The XFA-33 Fenrir (Fenrir in older Ace Combat games) is an original next-generation combat aircraft from the Strangereal universe. It made its first console appearance in Ace Combat Infinity, previously debuting on the handheld Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception and Ace Combat: Joint Assault.
History
Creation
The Fenrir was created by Leasath under Diego Navarro's instructions following the destruction of the Gleipnir over Santa Elva. The aircraft was created using battle data acquired by the airborne fortress.[1] The aircraft's production and development was held at Sentry Island, within Archelon Fortress.[2]
Deployment
Following the Fenrir's completion, Navarro contacted the elite Alect Squadron to pilot 4 of the finished units. The squadron would reach Archelon Fortress via the Danern Straits. Additionally, a new weapon, the High-Powered Microwave, was also being developed and transported for use by the aircraft.[3]
Navarro also planned to unveil the Fenrir in Alendal, Leasath's capital city.[4]
While the Alect Squadron successfully reached the stronghold, the HPM was destroyed while it was being transported from Cobalt Cave.[5]
Once the Aurelian Air Force's Gryphus and Aquila Squadron had reached Sentry Island, Alect Squadron, now piloting the Fenrir, quickly took off. In a hectic dogfight, all Alect pilots were shot down. However, another Fenrir, holding valuable date from the battle, was taking off from within Archelon Fortress but was quickly shot down by Gryphus One. The fortress was soon engulfed in flames.[6]
With the destruction of the fortress and Fenrir playing live at Navarro's unveiling, the citizens stormed in on him and destroyed the Fenrir model being shown to the public.[7]
Reproduction
After the war, many of the intact remains were retrieved from the ruins to be inspected by Aurelian engineers. It was then reproduced for research purposes, without the VTOL and optical camouflage systems. It was given the designation "XFA-33 Fenrir".[2]
General Analysis
Developed as the only mass-production fighter debuting in 2020, the Fenrir is distinguished by its unusually large body. It uses a polyhedral cropped delta configuration with bent wingtips, a V-tail, canards and dual air intakes. The frontal landing gear is housed within the mouth-like pod beneath the cockpit. It uses dual thrust vectoring engines, aided by a smaller power plant between both, which give it V/STOL capabilities.
Following the standard set by aircraft of the era, it uses Connection for Flight Interface hardware for control. The cockpit uses a dashboard with a digital interface that displays vital information of the aircraft, along with a 3D render of the Fenrir that first acted as a compass, but has since been updated to show the position of the aircraft in a virtual space as if the display itself was stationary.
Technology
The Fenrir was primarily designed to operate with the experimental technologies researched in Leasath. The jet can use a downscaled version of the optical camouflage system used by the Gleipnir, as well as an experimental microwave weapon. The stealth system's reduced size requires the jet to work with a ground emitter, yet retains the vulnerability of the Gleipnir to malfunctioning from damage feedback; technological constraints related to it were the reason behind its COFFIN system. The microwave system, on the other hand, works through the intersection of plasma beams generated by a ground station and the Fenrir itself, which generates the creation of ball lightning designed to ignite the fuel tanks of enemy aircraft.
Its main weapons consist of dual machine guns and short-range missiles along with air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, the initial models were also designed to use a small-scale version of the Shock Wave Ballistic Missile used by the Gleipnir. The Fenrirs obtained by Aurelia from Archelon Fortress's wreckage could not use neither optical camouflage nor microwave, but the lack of the required systems made them lighter, and thus more maneuverable.
Game Analysis
Ace Combat Infinity
- "A large-scale special attacker aircraft developed by a small country in the southern hemisphere. It was originally created as a demonstration aircraft to display the high-level technical capabilities of a military-industrial complex, but the fortress which acted as a base for the aircraft's development and production was destroyed. A certain country discovered the remains of the aircraft and reproduced it for research. Unlike the prototype aircraft, it doesn't come equipped with optical camouflage or VTOL systems, but it's lighter and features improved maneuverability, resulting in an aircraft that is more suitable for real combat."
- ― Hangar
How to Unlock
- The Fenrir is available through the Aircraft Tree.
Lv. | Cst | Price | GUN | MSL | LASM | 4AAM | LSWM | SP | MO | ST | AA | AG | DF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 825 | 4,590,000 | 520 | 136 | 14 | – | – | C+ | C+ | B | B | C+ | D+ |
2 | 874 | 2,727,000 | 590 | 138 | 16 | – | – | B | C+ | B | B | C+ | C |
3 | 923 | 3,942,000 | 660 | 140 | 18 | – | – | B+ | B | B+ | B | B | C+ |
4 | 972 | 4,644,000 | 730 | 142 | 20 | 40 | – | A | B+ | B+ | B+ | B | B |
5 | 1021 | 7,047,000 | 800 | 144 | 22 | 44 | – | A | B+ | A | A | B | B+ |
6 | 1070 | 14,850,000[a] | 856 | 146 | 24 | 48 | – | A+ | A | A | A | B+ | A |
7 | 1119 | 7,290,000 | 912 | 148 | 26 | 52 | 3 | A+ | A | A | A | B+ | A+ |
8 | 1168 | 8,100,000 | 968 | 150 | 28 | 56 | 3 | S | A+ | A+ | A | A | S |
9 | 1217 | 8,910,000 | 1024 | 152 | 29 | 60 | 4 | S | S | A+ | A+ | A | S+ |
10 | 1266 | 9,990,000 | 1080 | 154 | 30 | 64 | 4 | S+ | S | A+ | A+ | A | S+ |
11 | 1317 | 11,070,000 | 1136 | 158 | 31 | 66 | 5 | S+ | S+ | S | A+ | A | S+ |
12 | 1368 | 12,690,000 | 1192 | 162 | 32 | 68 | 5 | S+ | S+ | S | A+ | A+ | S+ |
13 | 1419 | 13,500,000 | 1248 | 166 | 33 | 70 | 6 | S+ | S+ | S | S | A+ | S++ |
14 | 1470 | 15,525,000 | 1304 | 170 | 34 | 72 | 6 | S+ | S+ | S+ | S | A+ | S++ |
15 | 1521 | 17,010,000 | 1360 | 174 | 36 | 76 | 7 | S+ | S+ | S+ | S | A+ | S++ |
16 | 1591 | 22,464,000 | 1416 | 176 | 37 | 78 | 8 | S++ | S+ | S+ | S | S | S++ |
17 | 1654 | 25,650,000 | 1472 | 178 | 38 | 80 | 8 | S++ | S+ | S+ | S+ | S | S++ |
18 | 1717 | 28,863,000 | 1528 | 180 | 39 | 82 | 9 | S++ | S+ | S+ | S+ | S | S+++ |
19 | 1780 | 36,882,000 | 1584 | 182 | 40 | 84 | 9 | S++ | S++ | S+ | S+ | S | S+++ |
20 | 1843 | 46,521,000 | 1640 | 184 | 42 | 88 | 10 | S++ | S++ | S+ | S+ | S+ | S+++ |
- Part Slots
- At Lv.1, this aircraft carried 36 BODY, 36 ARMS, and 36 MISC part slots. See Tuning § Slot Expansion for further information.
- Nicknames
- Upgrading this aircraft to these levels unlocked the respective nicknames for use at any time.
- Lv.3: Wolfpack
- Lv.10: World Eater
- Lv.15: Twilight of the Gods
- Lv.20: Lone Wolf
Skins
- Default: Air superiority gray camouflage
- Event Skin #01: Desert brown body with with black body trim and nose; based on Special 2 from Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception; awarded to the top 3,000 players in the "We Hold The Trump Card!" Online Co-Op Missions Ranking Tournament.
Gallery
Ace Combat: Joint Assault
Description
- A special attacker with mysterious capabilities and amazing maneuverability.
How to Unlock
- The Fenrir is unlocked for purchase upon completing mission 21A Reprisal within Ace difficulty after on second playthrough or thereafter in overall.
Statistics
Special Weapons
Colors
- Color 1: Light grey
- Color 2: Black with grey accent
- Color 3: Blue livery
- Color 4: Cream livery with black nose
- Color 5: God Eater collaboration theme
- Color 6: Ocean livery
Named Pilots
- Dandelion (Operation X)
Gallery
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception
How to Unlock
- Complete the campaign in Ace difficulty.
Statistics
Special Weapons
Named Aces
Colors
- Aurelia: Plain gray
- Leasath: Solid black paintjob. Available upon unlocking all available paint schemes
- Special 1: Dark blue. Unlocked by S-ranking Operation X in Ace difficulty
- Special 2: Desert brown with gray nose and body trim. Fill the aircraft's Kill Bar to unlock
Gallery
A shattered Fenrir in Alendal
Trivia
- The aircraft is named after a mythical wolf from Norse mythology, and the son of Loki. Odin's son, Víðarr, slays Fenrir in battle. This is referred in the Ace Combat X medal "The Mark of Vioarr", earned by finishing either final mission.
- The Fenrir bears a resemblance to the Super Sylph B-503 from Sentō Yōsei Yukikaze. This similarity is specially notable in the design of the wings and the mouth-like protrusion beneath the Fenrir's nose.
- The hologram of the Fenrir in the cockpit always faces north no matter which direction the aircraft faces, suggesting it is meant to act as a compass. However, in Ace Combat: Joint Assault, the hologram no longer rotates. It is unknown if this is a glitch or if it was done on purpose by Project Aces.
- This was later fixed in Infinity, where the hologram is shown to mimic the plane's movements.
- In the mission End of Deception II, one of the pilots from the Aquila Squadron said that "Fenrir suddenly stopped in mid air", suggesting it has VTOL capabilities. This was supported because the Fenrir has three engines and when it slows down, the middle engine points its exhaust downward, similar to an AV-8B Harrier II's thrust vectoring nozzles.
- A franchise made by Namco Bandai, "God Eater", features an organization called "Fenrir", sharing its name with the Ace Combat aircraft. Fittingly enough, the Fenrir has an unlockable God Eater-themed collaboration livery in Joint Assault. As well, a Fenrir emblem was available to all players during a God Eater-themed collaboration event in Infinity.
- In early concept art, the F-3 Shinden II used a similar wing configuration to the Fenrir.
- In Ace Combat Zero, one of the allies you fly with is named Fenrir 4 (Heard through mission dialogue)
- Unlike many other aircraft, the plane was never given an official designation, only being listed with its nickname, "Fenrir". The designation was finally revealed in Infinity, which labelled the aircraft as XFA-33. The description of the aircraft in Infinity states the Aurelia managed to seize the remains of Fenrir and reproduce the latter, giving it the designation of "XFA-33".
References
- ↑ Fenrir hangar description. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 XFA-33 Fenrir hangar description. Ace Combat Infinity.
- ↑ Cutscene following Wild Card. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.
- ↑ Cutscene prior to End of Deception II. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.
- ↑ Fire Storm. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.
- ↑ End of Deception II. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.
- ↑ Cutscene following End of Deception II. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.
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