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Space Corps in flight. Ships are as follows, from left to right: The , and . The spans the entirety of the bottom portion.

Space Corps in flight. Ships are as follows, from left to right: The Vanargand Cruiser, and R-9 Arrowhead Fighter. The Heimdall Heavy Dreadnought spans the entirety of the bottom portion.

A side-view portrait of all Space Corps Ships in

A side-view portrait of all Space Corps Ships in R-Type Command

The "Earth Allied Armed Forces", also known as the Space Corps is an organization in the R-Type series that serves as the player's employer and weapons provider. It is heavily implied to be the Humans' main defense against the Bydo forces, though confirmation of this has yet to be published. The Space Corps was largely unknown in the R-Type Series until the release of R-Type Final in 2003. The name "Space Corps" was never officially given beforehand, so the organization previously stood nameless, though it was called the World Government in R-Type (Game Boy).

History

Despite being the main 'force' in the series, the Space Corps' past is shrouded in mystery. Its foundation date is still unknown, and cannot be estimated. Although its main fighter, the R-9A Arrowhead is extremely widely known, its designers and builders, as well as test pilots, do not have official names. In addition to the many vessels developed by the Space Corps, Force units were co-developed to be used along with most fighters. The Space Corps has been known to contract outside designers for fresh ideas and new ships; two of the ships in R-Type Delta were the creation of external developers.

Spacecraft

A diverse flight of R-craft.

A diverse flight of R-craft.

The Space Corps utilizes an extremely wide variety of spacecraft, ranging from recon units to self-regenerating ships to massive battlecruisers and dreadnoughts. In most missions, squads of small fighters are deployed. Only during the events of R-Type Command are the larger capital ships seen.

Capabilities

Each R-craft, with the exception of those encountered in R-Type Command, has more or less the same flying capabilities. They are at home in atmosphere, vacuum, and even submerged. R-craft are durable enough to survive dimensional travel, given the frequent use of interdimensional wormholes such as Catapult Dimension and Dimension 26.

Durability

Each R-craft is a finely-tuned piece of high technology with the firepower of a ship of larger magnitude. As such, a single impact from any weapon is enough to disrupt and destroy an R-craft, no matter what ablative armor or defensive shielding it claims to have, whether it be a basic Bydo Shot or Xelf-16's massive energy beam. Reinforced armor from R-Type Delta forward protects ships from non-Bydo surfaces, but hazardous sources and surfaces will still destroy an R-craft instantly.

R-Type Command changes this by having either a squadron of five ships per unit or a set amount of HP per unit. Depriving a unit of either will remove it from the map.

Velocity

Until R-Type Delta, R-craft relied on collecting Speed Ups to increase their agility, up to five times. In Delta and Final, velocity can be adjusted instantly between four levels (technology borrowed from Image Fight). R-craft are able to hover and move smoothly in any direction. Pilots don't need to worry about fuel unless they're in R-Type Command.

Firepower

A key feature of every R-craft is that it employs use of a Wave Cannon, giving each fighter of at least the firepower of a capital ship, if not far more so. Every ship is armed with a Vulcan Cannon and can equip a complement of Missiles, Bit Devices, Laser Crystals, and, of course, a Force. Firepower increases are usually delivered to a battlefield by means of TP-2 POW Armor. Unless otherwise noted in R-Type Command, ammo is infinite. In addition the history below, there are also specific records of Craft History.

Development History

R-Series

The R-Series is the most widely-used spacecraft in the Space Corps' arsenal. It has more than 50 models, most of which are unique to one another. The R-Series was started in 2043 AD and was completed nearly two hundred years later with the R-101 Grand Finale, after which the R-Type development program was disbanded. It should be noted that "R-craft" is generally used as a collective term for all fighters in use by the Space Corps, but not all fighters are from the R-Series of fighter craft. A list of ships in the R-Series is listed below:

R-Type Final gallery

R-9 Series

The R-9 Series is the line of the R-9A Arrowhead and its direct successors. The R-9 Series list is from the R Museum of R-Type Final.

In R-Type Final 2, a backer-exclusive ship called the R-9uso800 April Fools is introduced. Nothing much is known about this model.

R-90 Series

The R-90 Series is based on the framework of the R-9S, and employs the Mega Wave Cannon and the Hyper Wave Cannon on the R-90, and ultimately the Giga Wave Cannon on the R-902.

R-9Leo Series

The R-9Leo Series is based on R-Type Leo.

R-9Sk Series

The R-9Sk Series is the flamethrower specialist.

R-9W Series

The R-9W Series is known for the test tube-like canopy to change the pilots easier because these fighters demands a lot mentally from their pilots, making them unable to leave the canopy after flights.

R-9B Series

The R-9B Series is the line of mid/long-distance cruise/bomber units equipped with a wide range of Missiles, notably the Balmung.

R-9D Series

The R-9D Series is originally a line of mid/long-range precision strike units equipped with the Photon-Belt Wave Cannon, but the R-9DV series and the R-9DP series go for different directions regarding the Wave Cannon.

R-9E Series

The R-9E Series is the line of units for reconnaissance and electronic warfare.

R-9F & RX-10

The R-9F and the RX-10 are test units in research of weaponizing the control rods of the Force.

R-11 Series

The R-11 Series is the last mass-produced line of fighters based on the data of the R-9A. They are based on Cosmic Cop and are mainly employed in urban patrol.

RX-12

The RX-12 is a test unit for breaking the limit of the Bydo coefficient, which ultimately leads to the R-13 series and the B series development.

R-13 Series

The R-13 Series is the line of Anchor Force Units. The Anchor Force's Bydo energy is so high that a control line is required to connect the Force to the fighter directly.

Ultimate Fighters

The Ultimate Interchangeable Fighters are the goal of Operation: Last Dance in R-Type Final. They can use any Wave Cannon, any Force, any Bit Device and any Missile.

OF-Series

The first OF Fighter, the OF-1 Daedalus

The first OF Fighter, the OF-1 Daedalus

The OF-Series (Orbital Fighters), unlike the R-Series, was only available for use with the most experienced pilots and aces. Due to its advanced Bit Devices (known as Pods) and weapons systems from the Image Fight series, it could do massive damage to all targets. All of the ships are similar in appearance and flyability. The TX-T falls into this category because it was the base for all OF fighters. All OF fighters, including the TX-T, can cause damage with their thruster's flames when changing their speed.

TW/TP-Series

While the R-9E series was a formidable intelligence-gathering line, the need for a more inexpensive unmanned craft became increasingly large. With this need a prototype drone, deemed the Scope Duck was created. Following this, it was realized that its transportation capability was great. The rest of the TP-series was made for this purpose, with the exception of the Pow Armor II, which could also double as a close-air-support ship. They are equipped with the Bydic Dance as the Special Weapon.

TL-Series

As the R-Series went into mass production, an obvious flaw emerged: its melee capabilities were severely lacking. To balance this weakness, development began on a line of bipedal modules. This line was known as the TL-Series; bipedal 'sword-bearing' fighters. Most of these could transform into conventional fighters, along with their Hybrid Wave Cannon System.

U-Series

The U-Series is set apart from all the other Series' in the Space Corps' arsenal. Because the Bydo Empire had grown so large in its own time, a larger and more potent ship was needed. This is when the U-Series came to be. This special series consists mainly of destroyers, cruisers, battleships, defensive satellites, and other large and powerful units. Nearly every vessel is named after some aspect of Norse mythology.

B-Series

The B-Series is a special Top-Secret series created to equip and exploit more active use of the enemy's Bydo Tissue, which is shown to have amazing regenerative properties. While the Force was the first to apply Bydo Tissue, the B-Series is full of Bydo-like creations made from recovered specimens that employ different uses of the tissue. They are equipped with the Emboss as the Special Weapon.