Su-27 SMN² Platypus II

The Su-27 SMN² Platypus II enters the ANIMA novels in Volume 3. Conceived as air cover for Evangelion units, the program loses that mission when the United Nations lease over Hakone dissolves the planned cooperation, so the aircraft settles into a transport role instead, chiefly ferrying Toji Suzuhara on his frequent travels. Data gathered during its development feeds directly into the UX-1 Allegorica system. Kio Seiji designed the craft, which also goes by the names N2 Flanker, Shrike-1, and Shrike-2.

The design marries an N² reactor to a diamond-slit array, making it the progenitor of graviton floater technology. That same reactor feeds a railgun, and the aircraft can push to Mach 2. Cameras fitted along extra sides of the fuselage give the occupant screen views in many directions. An exceptionally powerful synthetic aperture radar lets it see through clouds and other gases that would normally swallow radio waves, a capability put to work plotting a route to the Akashima. A positron cannon with its own dedicated camera completes the loadout.

Acting Deputy Commander Toji Suzuhara flies aboard the Platypus II to Rogachevo, a Russian military airfield on the southern side of Novaya Zemlya where a coalition of Russian, American, and European forces is staging an assault on Armaros. Decades of nuclear and N² testing have left the soil so contaminated that everyone on site wears protective gear, and the locals call the place Misha's Frying Pan. Sent to observe the planned battlefield at UN request, and told to keep his distance from Evangelion EURO-II Heurtebise, Toji stumbles on arrival trying to catch the pilot's attention while she runs quantum wave mirror tests. He reconnects with Lieutenant Colonel Kasuga during the trials, and when Maya Ibuki reports Crimson A1 missing and Victor appears holding the Center Trigonus after hijacking the mirror cars, Toji feeds the scene to the command center through the aircraft's cameras. Two Platypus II craft later scout Yomotsu Hirasaka Island, where their crews sight a quadruped creature with a red Evangelion perched on its head.