Macross is widely considered a classic, combining giant transforming robots, apocalyptic battles, wartime romance, and victory through the use of various unconventional means, including bubblegum pop music.
The first mass-produced variable fighter (Macross) or Veritech fighter (Robotech) is called the VF-1 Valkyrie. The VF-1 was initially designed by the legendary Japanese mecha designer Shoji Kawamori (with contributions by his Studio Nue partner Kazutaka Miyatake) in 1980-1982 to be the centerpiece mecha design of the anime series.
The VF-1 is built in three main variants (along with several less frequently used variants): A standard soldier's fighter is the VF-1A, a team leader's fighter is the VF-1J and a Commander Air Group's fighter is the VF-1S. The three models differ slightly in engines, avionics, and armament; notably, the VF-1A has one laser on its head, the VF-1J has two, and the VF-1S has four.
The VF-1 was preceded into production by an aerodynamic proving version of its airframe, the VF-X. Unlike all later VF vehicles, the VF-X was strictly a jet aircraft, built to demonstrate that a jet fighter with the features necessary to convert to Battroid mode was aerodynamically feasible. After the VF-X's testing was finished, an advanced-concept prototype, the VF-0, was flight-tested from 2005 to 2007 and briefly served as an active-duty fighter from 2007 to the VF-1's rollout in late 2008, while the bugs were being worked out of the full-up VF-1 prototype (VF-X-1). The VF-1's combat debut was 7 February 2009, during the Battle of South Ataria Island, the first battle of Space War I.
In Robotech, the VF-0 did not exist; the non-transformable VF-X was followed by a version which had only fighter and guardian mode. Not until June 2007 was the final version of the YF-1, which could transform into battloid mode, released. It unofficially saw its first combat in early 2007, when test pilot Roy Fokker "borrowed" the first production-model aircraft - a VF-1S that would remain his mount for the rest of his life - to thwart an Anti-Unification plot to destroy the three primary symbols of UEG power (the Antarctica and Alaska Bases and the SDF-1 herself). Fokker succeeded, though not before a reflex missile had destroyed the Antarctica Base. Officially, the first combat of the VF-1 was, like Macross, 7 February 2009, during the Battle of Macross Island, the first battle of the First Robotech War.
