Technology of Robotech

Reflex Cannon

In the science-fiction anime television series Robotech, the Reflex Cannon is an ultra-powerful energy weapon, used as a heavy anti-spacecraft weapon to destroy enemy warships in a single blow.
The name reflex was derived from a mistranslation in the scripts (provided by Tatsunoko Productions) of "reaction," the shortened euphemistic term for thermonuclear reaction in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross. ^[1] Coincidentally, Genesis Climber Mospeada had a location crucial to its story named Reflex Point. Macross and Mospeada were two of the three Japanese animated series which were adapted into Robotech. The term reaction is used in the context of power systems and warheads in the Japanese Macross series, whereas the term reflex is used in the context of energy weapons, in addition to power systems and warheads in Robotech. In Robotech, the term "reflex" refers to any major power generation system that is Protoculture based. Protoculture based powerplants are sometimes called "reflex furnaces".

The first known usage of a reflex cannon on Earth was the firing of the SDF-1's gigantic main gun at the beginning of the First Robotech War in 2009. The front of the ship opened into two gigantic booms. The protoculture charge built up between these two points until enough energy was collected to fire. The range of this weapon was great enough to hit interplanetary targets and usually everything within the line of fire was vaporized. In a state of disrepair by 2014, the battle-ravaged main gun of the SDF-1 disintegrated after its final firing and was too weak to destroy just one Zentraedi vessel, its intended target.

Synchro Cannons

By the Third Robotech War, a new portable reflex cannon called the Synchro Cannon^[2] was introduced on Shimakaze-class battlecruisers, and later adopted by the SDF-3 and SDF-4 Izumo. A smaller unit was also hidden on Earth by Sue Graham of the Jupiter Division. The smaller version was used by Rand as a prototype and was destroyed to keep it out of the hands of the Invid in the New Generation episode: Reflex Point.

Veritech mecha

See also: List of Robotech vehicles

The Veritech fighter (occasionally misspelled as Varitech^[3]) is a fictional fighter aircraft can transform into combat walking machine in Robotech.^[4] In the late 1990s, an official backronym was invented by Harmony Gold USA for the term "Veritech:" Variable Engineering and Robotic Integration TECHnology. The name is derived from variable fighter, the term for transforming fighters used in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (the series from which the first part of Robotech was adapted). Veritech is sometimes abbreviated "VT," though mostly in the Jack McKinney novel adaptations.
The nomenclature for Veritech Fighters partially follows that established in the 20th century by the United States Armed Forces. "V" is added to the beginning of the fighter's designation to stand for "Variable" or "Veritech". Unlike in Macross, manufacturers are generally not mentioned.
Any vehicle that is considered or referred to as Veritech, their considered transformable machine forms it can assume. Using VF-1 Valkyrie as example: They are Fighter Mode, Guardian Mode (Half-fighter/half-mecha/Battaloid) & (Mecha) Mode.
There are non-flying veritech type mecha in Robotech universe. A canon example is the VHT-1 Spartas Veritech Hover Tank seen in Robotech's 2nd season named "Southern Cross Saga".