The XR-900 Geopelia is an extremely highly advanced fighter developed by Neucom. It is designed to be operated as a UCAV that can also be flown by a human pilot.
The aircraft is named after the Geopelia, a genus of small long-tailed doves.
Description
The XR-900 is Neucom's latest, deadliest fighter plane, developed by former General Resource Limited scientists, engineers and designers from the Darkness of Enigma project using the X-49 Night Raven as its basis. It is designed as an unmanned combat drone with optional manned piloting capabilty.
Its basic design is the same as the X-49: it is a large, wide bi-wing lifting body with no fuselage, vertical stabilizers or stabilators like on a normal plane, with 2 green particulate-emitting aeon engines mounted in the top wing, a number of auxilary jet engines in the bottom wing, and a single, large air intake on the front. Its main differences with the X-49 are the shape of its wings, which are curved and join together at the wingtips to form a tapered, pointy trail (as opposed to the X-49's angular, biplane-like wings) and the number of auxilary engines, of which it has 4 instead of the X-49's 6. It is also smaller in size than the X-49.
Its cockpit is placed in between and above the aeon engines and within it, the pilot is seated facing backwards, like in the X-49. However, the XR-900s seen in Ace Combat 3 are prototypes, built with COFFIN-enabled cockpits that allow for both human and AI piloting for the purpose of flight testing. Production Geopelias are expected to have the cockpit entirely deleted, allowing only for AI operation and removing the dangerous, brain-damaging Opto-Neuron-Synapse-Interface system. This was intended from the beginning of its development as a measure to remedy the X-49's extremely demanding piloting requirements, making operational efficiency greater.
The XR-900's main weapon is the same deadly Laser Cannon from the X-49 mounted in the top wing above the air intake, that can obliterate anything in its path, as demonstrated by the rogue XR-900 squadron in "Geopelia". It is not known if the XR-900 has a concealed missile bay in the bottom wing like the X-49 does.
The XR-900 Geopelia was developed by Neucom with the help of former General Resource engineers involved with the X-49 Night Raven, who abandoned the company after the Darkness of Enigma project's cancellation.[1] Noticing the risks of the Opto-Neuron-Synapse-Interface system, it was developed as an unmanned aircraft from the beginning. Research on AI control was carried out under the "Gepetto Project". A conventional COFFIN cockpit was installed in early flight tests, but was deactivated in the final version.
In the "General Resource" branch of the simulated Intercorporate War, a group of eight Geopelias launched from the remains of Megafloat and attacked the city of Port Edwards. Nemo took off from the local airfield and engaged the rogue drones. After sufficiently damaging one of the Geopelias, Nemo transferred himself to the plane and assumed control, using it to destroy the other aircraft. After the battle, he and the Geopelia that he took control of landed at the local General Resource airfield. Upon parking, the cockpit was opened to reveal an empty seat. [2]
Game Analysis
Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
"An aircraft developed by engineers involved on the Night Raven at General Resource after they transferred to Neucom. Using the Night Raven's design as a basis, they utilized different technology offered by Neucom. It is being redesigned to be a UAV, using AI to autonomously carry out combat operations. Currently, it is equipped with a COFFIN system for test flights, but is planned to have it removed once testing is completed to decrease weight and allow for higher mobility."
The XR-900 in the mission "Geopelia" uses missiles of a type unique to itself: a single missile disperses 2 warheads after launch, and both warheads strike the targeted enemy. Each warhead has the power of a single normal Missile. This may be a variant of 3's MIRV due to the operating method.
In the game's code, there exists a playable version of the XR-900 that is significantly different than the default XR-900. The beta XR-900 has an altered visual design (see Gallery), a much slower top speed (2,856 km/h as opposed to 4,634 km/h), altered missile count (199 missiles as opposed to 192), and a Vulcan for a gun as opposed to the Laser Cannon. This version has the fan name of "YR-900". It can only be accessed with hacking, or the use of external devices, such as a Game Shark.
In the export version of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, the player's XR-900 model does not emit Aeon particles.
