Gründer Industries, officially North Osea Gründer Industries and formerly known as the South Belka Munitions Factory, was a weapons manufacturing firm headquartered in Sudentor, North Osea. One of Strangereal's foremost arms producers, Gründer originated from the South Belka Munitions Factory, a state-owned arms company that predates the Belkan War.
History
Origins
Aircraft developed by Gründer Industries
Gründer Industries began operations sometime in the 20th century as the South Belka Munitions Factory, Belka's primary weapons supplier. During the 1970s, the company participated in "Project Pendragon", which resulted in the creation of the V2 MIRV missile.[2] By the mid-1980s, the company had introduced the ADFX-02 Morgan prototype fighter, which was intended to out-perform all other contemporary aircraft of the day.[3] Around this time, the company was also called upon to design and engineer the massive anti-ICBM laser cannon Excalibur.[citation needed]
In early 1995, at the height of the Belkan War, the Belkan Army's increasing demand for supplies and weapons pressured the company to expand its production efforts. By early June, however, the beleaguered Belkan forces had begun massing at Sudentor. The company readily supplied equipment to these forces prior to the Allied Forces' planned assault on the city.[4] At some point, the only functioning V2 warhead was stolen from the company by the rebel organization "A World With No Boundaries".[5]
Transition into Gründer
In the aftermath of the war, the South Belka Munitions Factory—along with Sudentor and the rest of South Belka—was ceded to the Osean Federation.[6] In the years that followed, the company transformed into a multinational corporation: it was renamed "North Osea Gründer Industries" to reflect its new nationality, and the company's Belkan president took an oath of loyalty to the Federation.[7]
Gründer Industries subsequently became a major producer of military technology for the Osean Defense Forces. By the late 1990s, it had begun working on two notable projects: the ADF-01 FALKEN[3] and the Zone of Endless artificial intelligence system.[8] Gründer was also known for its streamlined aircraft designs, which reduced the number of parts and, by extension, manufacturing costs.[1]
In the years following the Second Usean Continental War, Gründer was involved in a deal between the Federal Republic of Erusea and the Union of Yuktobanian Republics, being contracted to produce a license-built version of the EASA's X-02 Wyvern for Yuktobania.[9]
Circum-Pacific War
The entrance to Gründer Industries' tunnel through the Waldreich Mountains
By the turn of the century, however, Gründer Industries had become involved in the Grey Men's plot to avenge Belka's defeat in 1995. Under its president, who was actually a member of the Grey Men and feigning allegiance to Osea, Gründer began constructing a large tunnel beneath the border between southern Belka and North Osea. The company's goal was to reunite Belka with its former southern lands,[7] but when the Belkans began efforts to secure and complete the long-abandoned Strategic Orbital Linear Gun (SOLG), Gründer constructed the SOLG's control facilities within the tunnel as well.
Throughout the Circum-Pacific War, Gründer Industries engaged in war profiteering by secretly supplying arms to Osean, Yuktobanian, and Belkan combatants, in an effort to prolong the conflict.[1][7] Sometime in late December, Gründer gained possession of one of the V1 nuclear warheads that had been removed from Mount Schirm earlier in the month.
On December 30, the Grey Men's plot was exposed, leading Osean and Yuktobanian forces to besiege Sudentor. As a last resort, Gründer requested assistance from pro-war forces in both nations, promising to give them the V1 warhead in exchange for their aid. However, both the warmongers and the Belkans were defeated by the Osean-Yuktobanian coalition forces, and the tunnel facility was destroyed by Razgriz Squadron.[10]
Trivia
- The word "gründer" is German for "founder".
- Gründer Industries containers can be found in Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation on container ships in The Liberation of Gracemeria and Ragno Fortress
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cutscene 16, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
- ↑ Cutscene 16 - Knight, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Aces At War: A History, page 057.
- ↑ The Stage of Apocalypse, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.
- ↑ The Valley of Kings, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.
- ↑ Cutscene 10, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Briefing, ACES, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
- ↑ Aces At War: A History, page 066.
- ↑ Sand Island Wyvern artwork, Ace Combat 5: Behind the Combat. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
- ↑ ACES, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
