For those who don't understand the Macross reference.
The mechas in Macross are named Variable Fighters (Similar to how Gundam calls them Mobile Suits, Code Geass calls them Knightmare Frames, and so on.).
The first Variable Fighter (VF-01) is codenamed Valkyrie (later we would get other names like the VF-04 Lightning, VF-19 Excalibur, VF-25 Messiah and so on). But since the original series only has variations of the VF-01 Valkyrie as the main mechas (You get the VF-01S, VF-01A, VF-01J, etc, but you never had a VF-02 or VF-03), it became the general term to call all Variable Fighters (the only exception would be it's predecessor, the VF-0 Phoenix).
However, unlike Gundam, where the main series is named after its titular robot, thus all follow ups are related to that main robot, in Macross, the franchise is named NOT after the "humanoid mecha", but at the huge battleship that the Valkyries defend, which is called Macross.
The rest is just Dragon Quest stuff, Excalibur and Durandal are also well known weapon names in games in Japan.