wrote:
ESalter wrote:Max's heavy missile from "Blind Game"

Huh? There's no "heavy missile" in that episode. The VF-1 Valkyrie is only depicted with three types of missile in the animation, excluding special models used exclusively on the Armored Pack and the Super Pack:

AMM-1 Arrow air-launched medium-range multipurpose missiles (and variants thereof)
RMS-1 Anti-Warship (Thermonuclear) Reaction Missile System
Unknown designation fire suppression missile

I don't get this either. The only "unique" missile setup in this episode ("Blind Game") featuring the VF-1 (specifically Max and only Max) sporting tail fin mounted missiles in a 2x8or9 configuration on each tail (I counted, one tail has more missiles than the other) that he lets loose to kill a Cyclops Recon Vessel. That is what I thought of based on the title, but the payload availability for this missile comes across as going on the usual wing stations.

Which if those missiles are treated as PB Role Playing Game missiles (in 2E):
-Mini-Missiles. Assuming Plasma could destroy a Cyclops on a Critical Strike and AVG roll, or a non-Critical with (near) maximum damage.
-Short Range Missiles. Assuming Plasma could destroy a Cyclops on an AVG Roll

Seto Kaiba wrote:
ESalter wrote:Propulsion: Four fixed liquid-fuel rockets (differential thrust steering).

... why? One rocket with a thrust-vectoring nozzle would do the job a LOT more effectively and efficiently.

Not that I disagree, but it is possible the engine has multiple combustion chambers each with their own exhaust nozzle. It's not really a US thing AFAIK, but Russian Rocket engines are known to have multiple combustion chambers and each with their own nozzle due to available technology limitations. So in theory the missile might have a single engine, but it would look like it has 4. (Real world examples would be the Russian RD-170 and RD-180 or RD-107).

Typically though a solid fuel rocket would be used in this role IINM, though liquid fueled aren't unheard of.

ESalter wrote:RPG Stats
Since the RPG called the "RMS-1" an LRM and the VF-1 can carry six vs. four "Murgleis," the latter has to be something bigger. Maybe an SRM with a double LRM warhead?

Why? There really isn't anything above LRM on the table, unless you count something specialized like Cruise Missiles or Ballistic Missiles. The Murgleis might just be oversized due to its liquid tanks preventing the use of those extra two missiles it might carry normally for LRM duty.
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Re: Max's heavy missile from "Blind Game"

Unread post by Seto Kaiba »

ShadowLogan wrote:I don't get this either. The only "unique" missile setup in this episode ("Blind Game") featuring the VF-1 (specifically Max and only Max) sporting tail fin mounted missiles in a 2x8or9 configuration on each tail (I counted, one tail has more missiles than the other) that he lets loose to kill a Cyclops Recon Vessel.

Yeah, the animation team's fix for the scene where the Quel-Quallie theater scout pod is shot down by Max with more missiles than a VF-1 is normally capable of carrying.



ShadowLogan wrote:Which if those missiles are treated as PB Role Playing Game missiles (in 2E):
-Mini-Missiles. Assuming Plasma could destroy a Cyclops on a Critical Strike and AVG roll, or a non-Critical with (near) maximum damage.
-Short Range Missiles. Assuming Plasma could destroy a Cyclops on an AVG Roll

They're actually supposed to be the same model of missile on the wing stations... AMM-1 Arrows, which the RPG correctly considers MRMs.

The Quel-Quallie's not exactly tough... Hikaru/Rick sinks one with concentrated fire from his gunpod and lasers.



ShadowLogan wrote:That is what I thought of based on the title, but the payload availability for this missile comes across as going on the usual wing stations.

Personally, I'd suspected he was headed towards a variant of the AMM-1 that actually does have a HEAT warhead (AMM-1H) until I remembered that's not the episode it shows up in.
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