Project Super Nova
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In the fictional Macross Plus anime video series and movie, Project Super Nova was a developmental project sponsored by the U.N. Government. It called for a new Advanced Variable Fighter to replace the aging VF-11 Thunderbolt for the U.N. Spacy and Air Force.
Project Super Nova required that the new AVFs were able to conduct deep strike tactical missions, hostage rescue missions, and missions that would be deemed dangerous and politically sensitive for U.N. Spacy.
Project Super Nova competed the Shinsei Industries YF-19, against the General Galaxy YF-21 at New Edwards Test Flight Center on Planet Eden in AD 2040.
The YF-19 had conventional control systems, but a phenomenal powerplant and maneuverability systems, requiring a tremendously skilled pilot to operate safely. The YF-21 used the experimental Brain Control System and Brain Direct Interface (aka BCS/BDI) to allow the pilot to operate the fighter with his thoughts alone. The BCS/BDI allowed for far greater reaction times, but required the pilot's complete concentration; the system's flaw was discovered during an incident when the YF-21's test pilot, Guld Goa Bowman, lost his concentration and his fighter went into freefall. Isamu Dyson in an observing VF-11 Thunderbolt saved the YF-21 by switching to Gerwalk and catching the YF-21; in a fit of pique, Guld imagined causing the VF-11's nose to dip in contact with the ground. The BCS/BDI responded to his stray thought as a command to do just that, and the VF-11 crashed.
Because pilots are human and prone to error, Project Super Nova was canceled to consider an unmanned fighter, the Ghost X-9. It was later subverted by a pop idol named Sharon Apple, who was actually a sentient artificial intelligence gone rogue, during her concert on Earth. Seeing this as an opportunity to prove that pilots are better than unmanned fighters, Isamu Dyson (along with Yang Neuman) stole the YF-19 and headed off to Earth to engage the X-9. Guld in the YF-21 was scrambled to give pursuit. The two pilots initially fought each other but after a reconciliation, the fighters eventually engaged the X-9 together. Guld told Dyson to go on ahead and rescue civilian Myung Fang Lone, a romantic interest of the two, who was Sharon Apple's producer and held prisoner by the same. Guld engaged the X-9 and found he could not defeat it and escape alive. He disabled the YF-21's safety limiters and, in doing so, boosted the YF-21's potential while at the same time endangering his own body by the consequent physical forces. In the end, he rammed his YF-21 into the Ghost, killing himself but destroying the X-9 in the process.
The flaws in the Ghost and YF-21's control systems resulted in Project Super Nova awarding the contract to Shinsei Industries to mass-produce the VF-19 Excalibur.
The subplot was inspired by the real-life Advanced Tactical Fighter program that pitted the Northrop/McDonnell-Douglas YF-23 Black Widow II against the Lockheed/Boeing YF-22 in a competition to provide a next-generation stealth fighter for the United States Air Force. The YF-23, an unconventional-looking fighter designed with stealth as its primary focus, was eventually passed up in the selection process by the more maneuverable YF-22, which later entered production as the F-22 Raptor.
