XFA-33 Fenrir

This is one of the best fighters in the world of Ace Combat. The Fenrir was built sometime during the Leasathian Civil War and is the very reason for Leasath's invasion of Aurelia because of the massive funds needed to continue the creation of the Fenrir. The technology used was heavily based on the battle data from Leasath's flying fortress, the Gleipnir. The Fenrir is equipped with Optical Camouflage (also known as Digital Optical Stealth), allowing it to cloak itself when prompted, and a microwave weapon that fires a slow-moving ball of plasma which tracks its target, however, this only works if there is satellite support for it. Like all super-fighters, the Fenrir is a multi-role aircraft.

It should be noted that the Aurelian version of this aircraft has neither Optical Camouflage nor the microwave weapon due to it being an unfinished prototype, but instead has the XMAA, LASM and the LSWM, which is a smaller version of the Gleipnir's SWBM.

Construction & Destruction
The Leasath Civil War started in 2019 because of the falling economy of Leasath. This was mainly caused by the Fenrir advanced attack aircraft. Leasath's failing economy alone could not support the massive funds which were needed to produce Fenrir. While being provided with raw materials and supplies by Aurelia during this uprising, Leasath citizens were effectively brainwashed by propaganda from their commanding officer -- Diego Gaspar Navarro -- when he came to power.

Invasion of Aurelia
Under Navarro's widely successful propaganda campaign, Leasath attacked Aurelia, their reason being "Retribution for Years of Exploitation". The real purpose of this war against Aurelia was for Navarro to sell more weapons and thus continue funding Fenrir's completion.

After fighting the entire military forces of Leasath, the Aurelians discovered a military fortress in Sentry Island, after the forces deployed to hunt Navarro were devastated by the operative FENRIRs. When the message from Otus 1 was confirmed, the Gryphus Squadron was sent to destroy Fenrir and its production facility, Archelon Fortress.

End of Deception
The final battle between the Gryphus 1 and the Leasath military took place in the last Leasathian stronghold, Archelon Fortress. The Fenrir, piloted by Leasath's elite Alect Squadron, were scrambled to intercept the approaching Gryphus and Aquila squadrons. The threat was too high to assault head on, and to at least have a chance of destroying the Fenrirs, the Aurelian military sent a fleet to destroy the electrical facility needed by the Fenrir to power its optical camouflage. The navy's attempt to destroy the facility was a success and Gryphus 1 destroyed every Fenrir which took off from the fortress.

In an alternate scenario, if the player chose to engage the Leasath fleet in Operation Armada, the HPM weapon will be shipped to Archelon Fortress, forcing the player to fight the full-powered version of Fenrir in Operation End of Deception I, with intact Optical Camouflage.

Aurelian possession of the Fenrir
The landing unit destroyed the fortress from the inside, and at the same time they found an incomplete Fenrir parked inside the fortress. Taking it with them, they opened the front gate allowing Gryphus 1 to fly in and destroy the rest of the surviving and unfinished Fenrirs. After the war was over the Aurelians had the Fenrir, which ironically caused the war in their country in the first place.

Capabilities
There are few unclassified documents regarding the Fenrir, however, some tactical and performance data was obtained from its battle with Gryphus 1.

It is speculated that under optimal conditions the Fenrir can reach speeds approaching Mach 2.4 or 1,575mph (2,535km/h) at sea level and Mach 3.5 or 2,330mph (3,750km/h) at 30,000ft (9144m), however it has been documented to, under the best conditions, reach speeds higher than 2,700mph at sea level and 30,000ft. It uses a smaller, more portable version of the Gleipnir's Shock Wave Ballistic Missile (SWBM), called the Long-range Shock Wave Missile (LSWM) and it is equipped with unique twin 25mm cannons which are the most powerful and accurate in Ace Combat X. Fenrir is also the only super-fighter in the recorded history of the Ace Combat series to use Digital-Optical Stealth (DOS), which renders the aircraft almost invisible to pilots and conventional radar systems. The only way to spot a "cloaked" aircraft is to know its general location in the sky and keep a sharp eye open for the characteristic waves that ripple across its surface. The optical camouflage on Fenrir was developed from the Gleipnir's version. Fenrir also uses a High-Power Microwave (HPM) weapon which further enhance its already superior capabilities. HPM works like this: Fenrir and Archelon Fortress emit invisible microwave beams (also referred to as the plasma). The two beams interfere with each other, thus causing any fuel caught in between to detonate. The three engine nozzles have limited thrust vectoring, but the center nozzle is able to rotate 90 degrees downward, suggesting the FENRIR has V/STOL capabilities.

The Fenrir can link with and use battle data from the Gleipnir, which gives the aircraft and its pilot an edge when fighting adversaries. The Connection for Flight Interface (COFFIN) system used in the YR-99 Forneus, Fregata and FALKEN is also installed giving the pilot a distinctive edge in control and reaction times during combat. Fenrir is the only fighter in the game that has its own electronic countermeasure system (Fenrir ECMS) that interferes with lock-on capabilities of other aircraft, making it the most powerful and safest aircraft to be used not only in Ace Combat X, but probably in the entire Ace Combat series.

Armament

 * Gun: 2x 30mm GsH 30-1


 * Missile: R-60/AA-8 Aphid


 * XMAA: AIM-120C AMRAAM


 * LASM: AS-14 Kedge


 * LSWM: Long-Range Shock-Wave Missile


 * HPM: High-Power Microwave Weapon (exclusive to Leasath models)

Aces

 * Alect TFS


 * Gryphus 1

Comparable Aircraft

 * ADF-01 Falken


 * ADFX-01/02 Morgan


 * YR-99 Forneus

Trivia

 * In Norse mythology, Fenris is a Wolf, the son of Loki. Odin's son, Vioarr, slays Fenrir in battle. One of the medals in the game is The Mark of Vioarr.


 * Due to some user concerns regarding the resemblance of the FENRIR, its possible that the Fenrir is based off the SUPER SYLPH "Yukikaze" from Sentō Yōsei Yukikaze in terms of airframe design.