Senjutsuki (戦術機, "tactical machines"), or Senjutsuhokousentouki (戦術歩行戦闘機, "tactical walking battle machines"), are large bipedal robots used as weapons to combat aliens known as the BETA in the Muv-Luv Unlimited and Muv-Luv Alternative visual novel games, as well as their spinoff/side-story works.
The official translation of the name is "Tactical Surface Fighter". However, this terminology was never used in the games, and was first seen nine months following Alternative's release in promotional materials for Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse.
In the alternate timelines of Unlimited and Alternative, mankind has been at war with aliens since 1967, and TSFs have been employed since the early 1970's. Using preexisting mobile space walkers as a design basis, TSFs were developed as an adaptable and versatile weapon to counter the BETA threat, and have become essential to humanity's survival over the 30-year war.
Some reasons for the development of the TSF stands as such; due to the unerring accuracy and offensive power of the Laser-class BETA, TSFs were developed as surface to air all purpose assault craft to circumvent BETA air superiority. The frame of a TSF also allows it to perform well inside the enclosed spaces of a BETA Hive if required, using their humanoid form to navigate the tunnels without being constrained to any one dimension of combat.
Two Shiranui Seconds display their prowress in short-range combat maneuvers.
Early TSFs were envisioned as mobile tanks, and were sent into battle with heavy armaments and armor plating while operated by retrained former military airplane pilots. The results were disastrous; the BETA easily targeted and destroyed these early TSFs and their sheer power bypassed any amount of armor. Pilots struggled with the conceptual differences between piloting an airplane and a TSF, to the point that it was deemed that TSF training be taught to officers early in their careers to improve and advance TSF combat doctrines. The average survival time for pilots of these 1st-generation TSFs were 8 minutes, and surviving the "Eight Minutes of Death" has become a rite of passage among modern pilots.
Later models emphasized a focus on agility and manuverability, as the numbers and offensive strength of the BETA assured that pilots fared much better by avoiding attacks rather than withstanding them. Such later craft resemble modern fighter planes ("sentouki") in performance, rather than tanks. The continued development of high-maneuverability, high-mobility TSFs has shifted TSF design into its third generation, and most, if not all TSFs of this tier boast superior maneuverability and firepower depending on their design. The Type-94 Shiranui, the world's first third-generation TSF, remains a high-performance unit nearly a decade after its introduction, and late-third-generation units like the Type-00 Takemikazuchi series focuses on overwhelming close-combat advantages, while the F-22A Raptor uses stealth and superior mobility to not only outmaneuver BETA, but human and TSF opponents as well.
The designation for a pilot of a TSF is Eishi (official English term being "Surface Pilot"). It is a word of Japanese origin and historically referred to a mentality defenders of the Imperial Court achieved before going into battle. Eishi are called upon to respond quickly and efficiently against dynamic threats, as BETA attack and approach vectors are unpredictable and no strategy is effective against them forever.
Most if not all of the American, Soviet and European TSFs are based on real-life fighter jets (e.g.- F-22A being built by "Lockweed Mardin"). As the military aerial industry is near-obsolete in the Unlimited/Alternative universe, having mostly shifted to TSF production, it can be probably assumed that the people responsible for the real world's various fighter jets would also be responsible for the design/manufacture of TSFs in Muv-Luv Unlimited/Alternative.
Orbital Divers suffer from a high casualty rate per mission, but their combat roles are unarguably one of the most important.
As TSFs are the parallel world successors of fighter jets, the way TSF military units are arranged are usually similair to air force units.
A maximum of two TSFs make an Element, the smallest combat unit available. This is also the unit size that Orbital Divers are deployed in during their drop towards their objective(s), prior to forming up before an assault. In contrast to real life, an Element in an air force (using a US unit as a comparison) has no assigned aircraft and numbers five to twenty personnel.
Two to four TSFs constitute a Flight. In real world terms an air force unit termed a "flight" is usually the smallest unit to be assigned aircraft, usually four to six aircraft. This organization form is often used for groupings such as Storm Vanguards or rear Guards. Independent Flights may exist, such as the Argos Test Flight and Bao-Feng Test Flight. Flights use identification codes ending in "fli".
Five to twelve TSFs form a Squadron. Examples include Wardog Squadron with five deployable pilots at maximum, and the seven named pilots of East Germany's 666th Schwarzesmarken. Squadron ID codes end in "sqd".
At thirty-seven up to one-hundred-and-eight TSFs, the unit represents a Wing. The United Nation's A-01 Special Task Force was originally an example of a Wing-sized combat unit, but high death rates caused by the high risk levels of their missions have severely reduced the number of deployable pilots they have. A wing uses the abbreviation "wig".
TSF action figures are currently produced by Volks (in their A3 =Advanced System of Action Arms= and Tactical Surface Fighter Model Collection lines) and Kaiyodo (in their Revoltech line). Model kits for these mecha are produced by Kotobukiya.
Varying from the mudane to the highly ornate, most Japanese TSFs focus on high-speed rushing, close-combat tactics and mobility borne out of a need to fight in crowded Hive conditions to cleanse Japan of the BETA, as well as strengthened joint systems to overcome the issue of uneven and rough terrain of the Japanese mainland. With improvements in TSF technology, Japanese TSFs have become more maneuverable, with some bearing weaponized armor and/or parts for greater combat potential against the BETA; most TSFs have limiters installed, however, to improve joint and frame durability and uptime during combat.
Several Type-94s in the United Nation color scheme initiating combat maneuvers with their jump units.
Being the nation that led the development on TSF development and production, American TSFs are highly advanced and efficient at range, using their powerful armaments to keep the BETA out of reach. Several TSFs are also the bearers of pioneer technologies and weapons that would later become standard equipment on future variants.
The contenders of the USA's Advanced Tactical Surface Fighter programme.
Like the Japanese, the Europeans have had the problems of having to counter the BETA on their own ground, and have gradually developed TSFs that have various methods of countering close-contact combat with the BETA. Their TSFs focus on two fighting methods; one is supression of enemy forces with heavy firepower, and the other is high mobility for a highly-adaptable force. With the two methods becoming one as European TSF technology continues to mature, modern European TSFs are highly mobile fighters with the capability to direct light-load, high-firepower wherever they go.
Similar to Japanese and European TSFs, Soviet fighters have a distinct close-combat-oriented design for combat conditions in a BETA Hive with high-speed deployment and usage of melee capabilities via arming their TSFs with built-in melee armaments and well-placed reactive armor plates, as well as high-mobility capabilities to multiply their effectiveness in the crowded conditions of a BETA-dominated battlefield.
Focusing on high-mobility tactics like those of Soviet/European/Japanese machines, TSFs of the Chinese United Front emphasise mobility and speed over other aspects. Chinese TSFs have adopted a rounded-head sensor module to feature wider sight range, as well as improve performance and provide redundancy for optics failure during high-intensity combat.
As I don't know where to put this elsewhere on the Wiki, and I don't think it's on here yet.
2 TSFs - Element
4 TSFs- Flight
12 TSFs- Squadron
36 - Group
108 - Wing
Added by Superior-chan
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