IUK-3

IUK-3 Subtitle(s) IUK-UF-3, HARRIER Height 7.9 meters Length 24.4 meters Wingspan 13.6 meters Weight 15,100 kilograms (empty), 53,300 kilograms (max takeoff) Targets Bio-Mecha, M-Machine-Dread VII, Quicksilver (Dolphind), St. Millennium, Neo-Gyaos, Gyaos, Gyaos-3, Dragon Fortress, Bionic Gyaos, Bio-Mecha Mothership Piloted by Jack Morton, Lisa Mukunoki First appearance Gamera 2000

The IUK-3 is an aerial vehicle used by the United Nations Science Academy in the 1997 video game Gamera 2000.

Name

The full designation for the aircraft in the manual is the IUK-UF-3 though oddly it is also known as simply HARRIER.

Design

The IUK-3 resembles a large fighter jet with with with a two-tone color scheme, being blue on its top half and silver on its bottom half. The engine exhaust ports and canopy are neon green, the front anti-collision lights are orange while the back anti-collision lights are hot pink. There are two large directed-energy cannons on the front half of the engines flanking the canopy with orange tips on their barrels.

Video games

Gamera 2000

The morning after the Bio-Mecha attack a U.N. headquarters and steal Super Gyaos' body, Jack Morton and Lisa Mukunoki are summoned to the headquarters in Tokyo and remain on standby as Gamera is currently locked in combat with the Bio-Mecha. When Bio-Mecha reinforcements arrive and attack Tokyo, Jack and Lisa are given the orders to help Gamera repel the invaders and retrieve the stolen Gyaos D.N.A., with their combined power, the monster and machine destroy many of the invaders. A powerful enemy weapon, M-Machine-Dread_VII, confronts them but is also ultimately unable to defeat the duo.

With Japan saved, Gamera and the IUK-3 fly over the Hawaiian Islands to destroy the Bio-Mecha forces there including a large aerial battle ship and Quicksilver(Dolphind) who battles them inside a caldera, the volcano to erupting in the middle of their battle before it too would succumb to the heroes. With the Hawaiian region safe, Gamera would fly to a forest just outside of San Fransisco with the IUK-3 following his lead. Jack and Lisa notice Gamera is flying circles around that area, sensing something is off. They land the IUK-3 and deploy a hoverbike, the BC-22, to investigate the area more closely. Before driving off they get a disturbing message from Harry Rinback that the Bio-Mecha's language is similar to that of the language found on the atoll that was on Gamera's back before he woke up. Fearing what they could do with Gyaos D.N.A. knowing the creatures origins and nature, the Lisa and Jack would set off on the BC-22 but encounter resistance from the Bio-Mecha. During the high speed chase, Gamera blows up a hill, revealing their secret underground base. Lisa and Jack would venture in fighting off several of the Bio-Mecha's insane experiments including Gyaos Man. The duo retrieved some samples of Gyaos D.N.A. and destroy the base but not before Neo-Gyaos would be set free to attack San Fransisco.

Jack orders Lisa to stay behind to send the data back to headquarters as he flys off in the IUK-3 to help Gamera confront the Gyaos clone. Alcatraz is destroyed in the ensuing battle as evening turns to dusk. The Neo-Gyaos fought furiously but was crippled as its wings were burned to tatters and it lost one of its heads. The creature finally lost when its remaining head was decapitated. Its body spasms sending one last supersonic scalpel into the night sky as its final scream even in death. San Fransisco had been saved, Neo-Gyaos had been completely silenced.

The victory was short lived as the Bio-Mecha mothership burst out of the ground and kidnap Lisa and opens a wormhole to escape. Jack flys the IUK-3 into the wormhole before it can close while Gamera took off, his instincts telling him where the last of their enemy was. Jack would be spit out of portal hours later in Neo Hong Kong with Gamera already in the middle of combat. The city was overrun with Gyaos. Now reunited with Gamera, Jack went to work immediately to destroy as many of the monsters as possible, while also encountering strange tentacles that borrowed out of the ground to attack the IUK-3 and Gamera. The Gyaos swarm was ultimately defeated when the 3 largest Gyaos, the leaders, were destroyed, and the remaining Gyaos fled presumably back to the Bio-Mecha.

Neo Hong Kong was not safe yet, as a titanic alien structure erupted out of the ground, the Dragon Fortress with Lisa trapped in it. Harry informed Jack that the scans indicated there was a powerful lifeform in there made not just with Gyaos D.N.A and cybernatics. but also from Gamera D.N.A.. A battle broke out between man and monster against the alien weapon. When the heavily armed and armored fortress was destroyed a new monster larger than any before had shown itself, Bionic-Gyaos. It became clear this creature was the source of the tentacles that attacked them earlier. With no time to rest, Gamera and the IUK-3 fought the creature. When its wings were burned to tatters it fell to the ground and released the gem in its forehead that held Lisa captive.

Now no longer having to hold back, Gamera summoned Mana and opened the plastron of his shell, firing his Ultimate Plasma and destroying Bionic-Gyaos. The capsul holding Lisa fall slowly and safely to the ground. With Lisa safe, and Bionic-Gyaos destroyed, Gamera roared in victory. Realizing Gamera was too powerful to defeat, the Bio-Mecha Mothership erupted out of the ground and attempted to retreat from the Earth. Gamera and the IUK-3 tore the invaders spaceship apart and despite its best efforts with all of its weapons, it was ultimately destroyed, a flaming wreck falling into the ocean below before it got the chance to reach outer space. Gamera roared in victory and flew off with Jack speculating Gamera might might be going back to sleep to seal off his D.N.A. from being misused by invaders ever again. Jack and Lisa flew off in the IUK-3 to return to base, their missione accomplished. The planet was safe once again.

Capabilities

Energy cannons

The IUK-3 had two large energy cannons attached to the front and top of its engines capable of rotating 360 degrees to fire at targets in front, to the side and behind the aircraft as well as above and, to limited degree, below. These cannons fire large, powerful 30mm pink energy bolts that obliterated the standard Bio-Mecha enemy fighter and reduced small Gyaos into a bloody mess while tearing through the more powerful Bio-Mecha weapons and even harming the larger Gyoas clones. These energy bolts were even powerful enough to increase Gamera's spinning speed when they hit his shell, allowing him to do even more damage to enemy kaiju.

Supersonic flight

The IUK-3 had a maximum velocity of mach 2.2 allowing it to keep up with both Gamera and the Gyaos.

Vertical takeoff and landing

The IUK-3 is a VTOL aircraft, allowing it to take off and land vertically. This also allowed it hover in place or fly to the side without flying forward if it needed to such as against a ground target, much like a helicopter. This combined with its speed allowed it great mobility and agility.

Durability and stamina

The IUK-3 was able to fly for long periods of time and for great distances, traveling from Japan to the Hawaiian Island and to San Fransisco in a day. It was also very durable, able to fight alongside Gamera against Bio-Mecha weapons and Gyaos clones all without getting repairs in between battles. Perhaps its most impressive feat is being shot down by the Bio-Mecha's mothership only to get back up moments later to resume the battle in one optional path the player could take if they fail to destroy the mothership in their first attempt.

Carry weight capacity and cargo bay

The IUK-3 had a maxmium takeoff weight of 53,300 kg, which allowed it to carry important equipment such as the BC-22 and the Pulse Gun should the need to deploy a land assault or investigation arise.

Trivia

• Early footage of Gamera 2000 in commercials shows a vastly different design for the IUK-3, looking more like a typical Harrier Jump-Jet.
• Excluding alien spaceships like Zanon and Virasian UFO, the IUK-3 is one of the very few man-made anti-kaiju weapons in the Gamera franchise along with the Giant Parabolic Mirror.

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