X-49 Night Raven

The X-49 Night Raven was an experimental demonstrator aircraft created by General Resource.

Description

Development

The Night Raven was the product of "Darkness of Enigma", a secret General Resource project that studied information on next-generation aircraft and advanced pilot-vehicle neural connection. DOE lasted from 2028 to 2033, and led to the development of an evolved version of the Electro-Neuron-Synapse-Interface system that was standard issue for aircraft of the era.^[1]

A young Rena Hirose was recruited by the company on Abyssal Dision's suggestion, and was used as a test subject for DOE technologies. However, an interview to Rena in 2031 unveiled the Enigma plan to the public eye, and General Resource came under criticism over company ethics. In order to subvert the internal crisis that followed, the chief members of GR ordered the killing of all personnel involved in Engima, including project leader Yoko Martha Inoue.^[1]

Following the cancellation of the project, several engineers involved in DOE abandoned General and joined Neucom Incorporated, bringing some of the data they obtained from GR. Their research was later used to produce the XR-900 Geopelia, a similar-looking combat drone.^[1]

Corporate War

In the early days of the armed confrontations between General and Neucom, Hirose and Nemo followed an A/F-117X scout plane to a General Resource Defense Force base at the Hatties Ravine near the Amber Mountains, where a DOE research facility was erected. After entering the ravine, Rena suffered flashbacks of her involvement with the project, and commented on her faint memories of the Night Raven.^[1]

On many branches of the simulation, Ouroboros would seize the Night Raven during their uprising, which would be given to a brainwashed Rena on Abyssal Dision's orders. Towards the end of the war, it would be responsible for the destruction of Megafloat, after which she would escape with Dision. Regardless of Nemo's decisions, the X-49 would be destroyed or otherwise disabled in all routes, except for the UPEO branch.^[1]

Specifications

Width: 30.11m
Length: 17.20m
Height: 3.82m
Weight: 39940 kg
Max Speed: 4594&nbap;km/h
Damage Tolerance: Heavy

Weapons

Heavy Laser Cannon
Short Range Missile
Standard Missile (AIM-9 Sidewinder)
MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle)

Trivia

The X-49 Night Raven bears resemblance to Ace Combat: Joint Assault's Spiridus due to its unusual wing design.
The XR-900 Geopelia and the X-49 Night Raven may have the same the same power and very similar appearance, but Night Raven is faster, since it has 8 engines when the Geopelia only has 6.
Although it bears no resemblance the namesake may have come from the 1986 G.I. Joe toy called the Nightraven, which looked more like an SR-71.
Once the plane passes 3920 km/h, the plane will start vibrating violently (but not enough to shake it apart), probably a warning for Nemo to slow down, as like in the Su-43, RF-12A2 Blackbird II, XR-900 and UI-4054. This could also possibly be that the plane is approaching the Hypersonic barrier.
In the export version of Ace Combat 3, the X-49 is manned by a rogue artificial intelligence.