Before the two planes take off, capture both of them in one shot. Got it?
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The UI-4054 Aurora is a top-secret stealth aircraft, allegedly built by General Resource Limited. Very little is indisputably known about it and it is the subject of much speculation.
The UI-4054 Aurora is rumored to be a successor or replacement of the General Resource Defense Force's venerable Blackbird family, the SR-71 and A-12 high-speed reconnaissance planes. In this quality, it is based on the SR-91 Aurora - an alleged replacement of the SR-71 from the real world, whose existence has never been proven. Its combat role - fighter, bomber, reconnaissance or others - is unknown.
The plane's main fuselage is a long, curved blended-wing lifting body with 2 small delta-planform wings that sport low aspect ratio and elliptical tips. The forward fuselage is chined and blends into the wing roots, like the Blackbird. Its empennage is of a strange design: the large dorsal vertical stabilizers, also elliptical-tipped, are canted inwards and protrude beyond the trailing edge of the wing, and are attached to 2 mid-span ventral fins on the underwing. There are no stabilators. The black paint serves the same purpose as on the SR-71: to diffuse heat and make the plane less detectable by infrared. [1]
Its power source is 4 engines enclosed in a pod on the underside of the rear fuselage, with a large, straked air intake on the bottom and a smaller intake on the top supplying air to the engines. The exhaust port is also angled and straked, presumably to reduce the heat signature of the engines. There are some auxilary vents in between the vertical stabilizers as well. The engine type used by the plane - conventional jet, ramjet or scramjet - is unknown, though it is possibly a combination of conventional jets and scramjets, since one story of the plane claims Mach 6-8 airspeeds (however, its in-game top speed is nowhere close to even Mach 4, probably since the plane is top-secret and the intercorporate war simulation may not accurately represent it).
The plane is extremely large in size and very heavy, more so than even the Blackbirds and the ADF-11F Raven. However, it is still highly maneuverable despite these factors.
It is armed with conventional weapons in Ace Combat 3, but there are no visible gun slots or weapons bays anywhere on the body.
History
The aircraft was built under high secrecy by an unknown company (speculated to be General Resource Limited, but no evidence has been provided). What is known is that only one known airframe was produced and mysteriously acquired by the organization Ouroboros, with the sole pilot being the organization's leader - former General Resource Defense Force employee and ace pilot Abyssal Dision.
The aircraft, regardless of the events of the simulated Intercorporate War, would always be destroyed by Nemo.[2]
Game Analysis
Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
"An aircraft rumored to have been developed in absolute secrecy as an SR-71 successor in the past. Since its existence was not made clear for many years, detailed information is not given. Only a few unconfirmed sightings occurred in the late 20th century, and one story claims airspeeds of Mach 6 or 8, but the truth is hidden in the dark."
The UI-4054, despite being based on the SR-91 myth, does not emit the SR-91's alleged donut-shaped engine smoke trails.
In addition to the SR-91, it also bears strong resemblance to the real-life NASA X-43 scramjet aircraft. The X-43 was in development at the time when Ace Combat 3 was released and first flew in 2001.
In the export version, the Aurora is the only aircraft to keep its original markings (Ouroboros), as opposed to the rest of the aircraft having the UPEO emblem save for the Geopelia and the Night Raven.
