Technical Files Homepage

VF-22 Sturmvogel Special Operations Veritech Fighter (VF-22J, -22S)

I. Dimensions:

II. Type:

• Design: Northrop Grumman Corporation
• Builders: Northrop Grumman Corporation
• (VF-22J) : One man all weather aerospace combat mecha, 3 form special ops veritech. Mass produced version.
• (VF-22S) : One man all weather aerospace combat mecha, 3 form special ops veritech. Squadron leader version.

III. Service History:

• VF-22J: Entered service with the RDF Space Navy and Special Space Services in 2059 and is still in service.
• VF-22S: Entered service with the RDF Space Navy and Special Space Services in 2059 and is still in service.

IV. Propulsion:

• Engines:

(VF-22J)

• 2 x Rolls Royce FF-2055A fusion turbines each rated at 65,200 kg (639 kN) of thrust, capable of generating 690 MW of power.  The engines generate 26,300 PS during ground combat.
• 4 x Rolls Royce HMM-10 high thrust vernier thrusters, mounted in the feet in battloid mode, and 1 mounted in either side of the ventral fuselage.  Each thruster is rated at 744.9 kg/sec (7.3 kN/sec).
• 24 x Pratt&Whitney LHP09 low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles, distributed around the aircraft; 3 on either side of each lower leg in battloid mode, 3 on either shoulder, 2 forward of the cockpit on the ventral nose, 2 aft of the cockpit on the ventral, and 1 more on top each engine nacelle.  Each thruster is rated at 143 kg/sec (1.4 kN/sec).
• Vernier vents on the wings, as part of the aircraft's space roll control.

(VF-22S)

• 2 x Rolls Royce FF-2055B fusion turbines each rated at 68,000 kg (666 kN) of thrust, capable of generating 720 MW of power.  The engines generate 26,300 PS during ground combat.
• 4 x Rolls Royce HMM-10 high thrust vernier thrusters, mounted in the feet in battloid mode, and 1 mounted in either side of the ventral fuselage.  Each thruster is rated at 744.9 kg/sec (7.3 kN/sec).
• 24 x Pratt&Whitney LHP09 low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles, distributed around the aircraft; 3 on either side of each lower leg in battloid mode, 3 on either shoulder, 2 forward of the cockpit on the ventral nose, 2 aft of the cockpit on the ventral, and 1 more on top each engine nacelle.  Each thruster is rated at 143 kg/sec (1.4 kN/sec).
• Vernier vents on the wings, as part of the aircraft's space roll control.

• Auxilliary Powerplant:

• 2 x General Electric APU-170 thermonuclear fusion reaction auxiliary power generators (one redundant), each capable of producing 700 MW, using the aircraft's stored fuel, with an emergency reserve of 10 lt D₂O/Li solution.

• Fuel Capacity:

• 6,500 lt 70/30 D₂O/Li solution as reactant for fusion engines in fuel tanks inside the wings.

V. Performance

VI. Electronics:

Radar Tracking:

(VF-22J)

• Hughes AN/APG-185 X-Band, spherical pulse Doppler, providing long-range detection and tracking of targets at all altitudes.
• Westinghouse AN/APX-22 IFF friend or foe interrogator.

(VF-22S)

• Westinghouse AN/APG-186 X-Band, pulse Doppler, providing long range detection and tracking of targets at all altitudes.
• Westinghouse AN/APX-22 IFF friend or foe interrogator.

Optical tracking:

• (Head/Turret) Kodak AN/DOS-5000 multi-band digital camera, for medium range, traversable, UV, infrared imaging and optical band detection and tracking.
• Thomson AN/LT-10 multi-frequency laser designator and ranger.

Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS):

• Loral AN/ALR-40 Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
• Loral AN/AIR-28 Infra-red Warning Receiver (IRWR)
• General Electric AN/ALQ-294(V) internal countermeasures system
• Tracor AN/ALE-16 Chaff/Flare Dispensers    
• Westinghouse AN/AMJ-12 Active Missile Jammers
• Northrop-Grumman AN/AS-02 Active Stealth System 
• Multiple VHF and UHF antennas
• Bose Loudspeakers producing sound up to 90 decibels.
• Hughes PPBS-03 Pin-Point Barrier System: The VF-22 is equipped with a new mecha-scale pinpoint barrier system for defense. The system can generate a single pinpoint barrier that  can be moved anywhere on the mecha and used as a shield against incoming attacks.

NOTE: Various sensor systems like Inverted Synthetic Aperture Radar, high-definition cameras, radiation sensors, motion scanners et cetera may be pod-mounted on the wing and center body hardpoints.

VII. Armament: 

Cannons:

• 1 x Oerlikon AAL-10 anti-aircraft pulse laser: The VF-22 mounts a single pulse laser for use in air combat skirmishes and for defensive purposes. The laser is mounted on the head of the mecha in soldier mode, and is located in the central dorsal section of the main body pointed rearward in fighter and guardian modes. The laser can only fire to the rear of the fighter in these modes; it cannot be turned to fire along another arc. Each pulse delivers 14 MJ at 60 times per minute.
• 2 x Mauser REB-31C fixed laser cannons: Two semi-fixed laser cannons are mounted on the VF-22. In fighter mode, these laser clusters are mounted rearward underneath the tail stabilizers, and in guardian/battloid mode they are located in the lower arms of the mecha. As an improvement over the YF-21, these lasers incorporate front and rear pointing barrels similar to those mounted in the arms of the VF-17 Nightmare, meaning that they can fire a 11 MJ pulse every second either to the front or the rear of the aircraft in any mode. In fighter mode the gun clusters are fixed, however, in guardian/battloid modes they can be aimed in any direction simply by moving the mecha's arms.

Underside Storage Bay include:

• 2 x Hughes GV-17 tri-barrel particle beam gunpod:  A unique new weapon is used as the main weapon for the VF-22.  These 'stealth' gunpods are particle cannons as opposed to the standard ammunition ones.  These gunpods are quite powerful for their size and have unlimited ammunition dramatically improving the combat endurance of the VF-22.  Even when not tied to the onboard reactors, the mini-reactors onboard the gunpods can still continue to allow them to fire.  In fighter mode the gunpods are hooked to the onboard reactor.  While powered by it, the gunpods can fire 30 MJ at 60 rounds per minute with a range of 2 km.  When in guardian and battloid mode, the gunpods are hand held in use and therefore rely on internal power supplies to provide energy.  These internal reactors are small and not powerful enough to provide limitless ammunition.  When in this mode the cannon can fire 15 MJ burst every five seconds with a total payload of 15 rounds.  The cannons can be recharged in under 15 seconds once hooked into the onboard reactor.  This weapon however has proven expensive and is used exclusively by the SSS VF-22s only.  Several VF-22S in the Space Navy have been issued these recently however.
• or 2 x Hughes GU-35 tri-barreled 45mm gunpod: As a less expensive alternate main external weapon, the VF-22 can use conventional stealth gatling gun pods produced by Hughes Aerospace. The gunpod fires 600 rounds per minute, with a 800 round capacity, stored internally. Ammunition is a mix of Jidori-coated depleted Uranium Armor Piercing Spin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APSSDS), High Explosive Armor Piercing (HEAP) and tracer rounds. The gunpod is exclusively designed for the VF-22 and are mounted in specially designed storage bays located on the underside of the craft in fighter mode, similar to the gunpod used by the VF-17 Nightmare. In Guardian or Battloid modes the gunpod can be ejected from their bays and used by one of the VF-22's hands. The gunpod can fire in any mode; they fire out of a special concealed port when stored in Fighter mode. The GU-35 gunpod do not use clips of ammo, but instead have a large internal supply of ammo stored in the barrel of the pod. This allows the GU-35 to contain a larger supply of ammo and bypasses the need to reload while in the field. Once exhausted, the gun pods can only be reloaded by at a supply base.

Missile Launchers:

• 8 x MM-96 multi-missile system: The VF-22 is armed with eight separate missile launchers that were built exclusively for the mecha design. The launchers are mounted in the forward dorsal and forward ventral sections of the craft and have exit ports on the dorsal and ventral sides of the wings near the engine intakes. Each launcher contains twelve MPM-23 Dagger mini-missiles for a total of 96 missiles for the craft.
• 3 x Fuselage mounted internal missile pallets:  The VF-22 carries 3 internal pallets on its fuselage where its primary missile loadout is carried.  When armed the pallet doors open up allowing the missiles or bombs to be launched.  The doors are designed for minimal intrusion on the stealth construction of the VF-22 so as not to give away its position. The available launcher payloads for each pallet include:
  • 1 x AGM-34 Claymore long range air-to-ground missile.
  • or 1 x AGM-40 Murasame long range air-to-ground missile.
  • or 2 x AGM-46 Katana medium range air-to-ground missiles.
  • or 4 x AGM-41 Nodachi short range air-to-ground missiles.
  • or 1 x MPM-26 Sledgehammer long range multi-purpose missiles.
  • or 2 x MPM-25 Saber medium range multi-purpose missiles.
  • or 4 x MPM-24 Broadsword short range multi-purpose missiles.
  • or 1 x AIM-93 Vampire long range air-to air missile
  • or 4 x AIM-99 Falcon medium range air-to-air missiles.
  • or 6 x AIM-90 Pegasus short range air-to-air missiles.
  • or 4 x AGM-33 Banshee high speed anti-radiation missile (HARM).
  • or 2 x AGM-47 Siren high speed anti-radiation missile (HARM).
  • or 1 x RMS-5 Armageddon long range nuclear cruise missiles. 
  • or 1 x RMS-7 Planetbuster long range nuclear cruise missiles.
  • or 1 x 1,000 lt reactant/fuel tank. Can store 70/30 D₂O/Li solution.

NOTE: The weapons bays can also carry recon and cargo pods and other weapons than the above.

4 Wing hardpoints (two on each wing) can each carry:

• 1 x AGM-34 Claymore long range air-to-ground missile.
• or 1 x AGM-40 Murasame long range air-to-ground missile.
• or 3 x AGM-46 Katana medium range air-to-ground missiles.
• or 6 x AGM-41 Nodachi short range air-to-ground missiles.
• or 1 x MPM-26 Sledgehammer long range multi-purpose missiles.
• or 3 x MPM-25 Saber medium range multi-purpose missiles.
• or 1 x UMM-21; Armored container with 15 MPM-24 Broadsword short range air-to-air missiles. The UUM-21 has two groups of five MPM-20s ready to be fired forward and one group of five missiles as a rear-hemisphere defense.
• or 1 x AIM-93 Vampire long range air-to air missile
• or 4 x AIM-99 Falcon medium range air-to-air missiles.
• or 1 x UMM-20; Armored container with 15 AIM-90 Pegasus short range air-to-air missiles. The UUM-20 has two groups of five AIM-80s ready to be fired forward and one group of five missiles as a rear-hemisphere defense.
• or 3 x AGM-33 Banshee high speed anti-radiation missile (HARM).
• or 3 x AGM-47 Siren high speed anti-radiation missile (HARM).
• or 1 x RMS-5 Armageddon long range nuclear cruise missiles. 
• or 1 x RMS-7 Planetbuster long range nuclear cruise missiles.
• or 6 x Mk 12 LDGP (Low Drag General Purpose) 250 kg (conical) or 260 kg (retard) free-fall bombs.
• or 4  x Mk.13 LDGP 500 kg (conical) or 510 kg (retard) free-fall bombs.
• or 2 x Mk.14 LDGP 900 kg free-fall bomb.
• or 6 x GBU-46 Paveway V LGB (Laser Guided Bomb) Guided Bomb Units (GBU); a Mk. 12 LDGP bomb configured to detect a target illuminated by a laser beam.
• or 4 x GBU-48 Paveway V LGB; a Mk. 13 LDGP bomb configured to detect a target illuminated by a laser beam. 
• or 2 x GBU-44 Paveway V LGB; a Mk. 14 LDGP bomb configured to detect a target illuminated by a laser beam.
• or 2 x GBU-50B/B PAVEWAY V 1000 kg LGB; Hard target penetrator (HTP).
• or 4 x CBU-12/E Sensor Fused Weapon (SFW) cluster munition; 450 kg cluster munition.
• or 4 x CBU-13/C SFW cluster munitions.
• or 4 x CBU-10/C SFW cluster munitions.
• or 4 x CBU-7/B or B/B GATOR cluster bombs.
• or 6 x Durandal airstrip destruction bombs.
• or 2 x M261 Light Weight Launcher (LWL), containing 19 ZIPPO-70 unguided rockets;
• or 3 x Mk 100 Eel lightweight anti-ship/anti-submarine torpedoes.
• or 3 x Mk 101 Marlin lightweight anti-ship/anti-submarine torpedoes.
• or 2 x ASB-100B; 1,000 kg depth bomblet cluster.
• or 2 x Mk. 105 Quickstrike; 1000 kg aircraft laid bottom shallow water anti-ship mine.
• or 1 x 1,000 lt reactant/fuel tank. Can store 70/30 D₂O/Li solution.

NOTE: The hardpoints can also carry recon and cargo pods and other weapons than the above.

Other Military Cargoes available include:

• NP-WBP-1: Due to the unique transformation nature of the VF-22, normal Special Weapons Systems cannot be used like other veritechs.  The NP-WBP-1 is a set of four streamline packs mounted on either arm and the ventral doors that enclose the legs in fighter mode.  The ventral door units each contained a pair of missile launchers.  Each launcher has one launch tube for MPM-24 Broadsword missiles, with five reloads for each tube for a total of 12 missiles for all launchers.  The ventral door units also contain two HMM-10 vernier thrusters while the arm units contain one thruster each.
• NP-BP-19 SES: This streamlined FASWT (Fuel And Sound Weapons Tactical) booster that attaches to the back of a VF-22 veritech.  Its main engine is a Shinnakasu FF-2260 620 kN reaction thruster and three Rolls Royce FF-10 vernier thrusters.  The Chiba SES-02 Sound Energy System and HMMP-15 missile launcher pod are mounted on the front of this booster.
• RRD Mk3 Fold Booster Drive: A large cylindrical body that contains a hyperspace fold generator with a range of approx. 30 light years and enough energy to perform two hyperspace folds.

The most common payloads for various mission profile are as follows:

VIII. Armor

The armor on the Excalibur series fighters is composed of lunarium and titanium mix. This new armor system makes use of large amounts of shape memory alloys allowing for adaptable and flexible control surfaces which can vary depending on the flight envelope. Aside from the respectable protection provided against projectiles, missiles, and other kinetic weapons, this armor is also resistant to plasma globes (annihilation discs), lasers, and to an excellent extent, particle guns, owing to the fact that the armor can flake off and evaporate in layers under fire from such high-energy weapons, taking much of the weapon's energy and converting it into the latent heat of sublimation in the armor. The armor stops all small arms fire, and has good resistance to all weapons commonly mounted on combat mecha.

The Sturmvogel provides full protection from nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards, using an overpressure cockpit environment activated by radiation and hazardous chemical sensors, or manually when biological warfare conditions are anticipated. The internal consumables supplies can provide atmosphere for one day maximum.

IX. Development:

After the 2053 design contest between the YF-19 and YF-21 which the YF-21 lost, Northrop-Grumman refused to let the design die. The YF-21 test flights where carefully studied and drastic changes where made. The revolutionary BCS (Brain Control System) was removed and replaced with a more conventional control mode. Concealed missile bays were added as were much more powerful engines allowing higher top speeds. In 2058, Northrop-Grumman delivered the first YF-22 prototype to the RDF. The RDF quickly realized the value this fighter had for surgical strikes and quickly designated it the VF-22 Sturmvogel Special Operations Veritech and ordered several thousand.

The VF-22 is the most advanced fighter currently fielded by the RDF. Among its more advanced features is the active stealth system which, as opposed to passive stealth, which used by the VF-17, sends back no signature at all. This makes nearly invisible to all radar systems. But there is a drawback, so much energy is consumed by this system, no energy weapons may be used nor can the pin point barrier. The weapon suite onboard the VF-22 is not extremely heavy but still fairly powerful. For energy weapons the VF-22 has a pair of medium bore laser cannons which are modeled after the dual port lasers on the VF-17. As with all veritechs it also has a anti-aircraft pulse laser designed for air-to-air combat in addition to its single gunpod. As part of Project Super Nova a external fold-booster was developed for the veritech fighters to allow deep penetration strike missions which was used to lethal efficiency during the

4^th Robotech War from 2063 to 2068. With the ability to fold and carry the new RMS-7 Planetbuster thermo-nuclear cruise missile makes it ideal for deep penetration strikes on enemy bases. This was role it excelled at during the 4th Robotech War. During the war, the VF-22 frequently destroyed enemy supply depots and even attacked several bases and destroyed thousands of ships. Even though it is the best available fighter, there is one significant drawback, the cost. It cost over three times as much as a VF-17 and five times as much as a VF-19. This has lead to its limited deployment. But this is every penny well spent.

Layout adapted from Robotech Reference Guide

Content by Jeffrey R. Spillner, Ron Ferrara, Charles Jesse Casimir
Copyright © 1998-2001 Jeffrey R. Spillner,  Ron Ferrara, Charles Jesse Casimir 

Page Last Updated on January 21, 2001 @ 01:00 GMT