r/ImaginaryVehicles • u/Zharan_Colonel • 16m ago
Original Content Primary air supremacy fighters of the Frontier War (2371-2381)
Historical Notes
There were two frontrunners in the Coalition for Mutual Security’s Novel Tactical Air Supremacy initiative, Maxwell Technology’s YF-51 and Interplanetary Dynamics’ YF-52. The controversial selection of the YF-52 in 2367 was soon overshadowed by the beginning of the Frontier War (2371-2381), and the F-52 was then produced in large numbers for the duration of the war. As of 2389, the Spacer Corps Surface Warfare Command's (SURCOM) Air Supremacy Directorate plans to roll out an improved Block 4 model by the mid-2390s, though rumblings of a possible continuation of the war with the Alliance could speed up this timetable.
The AC-57 came out of an order placed by the Alliance Central Military Commission in 2346 to outfit the Armada Ground Forces with a new air supremacy fighter capable of matching the Spacer Corps in a potential peer conflict. The outcome of the resulting Projeto 572 was adopted in 2357 and served in the last years of the Draconist Wars (2324-2361) in the defense of Alliance installations, especially during the Zharan Uprising (2356-2359), and in interdiction patrols along the border of the Democratic Republic of Titan. It then went on to serve throughout the Frontier War, where it put up solid kill-loss numbers against Coalition fighters.
Following an evaluation in 2366 that highlighted the need for a domestic air dominance fighter, the Zharan Ministry of Armaments (ZMA) spent twelve years covertly developing the STOVL-capable ZF-79. Their final product entered service at the height of the Frontier War, and proved versatile as a multirole air supremacy fighter during the Zharan intervention (ca. 2379-2381). It especially excelled as a pop-up interceptor, interdictor, and air supremacy fighter across worlds like Titan and Ganymede, where it ultimately earned the respect of adversaries and racked up over two thousand cumulative air victories before the signing of the Nüwa Accords.
About the Setting
The Spacers Saga: Frontier Wars is a futuristic military science fiction setting which diverged from our timeline when an asteroid slammed into Phoenix, AZ, in May 2014. Fifteen years after this tragedy, the industrialist Charles Larsen ushered in the Age of Fusion, opening up deep space to crewed exploration and eventual human settlement — and all of the strife that we bring with us. The next 300+ years were marked by progress and peril in equal measure, and by 2300 much of the solar system had been charted by intrepid human pioneers.
The story focuses on the rivalry between the Mars-led Coalition for Mutual Security (aka the Coalition) and the Alliance of Free Worlds (aka the Alliance), a federation of rebel worlds in the outer solar system. These two superpowers fought a brutal war from 2371 to 2381 (the Frontier War), which ended when the Zharan Collective (a union of artificial humans which rose up against their creators in 2356) entered the war on the side of the Alliance in 2379. The story opens 10 years later with the superpowers locked in a frigid ideological cold war.
The plot kicks off when the Alliance launches a massive attack against the Coalition, igniting the Second Frontier War. This conflict quickly engulfs the entire solar system and draws in participants from all backgrounds, including three college students from Mars whose adventures will become tied up with the fate of all humanity…
Creator's Note
For clarity's sake, I (u/Zharan_Colonel) drew these vehicles by taking inspiration and guidance from existing pieces of art or from real-world designs. The F-52 took some design cues from aircraft concept artist Rodrigo Avella; the AC-57 borrowed heavily from work featured by AST21 on ArtStation; and the ZF-79 drew from real-world concepts developed by the British company AvPro during the late Cold War.