Orca Mk. IV

Overview
The Orca Mk. IV was a failed Orca design developed in between the Third and Fourth Tiberium Wars. It was known for mechanical breakdowns and many other problems.

History
In the aftermath of the Third Tiberium War, however, there were many within the civilian GDI Council who came to see the Orca as an outmoded relic, the aircraft's popularity amongst the ranks more a byproduct of misplaced nostalgia than anything related to its ever more questionable battlefield effectiveness. Even as the military remained loyal to the Orca, they found it increasingly difficult to argue the point, given the aircraft's less than stellar performance when compared to its ever evolving Nod counterpoint, the Venom.

Overriding the wishes of their military leadership, the GDI Council instigated the "Orca Innovation Project", a secretive, civilian-led effort to "re-invent" the Orca for the modern battlefield. Several years - and an uncountable number of credits - later, the end result was finally unveiled to a decidedly nonplussed public. The Orca Mk. IV was barely recognizable as a GDI combat vehicle, let alone one that came from such a storied lineage; a massive, ugly, heavily armored flying vehicle packed with unnecessary features, significant ease-of-use missteps and an overall sense of unfocused design. The military, needless to say, was far from pleased, their dissatisfaction growing more pronounced with each costly mechanical breakdown and failed combat exercise.

In the end, the Generals made their position clear - the Mk. IV simply didn't work, and they weren't going to use it.

The repercussions were, needless to say, significant; the Orca Mk. IV was scrapped, at great cost, its progenitors removed from office and GDI Military R&D were tasked with rapidly developing a suitable replacement, to be dubbed the Orca Mk. V.