It’s episode number 4 of the Know Your Plane series and it’s time to cover one of the
most remarkable original aircraft of the Ace Combat series, the one aircraft that holds
the distinction of being the very first original superfighter of the Strangereal timeline back
in year of 1995 – and of course we’re talking about the ADFX, also known as the “Morgan.”
The ADFX Morgan made its first and only Strangereal appearance on the PlayStation 2 title Ace
Combat Zero: The Belkan War where it was the original superfighter of the game and the
enemy boss on the very last mission.
Other than that, the ADFX was also featured in Ace Combat Infinity on the PlayStation 3,
however the plane wasn’t featured in the story mode of the game.
In the Strangereal timeline, the two ADFX prototypes were built by the South Belka Munitions
factory just prior and during the Belkan War: prototype #1 fell to the hands of the allied
forces after the conflict while prototype #2 was captured and used by the terrorist
group “A World With No Boundaries” at their last stand in Avalon Dam.
In the Infinity timeline, the ADFX was being developed by an unknown country within the
Federation of Usea, however during Operation Eternal Liberation the United Nations Forces
obtained the blueprints of the Morgan and finished its development although the Usean
Forces also got their own Morgan operational.
The ADFX Morgan is characterized by its short forward swept-wings and vertical stabilizers
that point to the centre of the aircraft.
To assist the pilot in controlling the aircraft, the Morgan features canards and a very peculiar
placement of the airbrake, just between the two massive engines who are capable of taking
the fighter to a top speed of over Mach 2.
Despite its powerful engines, the Morgan lacks stability at lower speeds given the short
wings but nevertheless it was one of the most advanced fighter jets of its time.
Perhaps even more advanced than it’s flight characteristics are the weapons deployed by
the ADFX: including the famous TLS “Tactical Laser System” capable of sniping enemy aircraft
out of the sky with a single beam, the Multi-Purpose Burst Missile which results in a large explosion
relative to its size and that can be remotely detonated, and lastly the electronic countermeasures
pod – which although its not a weapon per say, can defend most of the aircraft against
missiles – with the exception of the two large, almost triangular, air intakes - although
what I said so far applies the ADFX Mogan prototype #2, the one flown by Pixy in the
last mission of Ace Combat Zero.
Prototype #1, the playable version, was slightly inferior in terms of performance compared
to the final boss but it still had the one-hit-one-kill laser, however the Infinity versions of the
Morgan were severely nerfed to adjust the aircraft to the multiplayer focus of the game.
We will talk more about the different variants of the Morgan further along the video, but
now let’s talk about some numbers and specifications related to the performance of the aircraft
and make a size comparison with the F-22 Raptor.
The ADFX Morgan has 23.9 meters in length, a wingspan of 15.7 metres and a height of
5.7 metres with its gear extended or 4.6 metres when the gear is retracted.
With these numbers you can see that the ADFX is considerably larger than the F-22 Raptor
but their weights are fairly similar with an empty Morgan weighting a total of 19,600 kilograms.
The ADFX is powered by two large WWX-GD-401 engines, an improved version of the 400 series
engines, and its maximum speed is over Mach 2, although no exact number is given on official
reference material.
In addition, the Morgan’s effective combat radius is of 1,200 kilometres.
Let’s also not forget some of the Morgan’s weaponry.
Besides the standard missiles, the ADFX is equipped with the GiL 30mm nose cannon, the
“Zoisite” tactical laser system that is mounted just above the aircraft with some
support pillars, the “Hypersthene” Multi-Purpose Burst Missiles and lastly the “Morganite”
electronic countermeasure pod for its defence.
In Ace Combat Zero, the TLS has enough energy to fire 7 laser beams for a duration of 4.5
seconds each with a negligible recharge time.
As for the other weapons, the Morgan can carry 8 MPBMs and activate its ECM pod 8 times.
As for the Infinity variant, I will not go into detail because of the different levels in the game.
But now that I’ve mentioned, let’s talk about the different variants of the Morgan
and what sets them apart from each other.
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There are a total of five different Morgan variants, 2 in Ace Combat Zero and 3 in Ace Combat Infinity.
First, let’s go over the original planes in Ace Combat Zero where we have prototypes
#1 and #2.
Prototype #1 is the playable version of the aircraft that did not fly officially during
the Belkan War, but instead fell to the allied hands sometime during or after the conflict.
Meanwhile, prototype #2 is the enemy boss aircraft flown by Pixy in the last mission
of the game.
This variant has a reinforced airframe and was capable of carrying all the three special
weapons at once.
In addition, the special weapons were also improved.
The tactical laser system was now able to track and redirect its laser beam against
enemy targets, the MPBMs could be remotely detonated and the ECM system would protect
all the aircraft with the exception of the two engine intakes.
In the Ace Combat Infinity universe, our first variant is the ADFX Block-1 aircraft.
This variant relates to the development phase of the airplane by the UNF, hence you can see
the prototype paint scheme.
It is believed that due the similarities between the paint scheme of the ADFX Block-1 and Sukhoi 57’s
flight test paint scheme that the ADFX was being developed by Russia, however this
has not been confirmed.
Given that the Block-1 variant was just a prototype, it has the worst stats and performance
amongst all the variants.
It also has a slightly shorter TLS beam and limited ammunition.
The other variant is the regular and the second playable version of the ADFX.
This variant is the mass production model of the aircraft by the UNF and as mentioned
previously, it has improved performance compared to the Block-1’s.
Lastly we have the enemy ADFX 01, which is the Usean version of the aircraft.
This plane only appears in the SOLG satellite interception 3 and its TLS is equipped with
a tracking and beam redirection system.
All in all, the three Infinity versions were nerfed due to the online component of the
game, especially the tactical laser system.
Now that we got the different versions of the plane covered let’s talk about the lore
starting with the Ace Combat Infinity universe.
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During Operation Eternal Liberation, the United Nations’ Forces operation against the newly
established Usean Federation, the UNF uncovered plans for the development of the ADFX Morgan aircraft.
It is unknown whereas development on the plane had started before or after the formation
of the newly established Usean Federation, but by the time the UNF got hold of the plans
USEA still had not built its own prototypes.
With the plans on hand, the United Nations built some units of the ADFX Block 1 for testing
purposes although some of them did see combat during Operation Eternal Liberation.
After combat testing, the United Nations started to mass produce the ADFX 01 for combat.
This new version was superior in performance and was able to carry more ordinance.
However the UNF wasn’t the only organization operating combat-capable Morgans, the Usean
Federation also continued its development and fielded the Morgan that was even more
advanced than the UNF’s.
The Usean version had an improved tactical laser system that was capable of tracking
and redirecting its laser beams to its target, just like the laser pod from the MQ-90Ls employed
by the Butterfly Master.
Adding to that, the Usean variant was also capable of carrying the multi-purpose burst
missiles together with the TLS.
However, it’s important for me to mention that you only see the Usean ADFX-01 if you play
on the SOLG Satellite Interception level 3.
Now with the Infinity universe covered, let’s talk about the lore in the Strangereal universe
with the original story behind the Morgan.
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The early 1980s were marked by an intense rivalry between Osea and Yuktobania during
the Strangereal’s cold war.
In order to guarantee its safety if a war between these two nations were to break out,
Belka started a massive militarization project which included development of the V2 intercontinental
ballistic missile, Excalibur - a powerful ICBM shield powered by lasers-
and the XB-0 heavy command cruiser.
In addition, the Belkan Air Force initiated a program to develop its next generation fighter
aircraft, thus the ADFX program was born on January 4 of 1985.
While there isn't much information about the ADFX program between 1985 and 1995, we know
that Belka entered in a serious economic recession in 1987 due to the massive military spending.
Therefore it is safe to assume that the ADFX program was delayed due to lack of funds and
the prioritization of other programs such as Excalibur or the XB-0 since these two superweapons
were operational by the year 1995.
However what we do know for sure is that two ADFX prototypes had been completed by the
Belkan War and as hinted by the debriefing of mission 11 the prototypes were probably
assembled at a South Belka Munitions Factory facility in the city of Hoffnung.
However despite completion of the prototypes in 1995 the two planes did not see combat
during the Belkan War.
Prototype #2 was stolen from the Belkan military after the Belkan War by the terrorist organization
A World With No Boundaries.
This plane only saw action on December 31 of 1995 as the last stand effort by the terrorists
who took control of the Avalon Dam facility which was secretly a V2 launch facility.
The allied forces lead by the mercenary Galm Squadron were successful in destroying the
V2 launch complex, but they suffered heavy losses.
The terrorist ADFX-02, piloted by Larry Foulke also known as Pixy - a former member of the
Galm Squadron - arrived late to the battlefield and was able to shoot down Galm 2’s aircraft
killing the pilot instantly with its laser.
The #2 prototype was specially modified to launch a hidden V2 in the last attempt of
the terrorist organization, however the aircraft was shot down by the leader of the Galm Squadron
over Avalon Dam which automatically destroyed the V2 missile in the air.
Pixy managed to survive the engagement but the prototype aircraft crash landed in the
nearby area.
Sometime after the battle the South Belka Munitions Factory, now named Gründer Industries,
went after and located the remainings of the ADFX-02.
The team from Gründer was able to collect the data from the plane’s flight recorder
and used it to create the ADF-01 Falken.
Meanwhile the ADFX prototype #1 was confiscated by the allies and ended up in Osea after the war -
reason why we can see the ADFX-01 flying over November City in 2011 during an airshow alongside
the ADF-01 Falken and the X-02 Wyvern - and that is the last thing we know about the ADFX
in the Strangereal timeline.
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The three special weapons of the ADFX are nicknamed Zoisite, Hypersthene and Morganite
which are three different types of minerals.
But perhaps more important than the nicknames of the special weapons is the name of the plane itself.
The name “Morgan” is yet another reference to the legends of King Arthur which is thoroughly
referenced in Ace Combat Zero.
More specifically, “Morgan” comes from a character named “Morgan le Fay” - meaning
“Morgan the Fairy”.
Now, the legends surrounding King Arthur vary a lot by author, but in one of the early accounts
Morgan is a healer who helps King Arthur to recover in the Isle of Avalon.
However according to other sources, Morgan is King Arthur’s half sister and in some
books she can even be the main anti-hero just like how it happened in Ace Combat Zero where
Pixy was Galm 1’s brother in arms and yet came in the end as the anti-hero over Avalon.
This concludes our episode on the legendary ADFX Morgan, the first original fighter jet
in the Strangereal chronology.
Now if you want to know more about other original Ace Combat aircraft you can check my episode
on the X-02 Wyvern right here.
Special thanks to Acepedia for the help in this video and a quick hint on the next episode:
I will be covering a real life aircraft that is not a fighter, attacker or multirole -
but can you guess which one?
Anyways, thank you guys for watching and see you next time!