Terms and Clarification
AS FAN CLARIFICATIONS
Gundam models – This is a plastic model series released by BANDAI for Kido Senshi Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam). BANDAI now sells MG, PG and other kinds of models, with prices ranging from a few thousand yen to expensive ones costing more than ten thousand yen. Men in their 30s will probably remember standing in long lines when they were children to buy Gundam models. These were revolutionary items, in that, they appealed not only to adults, but also caused a sudden surge in interest among younger people, including elementary school children.
Hard point – This is a suspension device (or a port connecting to the suspension device) which is attached to the exterior of mobile weapons such as fighter planes and attack helicopters. Missiles, bombs, extra fuel tanks, ect. are suspended from these points before going on combat missions. Data cables for feeding data to the missiles, and other devices are also attached.
F-14 – A superior fighter plane used by the US Navy. It’s an older model plane, but it’s still one of the strongest fighters around, both in name and fact. It’s equipped with variable-sweep wings and a computer radar that can track seven enemy targets at the same time. It’s also known as the original model for the variable fighter Valkyrie in Chojiku Yosai Macross (Super Dimension Fortress Macross).
F-22 raptor – A supersonic stealth fighter developed by the US Air Force as the main fighter plane for the early 21st century. It’s a stealth plane, meaning it doesn’t show up on the enemy radar. It can fly at ultrasonic speeds, even without activating the afterburner. In addition, by directly controlling the direction of engine exhaust, it boasts a degree of tactical capability impossible for older model planes.
Chobham Armour – A special kind of armor equipped on the Challenger tanks of the British Army. Its composition is confidential and has not been publicly divulged, but it’s probably some special kind of compound armor. Compound armor is made of ceramic (which has high material strength, but is also brittle), titanium and other materials, strengthened with hard carbon fibers. The strengthened materials ensure that it’s highly resistant to impact.
Gradient materials – You can consider these a more advanced version of compound armor. In the case of compound, the joining of ceramic and fiber introduces a structural weakness at the seams. In the case of gradient materials, the surface layer is ceramic and the deeper it goes, the more carbon fiber is included in the underlying layers. An understanding of materials production technology at the molecular level is absolutely essential, but at this juncture no country has, as yet, reached the production level in the course of their development. When it comes to gradient materials, the component materials do not have to be ceramic and carbon. For example, you can use titanium for the surface and aluminum for the inner layers.
Automatic anti-tank rifle – The anti-tank rifle is basically single-shot. Since you have to blow away the enemy tank in a single shot, you need to have powerful ammunition. In order to be able to fire such ammunition from a rifle you can also carry, you probably have to increase the strength of the rifle itself. As a result, an anti-tank rifle is structurally unable to fire continuously. If the AS anti-tank rifle had a structure the same as, or similar to, anti-tank rifles used by infantry, it would probably be impossible to fire continuously.
“the bullets came out, shell casings and all” - A bullet consists of a tip and a shell casing. The shell casing contains explosive material. When it explodes, the tip is blasted off. The shell casing remains in the gun at the time of firing and is later ejected from the gun. Thus, the bullet never fires from the gun attached to the shell casing.
Einstein’s Cosmological Constant “Lambda” – We currently use the Big Bang Theory to explain how the universe evolved. This theory states that a ball of plasma was born from nothing and suddenly there was a huge explosion, which eventually yielded the universe we have today. Einstein created a model of the universe based on his General Theory of Relativity. The model showed the universe shrinking gradually, but Einstein didn’t agree with that. He used the Greek letter lambda to stand for a constant that, if added to the equations, would counteract the shrinking. This idea is called the “Cosmological Constant.” Later on, Einstein bemoaned that the idea of the Cosmological Constant was “the biggest blunder of my life.”
