During the First Reiconquest War, heavy bombers formed a crucial part of the war effort on both sides. Towards the end of the war, Ayanami cosmodromes sheltering bombers began to come under attack from German hyperspace lancers carrying devastating kinetic energy projectiles at near light speeds. It was found that after early warning systems detected lancers in interstellar space, an interceptor would have only 5 minutes to exit a planet's atmosphere and engage its hyperdrives.
The experimental X6M design tested a variety of configurations before settling on dual rocket engines. This design arrived in production just in time for the beginning of the Second Reiconquest War as the I6M "Zulu". It was named for the legendary signal flag utilised by legendary Reiist space commanders since time immemorial.
In order to punch through the heavy armour of the latest generation of hyperspace lancer, the Zulu dual mounts a modified version of the deadly 17 gigawatt anti tank laser found on the most powerfully armed Reiist tanks.
The legendary spacefighter ace Nasu no Yoichi is said to be the only pilot to have successfuly responded to the German challenge to hit a fan mounted on the outer hull of the space battleship Bismarck during the retreat towards Südburg
