Beta Veritech
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The VFB-9 Beta Fighter is a Veritech fighter-bomber in the universe of Robotech. It's based on the AB-01 Tread Armo-Bomber from Genesis Climber Mospeada. It is a large aerospacecraft capable of making orbit on the brute-force power of its three huge rocket engines. The VBF-9 is rather unaerodynamic, flying on the "brick with giant engines" principle. Its huge size and slender wings give it an extremely high wing loading, degrading its performance further - in terms of combat use, the Beta is a giant missile truck and little more in fighter configuration. In Battloid mode, the Beta is a hulking, powerful combatant with crushing fists and a staggering array of weapons including three heavy beam guns in each forearm and a seemingly endless number of missile launchers. The Beta's third configuration is a VTOL and walking configuration with little real combat ability. The deep, narrow fuselage means that the Beta has little handling capability on the ground in fighter mode.
The Beta has the unique ability to dock with an Alpha Fighter, combining the two into a larger and more aerodynamic combat unit; under these conditions the Beta's handling characteristics improve considerably (the Alpha's wings act as canards in docked mode). The basic combat doctrine is the combined craft is supposed to allow for a quick entry into the combat zone with the Beta fighter providing additional speed without using the Alpha's fuel supply. Upon entering combat, the units immediately separate so the Alpha fighter can dog fight with maximum manueverability while the Beta fighter provides fire support.
There are only a few models of the Beta: the VFB-9A/C single-place variant; VFB-9B/D two-place variant and VFB-9S shadow variant (with the same cloaking abilities and paint scheme as the Alpha). In older references, the VFB-9 was referred to as the "VBF-1" Beta Fighter, a designation which made little sense since it implied a separate sequence of designation for each type of Veritech.
The Beta was preceded in service by the VFB-5 Condor, of which very little is known. The Condor in Genesis Climber MOSPEADA is the Armo-Soldier predecessor of the Legioss that was used in an earlier campaign, and it could transform into Armo-Fighter mode.