Why was Arizona in Japan in Be Forever Yamato REBEL 3199? (Spoilers)
by “My Earth Defense Fleet.”
See the original post here
I participated in the concept research team for Space Battleship Yamato Dawn Chapter, Aquarius Algorithm.
It’s been a while, everyone. Have you seen the third chapter of REBEL 3199 yet? It’s been a week since it was released in theaters, so today, in accordance with the rules of this blog since 2199, I’d like to write a little about it with spoilers.
Of course, I’m going to talk about the long-awaited Arizona.
The original design was created by Yutaka Izubuchi, who served as general director of 2199, and it appeared in Yamato III as an “escort battleship” built by the North American District. With an exquisitely balanced design that takes all the cool elements of Yamato, Andromeda, and the main battleship, I think it’s one of the most popular ships in the original/later Yamato series.
On the other hand, it only appeared in a few scenes on TV, and was unfortunate enough to be sunk without ever having a chance to show its true colors. To be honest, it’s rare to see a mecha whose popular design and on screen role are so far apart.
In the original version, Arizona was categorized as an “escort battleship,” but in 3199 it is simply classified as a “space battleship.” The Andromeda class from 2205 onward has been treated the same, so I like this sense of consistency. The Arizona of 3199 shares with Yamato its origins as an emigration ship under construction at the end of the Garmillas War, and is characterized by an inner and outer hull structure (modular structure) that is an evolution of the Yamato-type, which is worth imagining in itself, but I won’t go into that today.
What I’m going to talk about is emigration ships built in each administrative district under the leadership of the United Nations.
During the Garmillas War, space vessels based on the United Nations Space Force’s standard AU-class ships were being constructed worldwide, so it is reasonable to assume that equipment specs and even industrial standards were highly standardized across nations (though centimeters and inches seem to have survived in their respective systems).
In such an environment, it is unlikely that there would be extreme technological superiority or inferiority between countries, and the size (mass) and output ratio of conventional engines that could be manufactured at the time would not change much.
If the engine technology levels are the same and the balance of the desired attack power, defense power, mobility, habitability (since it is an emigration ship) is similar, the size of the ship will naturally be determined by them.
In other words, there is no extreme difference in the size of emigration ships from each country. If there are differences, it would be due to industrial power (the size of the construction docks). That said, differences are unlikely to arise in developed countries with a certain level of national power.
As a result, I think the size of emigration ships built in the North American, Far Eastern, or European (EU) districts would be about the same as Yamato — around 300 to 350 meters. And at this time, if the resources allocated to armament are the same as Yamato, it is inevitable that the size of the cannons installed will also be about the same.
During its construction, Yamato was equipped with a Wave-Motion Engine derived from Iscandar, and 15 positron shock cannons, which were Earth’s decisive battle weapon at the time, as its main and secondary guns. Considering that conventional space battleships with main engines were only equipped with single positron shock cannons as axial cannons, Yamato‘s guns before the Wave-Motion Engine were equipped with an axial positron shock cannon only on the bow, and the main gun may have been a high-pressure amplified ray cannon with higher output and caliber than the Kongo-class.
I think the Arizona, during its emigration ship days, was probably similar in armament configuration, but conversely, it would be easy to give it the same firepower as Yamato if it was equipped with a Wave-Motion Engine.
According to the Chapter 3 pamphlet, Arizona‘s main gun is a “positron shock cannon,” not the “convergence compression shock wave cannon” that was widely adopted in the 2202 era. In fact, I think the sound effects when the main gun was fired were the same as those of Yamato‘s shock cannon. At present, only the Yamato class is equipped with a non-axial gun barrel-type positron shock cannon, and considering the size of the ship mentioned earlier, I think it is highly likely that Arizona is equipped with a main gun of the same caliber as Yamato (48 centimeter positron shock cannon).
The turret and barrel are different from Yamato‘s! I’m sure you’ll scold me for saying this, but please forgive me as it’s just for design reasons. Jokes aside, in terms of design, the shape of Arizona‘s barrel base is very similar to Yamato‘s, and it is clearly different from the main gun designs of the Andromeda and Dreadnought classes.
Considering all of this, the main guns of the Arizona are likely to be as follows:
1) The caliber is 48 centimeters, the same as Yamato‘s
2) A positron concentrator is installed in the barrel (improving the convergence rate)
3) A condenser is installed in the turret (improving the firing rate) *Protrusion on the side of the turret?
4) The solid bullet feeding system and ammunition storehouse are the same as the Yamato type (solid bullets such as Yamato‘s Type 3 fusion bullets can be used as is)
I think it has such features.
In other words, I think it is a new type of gun that combines the characteristics of Yamato‘s positron shock cannon and the convergence compression type of the A & D classes (taking the best of both worlds). And because the development and manufacturing of this gun was ordered from Nanbu Heavy Industries, which had experience manufacturing Yamato‘s 48-inch positron shock cannon, Arizona was specially ordered to undergo final fitting at Nanbu Heavy Industries’ dock in Japan — that’s the conclusion of this speculation.
Of course, if an American manufacturer could make the same main gun if they wanted to, but they would be at a disadvantage in terms of cost and delivery time compared to Nanbu Heavy Industries, which could reuse existing blueprints and manufacturing infrastructure. Above all, Nanbu Heavy Industries’ track record with Yamato and Ginga is too impressive to ignore.
In the pamphlet for Chapter 3, Naoyuki Katoh has painted a backshot of the Arizona in the construction dock. It’s in this scene that the broadside guns (secondary guns?) are about to be installed along with the barbettes, which means Nanbu Heavy Industries received an order for not only the main guns but also the broadside guns.
And if this speculation is correct, then two others arise.
It seems that Yamato and Arizona are not the only ships that originated as emigration ships during the Garmillas War. The description of Arizona on the official website says that it is “one of the ships whose construction has been resumed,” so there may be other ships whose construction has been resumed.
One of them may be the Prince of Wales, whose name appears in the documents along with Arizona, or there may also be the Bismarck or Novik, whose names are not listed. If those ships are of the same scale as Yamato and Arizona, they may also be equipped with 48-inch positron shock cannons, and if so, they may have been sent to the Far East (Nanbu Heavy Industries) for their installation. Personally, I would love to see a Prince of Wales class equipped with four twin 48-inch main guns.
And another speculation:
If Dezarium had not invaded Earth at the time Arizona was sent to the Far East District (Japan), or if the invasion had come later, Arizona may have played a role in practical testing of the wave cartridge ammunition developed on Yamato inside the Icarus Observatory.
Since Yamato is hidden inside a rock mass, it would be possible to conduct detonation experiments to confirm the synchronization of the shells and the wave core, but it would not be possible to use it for practical tests that involve firing the main guns. Normally, the sister ship Ginga would be ideal for that role, but as you know, Ginga cannot use offensive weapons due to the influence of CRS, so a pinch hitter is needed.
And if Arizona is equipped with the same main gun and ammunition feeding system as Yamato, as imagined above, it could easily serve as a practical test. Of course, the Andromeda class also has a solid ammunition firing system, so it could use the A class, but since the caliber of the main gun is different from Yamato‘s, the problem is that new warheads would have to be manufactured separately from the ones for Yamato. At least at the practical test stage, it would be better if there was a ship that could use the same caliber main gun.
If practical tests of wave cartridge bullets were to be conducted by Arizona, there would be the problem of what to do with the wave core. The question is, would Yamato‘s genuine original wave core from Iscandar be replaced with the core recovered at Beemera, or would a mass-produced core (copy core) manufactured on Earth be used?
Both would require testing, and in terms of establishing the technology, the former should be tested first, but the latter would be far more important in terms of an anti-Dezarium strategy. At the moment, it is not clear whether wave cartridge bullets can be used by anyone other than Yamato, but looking at the principles of the wave cartridge, it seems that they could basically be used.
There are two issues: the difference in the effective range of the resonance wave that is enough to detonate the wave cartridge, and the magnitude of the resonance effect. The former is a case where the range over which the resonance waves can be exerted is extremely different between the original and copy cores.
For example, if a copy core could only be detonated at close range, where it would be caught up in the explosion, it would not be usable as a practical weapon. The latter possibility is that the copy core cannot obtain a resonance effect sufficient for detonation in the first place.
Asuka‘s wave resonance guide device proves that copy cores can generate wave resonance waves, but unlike Yamato, for now a dedicated device must be used. However, whether this is the former or latter problem, I think it will be solved as technological development progresses in the future. This could be done by improving the cartridge side to make the resonance waves sufficient for detonation smaller, or by developing technology to amplify the resonance waves on the Wave Engine side. As for amplification, it is exactly the wave resonance guide device, but I think it would be a matter of making it smaller and simpler.
That was a long explanation, but wave cartridge bullets are very effective as an anti-Dezarium weapon, and whether they can be used on ordinary ships other than Yamato is a matter of life and death for Earth.
This is just a hypothesis based on imagination, but if Dezarium’s invasion had come a little later, it might have been possible for Arizona to carry out this extremely important test. However, this fantasy has a drawback: there is a possibility that information about the top secret wave cartridges could be leaked to Dezarium through the upper echelons of Nanbu Heavy Industries. That said, if secrecy is kept too thorough, then the next problem arises of not being able to deploy it to combat units after successful development, which is difficult in itself.
So, today I’ve fantasized about why Arizona was in Japan (Far East District) in 3199.
The photos used in this article are of Arizona (DOrakuDO garage kit) and Andromeda (SOY-YA!! garage kit) made by Hiyarihat. I took these photos when I was with Hiyarihat and SOY-YA!! the other day. The first bridge of the Arizona is reused from Bandai’s 1/500 Yamato, but it turned out to be a perfect match for the settings and design of the 3199 version!