Weapons Talkback: Raptor 1&2, Modified CV-22 Osprey
Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 7:00 am
Note: This topic is about the weapon system from the Godzilla 2000 novel. Because the Raptors never had any images made of them for Marc Cerasini's Random House Godzilla novels, we will be using a stock photo of the aircraft they are based off of, the Osprey.
In 1988, U.S. Air Force General Jake Taggart wrote an article for a strategic studies journal how certain weapon systems could be modified to defend against Godzilla's reappearance or another monster. No one expected Godzilla to return as the creature was presumed dead after the events of his 1954 rampage and neither he nor any other creature like him had been seen in decades since then, and thus was assumed to be a one time freak incident. In 1996 the French conducted a nuclear test, that same year a Russian nuclear powered submarine was attacked and sunk by a large creature and over the next two years many more vessels would go missing in the sea of Japan. In 1998 Godzilla would finally make his presence known to the world at large by attacking Japan and feeding off several of it's nuclear reactors, the creature either being the original one having survived the events of 1954, or a new one created or awoken by the French nuclear tests.
That same year, after witnessing conventional weapons fail to stop Godzilla, an advisor to the president remembered Taggart's article. Taggart would be pulled out of retirement and, along with Colonel William "Bill" Krupp, be put in charge of Project Valkyrie, a top secret U.S. Air Force project to create Taggart's proposed anti-kaiju weapon system, with Taggart and Krupp's mission to oversee the training of teenagers in the use of said weapons as the next generations anti-kaiju fighting force. The weapon system proved too complex for Air Force pilots to learn so it was decided that younger people would have an easier time learning the system. They created an arcade game called BATTLEGROUND 2000, which would take a pictures and scan fingerprints of those who got high scores as potential candidates for the program before being approached by government officials with the offer to join the program. Those with criminal records had their profiles thrown out without even knowing they were being considered to participate in a top secret project. Conscripting was considered should anyone refuse to join but the project would never have to resort to such an act as none of the trainees turned down the offer to join with their reasons for joining ranging from duty their country, a sense of adventure or to get out of broken homes.
Eventually this new weapon system and it's pilots were ready. Despite this Project Valkyrie did not end immediately. It wasn't until several failed attacks to kill or drive away monsters by the U.S., Mexican and Canadian military that the U.S. president ended Project Valkyrie, and thus G-Force was born. It was sink or swim, as how well G-Force fairs against the monsters would determine the new organizations future.
The future of G-Force was ridding on Taggart's new weapons.
The Raptors.
Raptor-One:
Both Raptors are VTOL aircraft designed after the Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey, having two turboshaft tilt-rotor propeller engines. Both aircraft are twice as large as a normal Osprey, with a wingspan of 175 feet (53 meters) and length of over 100 feet (30 meters) with propellers 50 feet (15.24 meters) in length, both aircraft have their vertical fin stabilizers on their fuselage (body) instead of their twin tails like a normal Osprey. Raptor-One is a four man aircraft consisting a pilot/commander, a co-pilot/flight engineer, a navigation and communications officer, and a weapons systems officer. Raptor-One is for all intents and purposes a giant, flying ammunition bay.
Camouflage: Both Raptors are cloud gray with jagged lines of purple and mauve across their sides and back, this jangled color schemes intent is to hinder a monsters ability to spot either aircraft in the sky.
Reinforced Carbon-Carbon: Both Raptors are covered in tiles coated in RCC, similar to ones used by NASA's space shuttles to protect them from the heat of reentry. The shielding did protect the Raptors from the extreme heat some monsters expel with their energy weapons but a direct hit is still advised to be avoided as the kinetic energy of said energy weapons can break the tiles off as was shown with Raptor-One's fight with the alien King Ghidorah. Raptor-One is more armored than Raptor-Two. Additional Armor was used for the battle against King Ghidorah but it caused the ammo bays to be unreliable as the extra weight would sometimes cause them to not open all the way. While missile bays were armored and the optional rocket-pods as well, the explosives inside were vulnerable to energy weapons when opened which could cause a chain reaction explosion resulting in damage to the aircraft, fires and lost munations as was the case when Godzilla shot destroyed a Hellfire missile when it's pod was opened for firing.
This armor was strong enough to survive several grazing blows from Varan's attempts to ram Raptor-One out of the sky, survive both direct and grazing blows from Godzilla's Atomic Breath and several seconds of direct hits from the heat & electrical nature of King Ghidorah's Gravity Beams but the kinetic force of the Gravity Beams caused several of the panels to blow off.
Teflon Windows: Both Raptors transparencies or windows were double panes of a new, revolutionary, translucent Teflon which repelled heat in excesses of up to 1,200F instantly without suffering damage.
Heat-Resistant Panels & Digital Camera: For additional protection for the Teflon windows, heat-resistant panels could be lowered to shield them. The Teflon windows were built to also work as digital monitors when the panels are lowered and are fed visual real-time images from hundreds of digital cameras on the fuselage and wings.
Advance Radar & Navigation Systems: Both Raptors were equipped with advance radar & navigation systems capable of detecting Varan who was invisible to normal radar, though Raptor-One's was less advance than Raptor-Two's as Raptor-Two detected Varan before Raptor-One. Both are fed constant updates on their location by geopositional satellites. These computers can highlight parts of a computer-generated schematic to show where damage has occurred.
Vertical Take-Off and Landing: Being that they are based off the Osprey, both Raptors are capable of both traditional propeller plane flight and the hover, ascending/descending and banking of a helicopter using their twin turboshaft tilt-rotor propeller engines. This allowed the Raptors to be very maneuverable in the air, remain stationary midair, fly backwards or turn 180 on the dime.
Flight Speed: Both Raptors are capable of a flight speed of 250 MPH.
GAU-8/A Avenger Cannons: The fuselage of Raptor-One was lined with massive General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger Cannons capable of firing a variety of different types of ammunition in the 30mm range, each cannon capable of firing 4,000 rounds per second. This is a tank killing gun, found on the A-10 Warthog as well as Goalkeeper CIWS (Close-in weapon system) for Dutch navel ships as a defense against missiles. Depending on the ammo & fire mode being used the eight cannons combined can fire 40,000 to 42,000 rounds per second. The Raptor's cannons seem to have a higher fire rate than the real Avenger Cannons. This could mean they were modified to fire faster than what is normally possible. Or the author made a mistake. Though both the real cannon and fictional version are capable of variable fire rates.
While capable of fully automatic fire, controlled burst fire was recommended so the aircraft would not be slowed down by the guns recoil, so great was their firepower. Tracer rounds were an option to help with readjusting aim in night time skirmishes. Should one gun jam, all the ammo would be diverted to the non-jammed guns.
NOTE: When first introduced page 112 says it has four cannons but all mention of the cannon numbers later in the book, pages 226 & 295, say it has eight cannons. It is unknown if this was an error on the writers part or if the Raptor got upgraded with four more cannons later on. Avenger Cannon number 5 is the one that jams in a fight with Godzilla. Also real life Avenger cannons fired closer to 3,900 rounds pre minute instead of 4,000 a second. Either Marc goofed up or these cannons were heavily modified, both the real and fictional ones have variable fire rates though.
30mm Explosive Armor-Piercing Depleted Uranium Shells: The GAU-8/A Avenger Cannons on Raptro-One's fuselage could fire massive, 30mm Depleted Armor-Piercing Uranium Shells to soften up armored monsters with machine gun cannon fire which were explosive. A rather controversial ammo, the particles that break off from impact can be breathed in, resulting in cancer or birth defects of future children. While radioactive, the radiation level is too low to "feed" any nuclear powered monsters.
Depleted Uranium was chosen because it sheds from friction, essentially sharpening itself allowing for deeper penetration before the explosive inside go off. It's also an incendiary, Depleted Uranium is flammable and ignites upon impact or from friction as it penetrates a target or even from being exposed to air once free of it's jacket due to being pyrophoric. The idea was to chisel away a monsters armored hide and cause a burning, splintering pain, like a million glass splinters being launched at the monster. Initially Varan was unphased by the ammo but when the cannons focused all their firepower on an injury Varan had gotten from the Armor Piercing Rockets, it forced the monster to land. Concertreated fire on injuries or sensitive body parts got the best results. They were more effective against Godzilla than Varan, hurting him anywhere he was shot but were most effective shooting behind or near his ears.
30mm Teflon-Coated Explosive Shells: The 30mm Uranium Shells would be switched out for experimental, and less health risk nightmare, 30mm Teflon-Coated Explosive Shells for the GAU-8/A Avenger Cannons in the battle against King Ghidorah. Coated in Polytetrafluoroethylene to reduce friction, this allowed these bullets to slide into a target further before deforming or breaking apart and the explosive go off, allowing for deeper penetration. The bullets were surprisingly effective, even more so than the Uranium rounds which caused minimum damage to Varan. The Teflon bullets shattered King Ghidorah's golden scales like glass.
Cadmium Missiles: When Godzilla attacked Japan in 1998 Cadmium had been fired into him by the JSDF, while it failed to kill him, it did weaken Godzilla enough to seek out several nuclear reactors to refuel himself. Because it's one of the few weapons to have any effect on him, Raptor-One's internal armored missile bays, which are built into it's wings, are armed with dozens of Cadmium Missiles to weaken any nuclear powered monsters by interfering with their body's process to create a nuclear chain reaction. Raptor-One never got the chanced to use the Cadmium Missiles on Godzilla as their fight was cut short nor were they used on Varan who was mutated by chemicals, not radiation. It did get to fire Cadmium Missiles at King Ghidorah's back on the chance the space monster was nuclear powered, but they didn't seem to have any visible effect. It's possible the monster's body processes some other unknown energy source.
Maverick Air-to-Surface Missiles: The internal armored missile bays in the wings also carried AGM-65 Maverick Air-to-Surface Missiles (Air-to-Ground Missiles). These precision-guided missiles lock on to a target and are armed with heavyweight warheads fitted with a delayed-action fuze, allowing them to penetrate an armored target with kinetic energy before blowing up.
It is unknown if Raptor-One used them against Godzilla as the book switches between the battle with Godzilla and other events going on around the same time. There is no mention of it being used but a Hellfire missile did detonate in the weapon bays in the wings, where other types of missiles such as the Cadmium and Maverick are stored, implying Raptor-One was or already had fired at least some missiles at Godzilla, so it's safe to assume it was going to or did.
Laser-Guided Smart Bombs: Should Raptor-One be directly above a slow moving land based target, the the built in internal armored bomb bay on the underside of it's wings could be opened up to drop a variety of laser guided smart bombs to soften up the target in a fly by air drop. Sadly this ability went unused, it most likely would have been used on Godzilla had the battle not been cut short but then again using it on a monster that has it's own projectile weapon might prove too risky for a bombing run.
Armor-Piercing Rockets: Raptor-One had armored weapon bays on the underside of it's wings that can open up, allowing four internal armored-rocket pods to lower and hang from the underside of the wings, each one carrying a variety of 50 Armor-Piercing Rockets for a total of 200 rockets. The mentality was to throw everything and the kitchen sink to see which rockets worked best on what monster. This was the balanced middle ground between the firing speed & capacity of the Avenger cannons and the explosive power of the much larger missiles. They surprisingly effective, managing to punch through Varan's armor and leave an injury that was weak to Avenger cannon fire when before the monster was unaffected by them.
Hellfire Missiles: Raptor-One's wing pylons could also carry larger external armored rocket-pods for larger missiles such as 6 AGM-114 Hellfire Missiles (Air-to-Ground Missiles) for additional firepower. The Hellfire Missiles are what's know as fire-and-forget missiles, meaning these anti-armor missiles can lock on to a target even after being fired and need no further assistance in tracking a target even in poor visual conditions such as smoke. The max speed of these missiles was mach 1.3 and could be fitted with several different types of warheads.
Teflon-Needle Missiles: The wing pylons could also 2 cruise missiles, one for each wing and could use various types of cruise missiles. Raptor-One's most powerful weapon were two, jet powered, sub-sonic Tomahawk cruise missiles, specially equipped with surgically honed needle sharp tips made of Teflon. Using a laser-targeting system, these all-weather, long range missiles were made to punch into & bury themselves into a monster like a hypodermic needle before unleashing a ship killing explosion. Though one lost altitude due to the added weight in the front and bounced off of King Ghidorah's armored hide, the other got lucky and found it's mark inside the much softer base of King Ghidorah's middle head and was lodged in without the creature seeming to notice or care, and causing it to blood profusely though it failed to detonate. Remember these aren't specially made anti-kaiju weapons for the Raptor, they are mass produced missiles that are prone to malfunction and were rigged to carry extra weight in the front they weren't specially made for. When shot with the Teflon bullets it ignited with enough explosive force to blow off the space monster's middle head, driving it away from Earth.
Still, even a failed to detonate missile could prove useful if it is lodged in a monster, as it could cause them to bleed to death or weaken them due to blood loss.
Raptor-Two:
The sister craft of Raptor-One and completed before it, Raptor-Two is nearly identical to Raptor-One, save for it's lack of weapons and carrying more advance navigational and observational equipment than it's sister craft. Raptor-Two is a two man aircraft with one Pilot and an Air Caps (Air Combat Controller) feeding commends to the helmet of Raptor One's weapons systems officer. Raptor-Two's job is to fly high above Raptor-One and the enemy, observer the fight and give Raptor-One's crew constant feedback and updates.
Camouflage: Both Raptors are cloud gray with jagged lines of purple and mauve across their sides and back, this jangled color schemes intent is to hinder a monsters ability to spot either aircraft in the sky.
Reinforced Carbon-Carbon: Both Raptors are covered in tiles coated in RCC, similar to ones used by NASA's space shuttles to protect them from the heat of reentry. The shielding did protect the Raptors from the extreme heat some monsters expel with their energy weapons but a direct hit is still advised to be avoided, as Godzilla took out the less armored Raptor-Two.
Teflon Windows: Both Raptors transparencies or windows were double panes of a new, revolutionary translucent Teflon which repelled heat in excesses of up to 1,200F instantly without suffering damage.
Heat-Resistant Panels & Digital Camera: For additional protection for the Teflon windows, heat-resistant panels could be lowered to shield them. When this happened digital screens would activate and feed visual real-time images from hundreds of cameras on the fuselage and wings.
Advance Radar & Navigation Systems: Both Raptors were equipped with advance radar & navigation systems capable of detecting Varan who was invisible to normal radar, though Raptor-Two's was more advance, able to detect monsters at a further range and faster than Raptor-One. Both were able to better detect Varan who showed up as just a cloud or flock of birds on normal conventional radar though Raptor-Two's could detect him sooner than Raptor-One. These computers can highlight parts of a computer-generated schematic to show where damage has occurred.
Vertical Take-Off and Landing: Being that they are based off the Osprey, both Raptors are capable of both traditional propeller plane flight and the hover, ascending/descending and banking of a helicopter using their twin turboshaft tilt-rotor propeller engines. This allowed the Raptors to be very maneuverable in the air, remain stationary midair, fly backwards or turn 180 on the dime.
Flight Speed: Both Raptors are capable of a flight speed of 250 MPH.
Modified CV-22 Osprey:
After the loss of Raptor-Two, a normal Osprey had to be heavily modified as Raptor-One's new Air Caps.
Power/Abilities: It's unknown if the stand in Osprey has camouflage, RCC, Teflon Windows or Heat-Resistant Panels, as the book makes no mention of them, though it likely did as they had time to modify Raptor-One further and they would have likely had spare parts for both Raptors for repairs. What is known is that the modified Osprey was given the same advance radar & navigation equipment as Raptor-Two, detecting King Ghidorah before Raptor-One. Both are fed constant updates on their location by geopositional satellites. These computers can highlight parts of a computer-generated schematic to show where damage has occurred.
Vertical Take-Off and Landing: Being an Osprey, it was capable of both traditional propeller plane flight and the hover, ascending/descending and banking of a helicopter using it;s twin turboshaft tilt-rotor propeller engines. This allowed the it to be very maneuverable in the air, remain stationary midair, fly backwards or turn 180 on the dime.
Flight Speed: The Osprey could fly at speeds of 351 mph
The Raptors creation didn't go exactly as planned as there were many setbacks. Mostly the president and his cabinet being, excuse the language for lack of a better term, incompetent dumbasses. They had to look to the gaming generation because the older generation pilots were overwhelmed by the Raptors. The teens themselves weren't even supposed to see action till they were 18+ but the monsters showed up unexpectedly, forcing them to use underage teens. Raptor-One was already near completion when Varan and Kamacuras appearances would convince several people at the Pentagon to pull strings to further speed up the process and get the Raptor-One done two months ahead of schedule. Taggart himself, along with Krupp would have to even pilot the Modified Osprey after the loss of Raptor-Two as Raptor-Two's pilot was injured and Raptor-Two's Air Cap was MIA.
Still in the end the Raptors saved the day, as they beat Varan and even helped Mothra and Godzilla beat King Ghidorah, which neither of the three could do on their own. The Raptors proved G-Force's worth as an anti-kaiju organization and paved way to even more powerful anti-kaiju weapons such as G-Force U.S.A. & Japan's Garuda and Mechagodzilla as well as Russia & Europe's Moguera. In fact I'd argue the Raptors are the most important anti-kaiju weapon in the Rnadom House Godzilla novels as they were the ones who started it all in that continuity.
I really like the Raptors and kind of hope to see them in a film, game or comic some day. Believable enough as both something that could exist but also something that can take on a giant monster. You know they're tough enough to take more than one hit from a kaiju's energy weapon but still feel they are weak enough that any hit after the first one could be the last one. Sort of a more grounded Super-X. It also makes me glad we're getting something like the Super-X or Raptors in the Monsterverse with the Argo Jets. They at least seem like they are gonna stick to memory more than the anti-kaiju aircraft used in the millennium series.
I hope you guys enjoyed this. I don't expect it to get many views or much discussion as usually weapons talkbacks and powers talkbacks are in the film sections.
In 1988, U.S. Air Force General Jake Taggart wrote an article for a strategic studies journal how certain weapon systems could be modified to defend against Godzilla's reappearance or another monster. No one expected Godzilla to return as the creature was presumed dead after the events of his 1954 rampage and neither he nor any other creature like him had been seen in decades since then, and thus was assumed to be a one time freak incident. In 1996 the French conducted a nuclear test, that same year a Russian nuclear powered submarine was attacked and sunk by a large creature and over the next two years many more vessels would go missing in the sea of Japan. In 1998 Godzilla would finally make his presence known to the world at large by attacking Japan and feeding off several of it's nuclear reactors, the creature either being the original one having survived the events of 1954, or a new one created or awoken by the French nuclear tests.
That same year, after witnessing conventional weapons fail to stop Godzilla, an advisor to the president remembered Taggart's article. Taggart would be pulled out of retirement and, along with Colonel William "Bill" Krupp, be put in charge of Project Valkyrie, a top secret U.S. Air Force project to create Taggart's proposed anti-kaiju weapon system, with Taggart and Krupp's mission to oversee the training of teenagers in the use of said weapons as the next generations anti-kaiju fighting force. The weapon system proved too complex for Air Force pilots to learn so it was decided that younger people would have an easier time learning the system. They created an arcade game called BATTLEGROUND 2000, which would take a pictures and scan fingerprints of those who got high scores as potential candidates for the program before being approached by government officials with the offer to join the program. Those with criminal records had their profiles thrown out without even knowing they were being considered to participate in a top secret project. Conscripting was considered should anyone refuse to join but the project would never have to resort to such an act as none of the trainees turned down the offer to join with their reasons for joining ranging from duty their country, a sense of adventure or to get out of broken homes.
Eventually this new weapon system and it's pilots were ready. Despite this Project Valkyrie did not end immediately. It wasn't until several failed attacks to kill or drive away monsters by the U.S., Mexican and Canadian military that the U.S. president ended Project Valkyrie, and thus G-Force was born. It was sink or swim, as how well G-Force fairs against the monsters would determine the new organizations future.
The future of G-Force was ridding on Taggart's new weapons.
The Raptors.
Raptor-One:
Both Raptors are VTOL aircraft designed after the Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey, having two turboshaft tilt-rotor propeller engines. Both aircraft are twice as large as a normal Osprey, with a wingspan of 175 feet (53 meters) and length of over 100 feet (30 meters) with propellers 50 feet (15.24 meters) in length, both aircraft have their vertical fin stabilizers on their fuselage (body) instead of their twin tails like a normal Osprey. Raptor-One is a four man aircraft consisting a pilot/commander, a co-pilot/flight engineer, a navigation and communications officer, and a weapons systems officer. Raptor-One is for all intents and purposes a giant, flying ammunition bay.
Camouflage: Both Raptors are cloud gray with jagged lines of purple and mauve across their sides and back, this jangled color schemes intent is to hinder a monsters ability to spot either aircraft in the sky.
Reinforced Carbon-Carbon: Both Raptors are covered in tiles coated in RCC, similar to ones used by NASA's space shuttles to protect them from the heat of reentry. The shielding did protect the Raptors from the extreme heat some monsters expel with their energy weapons but a direct hit is still advised to be avoided as the kinetic energy of said energy weapons can break the tiles off as was shown with Raptor-One's fight with the alien King Ghidorah. Raptor-One is more armored than Raptor-Two. Additional Armor was used for the battle against King Ghidorah but it caused the ammo bays to be unreliable as the extra weight would sometimes cause them to not open all the way. While missile bays were armored and the optional rocket-pods as well, the explosives inside were vulnerable to energy weapons when opened which could cause a chain reaction explosion resulting in damage to the aircraft, fires and lost munations as was the case when Godzilla shot destroyed a Hellfire missile when it's pod was opened for firing.
This armor was strong enough to survive several grazing blows from Varan's attempts to ram Raptor-One out of the sky, survive both direct and grazing blows from Godzilla's Atomic Breath and several seconds of direct hits from the heat & electrical nature of King Ghidorah's Gravity Beams but the kinetic force of the Gravity Beams caused several of the panels to blow off.
Teflon Windows: Both Raptors transparencies or windows were double panes of a new, revolutionary, translucent Teflon which repelled heat in excesses of up to 1,200F instantly without suffering damage.
Heat-Resistant Panels & Digital Camera: For additional protection for the Teflon windows, heat-resistant panels could be lowered to shield them. The Teflon windows were built to also work as digital monitors when the panels are lowered and are fed visual real-time images from hundreds of digital cameras on the fuselage and wings.
Advance Radar & Navigation Systems: Both Raptors were equipped with advance radar & navigation systems capable of detecting Varan who was invisible to normal radar, though Raptor-One's was less advance than Raptor-Two's as Raptor-Two detected Varan before Raptor-One. Both are fed constant updates on their location by geopositional satellites. These computers can highlight parts of a computer-generated schematic to show where damage has occurred.
Vertical Take-Off and Landing: Being that they are based off the Osprey, both Raptors are capable of both traditional propeller plane flight and the hover, ascending/descending and banking of a helicopter using their twin turboshaft tilt-rotor propeller engines. This allowed the Raptors to be very maneuverable in the air, remain stationary midair, fly backwards or turn 180 on the dime.
Flight Speed: Both Raptors are capable of a flight speed of 250 MPH.
GAU-8/A Avenger Cannons: The fuselage of Raptor-One was lined with massive General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger Cannons capable of firing a variety of different types of ammunition in the 30mm range, each cannon capable of firing 4,000 rounds per second. This is a tank killing gun, found on the A-10 Warthog as well as Goalkeeper CIWS (Close-in weapon system) for Dutch navel ships as a defense against missiles. Depending on the ammo & fire mode being used the eight cannons combined can fire 40,000 to 42,000 rounds per second. The Raptor's cannons seem to have a higher fire rate than the real Avenger Cannons. This could mean they were modified to fire faster than what is normally possible. Or the author made a mistake. Though both the real cannon and fictional version are capable of variable fire rates.
While capable of fully automatic fire, controlled burst fire was recommended so the aircraft would not be slowed down by the guns recoil, so great was their firepower. Tracer rounds were an option to help with readjusting aim in night time skirmishes. Should one gun jam, all the ammo would be diverted to the non-jammed guns.
NOTE: When first introduced page 112 says it has four cannons but all mention of the cannon numbers later in the book, pages 226 & 295, say it has eight cannons. It is unknown if this was an error on the writers part or if the Raptor got upgraded with four more cannons later on. Avenger Cannon number 5 is the one that jams in a fight with Godzilla. Also real life Avenger cannons fired closer to 3,900 rounds pre minute instead of 4,000 a second. Either Marc goofed up or these cannons were heavily modified, both the real and fictional ones have variable fire rates though.
30mm Explosive Armor-Piercing Depleted Uranium Shells: The GAU-8/A Avenger Cannons on Raptro-One's fuselage could fire massive, 30mm Depleted Armor-Piercing Uranium Shells to soften up armored monsters with machine gun cannon fire which were explosive. A rather controversial ammo, the particles that break off from impact can be breathed in, resulting in cancer or birth defects of future children. While radioactive, the radiation level is too low to "feed" any nuclear powered monsters.
Depleted Uranium was chosen because it sheds from friction, essentially sharpening itself allowing for deeper penetration before the explosive inside go off. It's also an incendiary, Depleted Uranium is flammable and ignites upon impact or from friction as it penetrates a target or even from being exposed to air once free of it's jacket due to being pyrophoric. The idea was to chisel away a monsters armored hide and cause a burning, splintering pain, like a million glass splinters being launched at the monster. Initially Varan was unphased by the ammo but when the cannons focused all their firepower on an injury Varan had gotten from the Armor Piercing Rockets, it forced the monster to land. Concertreated fire on injuries or sensitive body parts got the best results. They were more effective against Godzilla than Varan, hurting him anywhere he was shot but were most effective shooting behind or near his ears.
30mm Teflon-Coated Explosive Shells: The 30mm Uranium Shells would be switched out for experimental, and less health risk nightmare, 30mm Teflon-Coated Explosive Shells for the GAU-8/A Avenger Cannons in the battle against King Ghidorah. Coated in Polytetrafluoroethylene to reduce friction, this allowed these bullets to slide into a target further before deforming or breaking apart and the explosive go off, allowing for deeper penetration. The bullets were surprisingly effective, even more so than the Uranium rounds which caused minimum damage to Varan. The Teflon bullets shattered King Ghidorah's golden scales like glass.
Cadmium Missiles: When Godzilla attacked Japan in 1998 Cadmium had been fired into him by the JSDF, while it failed to kill him, it did weaken Godzilla enough to seek out several nuclear reactors to refuel himself. Because it's one of the few weapons to have any effect on him, Raptor-One's internal armored missile bays, which are built into it's wings, are armed with dozens of Cadmium Missiles to weaken any nuclear powered monsters by interfering with their body's process to create a nuclear chain reaction. Raptor-One never got the chanced to use the Cadmium Missiles on Godzilla as their fight was cut short nor were they used on Varan who was mutated by chemicals, not radiation. It did get to fire Cadmium Missiles at King Ghidorah's back on the chance the space monster was nuclear powered, but they didn't seem to have any visible effect. It's possible the monster's body processes some other unknown energy source.
Maverick Air-to-Surface Missiles: The internal armored missile bays in the wings also carried AGM-65 Maverick Air-to-Surface Missiles (Air-to-Ground Missiles). These precision-guided missiles lock on to a target and are armed with heavyweight warheads fitted with a delayed-action fuze, allowing them to penetrate an armored target with kinetic energy before blowing up.
It is unknown if Raptor-One used them against Godzilla as the book switches between the battle with Godzilla and other events going on around the same time. There is no mention of it being used but a Hellfire missile did detonate in the weapon bays in the wings, where other types of missiles such as the Cadmium and Maverick are stored, implying Raptor-One was or already had fired at least some missiles at Godzilla, so it's safe to assume it was going to or did.
Laser-Guided Smart Bombs: Should Raptor-One be directly above a slow moving land based target, the the built in internal armored bomb bay on the underside of it's wings could be opened up to drop a variety of laser guided smart bombs to soften up the target in a fly by air drop. Sadly this ability went unused, it most likely would have been used on Godzilla had the battle not been cut short but then again using it on a monster that has it's own projectile weapon might prove too risky for a bombing run.
Armor-Piercing Rockets: Raptor-One had armored weapon bays on the underside of it's wings that can open up, allowing four internal armored-rocket pods to lower and hang from the underside of the wings, each one carrying a variety of 50 Armor-Piercing Rockets for a total of 200 rockets. The mentality was to throw everything and the kitchen sink to see which rockets worked best on what monster. This was the balanced middle ground between the firing speed & capacity of the Avenger cannons and the explosive power of the much larger missiles. They surprisingly effective, managing to punch through Varan's armor and leave an injury that was weak to Avenger cannon fire when before the monster was unaffected by them.
Hellfire Missiles: Raptor-One's wing pylons could also carry larger external armored rocket-pods for larger missiles such as 6 AGM-114 Hellfire Missiles (Air-to-Ground Missiles) for additional firepower. The Hellfire Missiles are what's know as fire-and-forget missiles, meaning these anti-armor missiles can lock on to a target even after being fired and need no further assistance in tracking a target even in poor visual conditions such as smoke. The max speed of these missiles was mach 1.3 and could be fitted with several different types of warheads.
Teflon-Needle Missiles: The wing pylons could also 2 cruise missiles, one for each wing and could use various types of cruise missiles. Raptor-One's most powerful weapon were two, jet powered, sub-sonic Tomahawk cruise missiles, specially equipped with surgically honed needle sharp tips made of Teflon. Using a laser-targeting system, these all-weather, long range missiles were made to punch into & bury themselves into a monster like a hypodermic needle before unleashing a ship killing explosion. Though one lost altitude due to the added weight in the front and bounced off of King Ghidorah's armored hide, the other got lucky and found it's mark inside the much softer base of King Ghidorah's middle head and was lodged in without the creature seeming to notice or care, and causing it to blood profusely though it failed to detonate. Remember these aren't specially made anti-kaiju weapons for the Raptor, they are mass produced missiles that are prone to malfunction and were rigged to carry extra weight in the front they weren't specially made for. When shot with the Teflon bullets it ignited with enough explosive force to blow off the space monster's middle head, driving it away from Earth.
Still, even a failed to detonate missile could prove useful if it is lodged in a monster, as it could cause them to bleed to death or weaken them due to blood loss.
Raptor-Two:
The sister craft of Raptor-One and completed before it, Raptor-Two is nearly identical to Raptor-One, save for it's lack of weapons and carrying more advance navigational and observational equipment than it's sister craft. Raptor-Two is a two man aircraft with one Pilot and an Air Caps (Air Combat Controller) feeding commends to the helmet of Raptor One's weapons systems officer. Raptor-Two's job is to fly high above Raptor-One and the enemy, observer the fight and give Raptor-One's crew constant feedback and updates.
Camouflage: Both Raptors are cloud gray with jagged lines of purple and mauve across their sides and back, this jangled color schemes intent is to hinder a monsters ability to spot either aircraft in the sky.
Reinforced Carbon-Carbon: Both Raptors are covered in tiles coated in RCC, similar to ones used by NASA's space shuttles to protect them from the heat of reentry. The shielding did protect the Raptors from the extreme heat some monsters expel with their energy weapons but a direct hit is still advised to be avoided, as Godzilla took out the less armored Raptor-Two.
Teflon Windows: Both Raptors transparencies or windows were double panes of a new, revolutionary translucent Teflon which repelled heat in excesses of up to 1,200F instantly without suffering damage.
Heat-Resistant Panels & Digital Camera: For additional protection for the Teflon windows, heat-resistant panels could be lowered to shield them. When this happened digital screens would activate and feed visual real-time images from hundreds of cameras on the fuselage and wings.
Advance Radar & Navigation Systems: Both Raptors were equipped with advance radar & navigation systems capable of detecting Varan who was invisible to normal radar, though Raptor-Two's was more advance, able to detect monsters at a further range and faster than Raptor-One. Both were able to better detect Varan who showed up as just a cloud or flock of birds on normal conventional radar though Raptor-Two's could detect him sooner than Raptor-One. These computers can highlight parts of a computer-generated schematic to show where damage has occurred.
Vertical Take-Off and Landing: Being that they are based off the Osprey, both Raptors are capable of both traditional propeller plane flight and the hover, ascending/descending and banking of a helicopter using their twin turboshaft tilt-rotor propeller engines. This allowed the Raptors to be very maneuverable in the air, remain stationary midair, fly backwards or turn 180 on the dime.
Flight Speed: Both Raptors are capable of a flight speed of 250 MPH.
Modified CV-22 Osprey:
After the loss of Raptor-Two, a normal Osprey had to be heavily modified as Raptor-One's new Air Caps.
Power/Abilities: It's unknown if the stand in Osprey has camouflage, RCC, Teflon Windows or Heat-Resistant Panels, as the book makes no mention of them, though it likely did as they had time to modify Raptor-One further and they would have likely had spare parts for both Raptors for repairs. What is known is that the modified Osprey was given the same advance radar & navigation equipment as Raptor-Two, detecting King Ghidorah before Raptor-One. Both are fed constant updates on their location by geopositional satellites. These computers can highlight parts of a computer-generated schematic to show where damage has occurred.
Vertical Take-Off and Landing: Being an Osprey, it was capable of both traditional propeller plane flight and the hover, ascending/descending and banking of a helicopter using it;s twin turboshaft tilt-rotor propeller engines. This allowed the it to be very maneuverable in the air, remain stationary midair, fly backwards or turn 180 on the dime.
Flight Speed: The Osprey could fly at speeds of 351 mph
The Raptors creation didn't go exactly as planned as there were many setbacks. Mostly the president and his cabinet being, excuse the language for lack of a better term, incompetent dumbasses. They had to look to the gaming generation because the older generation pilots were overwhelmed by the Raptors. The teens themselves weren't even supposed to see action till they were 18+ but the monsters showed up unexpectedly, forcing them to use underage teens. Raptor-One was already near completion when Varan and Kamacuras appearances would convince several people at the Pentagon to pull strings to further speed up the process and get the Raptor-One done two months ahead of schedule. Taggart himself, along with Krupp would have to even pilot the Modified Osprey after the loss of Raptor-Two as Raptor-Two's pilot was injured and Raptor-Two's Air Cap was MIA.
Still in the end the Raptors saved the day, as they beat Varan and even helped Mothra and Godzilla beat King Ghidorah, which neither of the three could do on their own. The Raptors proved G-Force's worth as an anti-kaiju organization and paved way to even more powerful anti-kaiju weapons such as G-Force U.S.A. & Japan's Garuda and Mechagodzilla as well as Russia & Europe's Moguera. In fact I'd argue the Raptors are the most important anti-kaiju weapon in the Rnadom House Godzilla novels as they were the ones who started it all in that continuity.
I really like the Raptors and kind of hope to see them in a film, game or comic some day. Believable enough as both something that could exist but also something that can take on a giant monster. You know they're tough enough to take more than one hit from a kaiju's energy weapon but still feel they are weak enough that any hit after the first one could be the last one. Sort of a more grounded Super-X. It also makes me glad we're getting something like the Super-X or Raptors in the Monsterverse with the Argo Jets. They at least seem like they are gonna stick to memory more than the anti-kaiju aircraft used in the millennium series.
I hope you guys enjoyed this. I don't expect it to get many views or much discussion as usually weapons talkbacks and powers talkbacks are in the film sections.
