Mobile weapons
Encyclopedia
In the Gundam terminology, the terms normal suit (Universal Century
Universal Century
is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C. is often used instead in recent production like MS Igloo and Master Grade model instructions and official pages is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C....

) and
astrosuit (After Colony) are used to refer to normal astronaut spacesuits, so as to avoid confusion with mobile suits.

are fictional weapon systems from the Gundam
Gundam
The is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....

anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 metaseries. The term originally includes all self-propelled military used vehicles including traditional tanks and aircraft. However, the English term was used to generalize all weapons including mobile suits, mobile armour and any other machines based on the same mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...

 technologies. Note that in Universal Century
Universal Century
is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C. is often used instead in recent production like MS Igloo and Master Grade model instructions and official pages is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C....

, most weapons are designed to combat under the influence of the Minovsky Particle and thus differ from conventional weapons.

Mobile weapon types

  • Tank
    Tank
    A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

    /armoured car
  • Aircraft
    Aircraft
    An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

  • Mobile pod
  • Mobile suit (MS)
  • Mobile armor or mobile armour (MA)
  • Mobile doll (After Colony timeline)—an unmanned computer-controlled mobile suit
  • Mobile worker—a unit used for construction purposes (worker-use mobile suit seem to be more common)
  • Mobile fighter (Future Century timeline)
  • Mobile bit (After War timeline)—unmanned remote-controlled mobile suits
  • Man-machine—A designation for mobile suits used exclusively in the non-canon novel Gaia Gear.

Tanks

Although mobile suits are the main focus of the series, tanks are in use. For example, in the One Year War
One Year War
The is a fictional conflict from the Universal Century timeline of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam metaseries. The One Year War is very similar to World War II, the major difference being that The One Year War is in a science fiction setting and some major battles occurred in space...

, Earth Federation
Earth Federation
The is a fictional organization in the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam anime series. The name also made a reappearance outside of the Gundam series in following media.* Godzilla vs...

 Ground Forces rely heavily on their Type 61 Tank since they do not have mobile suits until towards the end of the war. Zeon
Zeon
In the television anime Mobile Suit Gundam universe, Zeon can refer to the Republic of Zeon, the Principality of Zeon or Neo Zeon. It is also referred to as the Duchy of Zeon or the Zeon Dukedom...

 forces also introduce a tank/fighter hybrid, the Magella Attack Tank, as mass produced ground vehicles helping the outnumbered Zeon mobile suits against the Earth Federation's massive force of Type 61s.

In the background story, more is told about tanks and readers could conclude that tanks are actually still the main ground combat unit, mobile suits are comparatively less effective due to their complicated designs and size. Tanks are less seen on screen just because the series focuses on the development of mobile suits.

The Type 61 can hardly be imagined as a mobile weapon using the same technology as MS and MA since it is manufactured in UC0061, well before the Minovsky Technology become mainstream. However, the Magella Attack incorporates propulsion technology of the mobile suits and can have a thrust large enough to lift it in air while firing its cannon.

Later in the story, the Earth Federation Forces deployed a tank called G-Bull as a support mecha of RX-78-2 Gundam and have E-Cap technology built in for it to fire beam weaponry.

Armoured vehicles

There are a few armoured vehicles used in the Universal Century to support mobile suit combats in the Minovsky particle environment. The Earth Federation deployed the Type 74 Hover truck to assist mobile suit teams in detecting enemies using its high powered radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 that can penetrate low density Minovsky particles and underground sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

 system that can function in a high density area. The Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....

 transport truck was modified from ore transporter by the Zeon army to transport mobile suits.

Aircraft

In the Universal Century
Universal Century
is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C. is often used instead in recent production like MS Igloo and Master Grade model instructions and official pages is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C....

 timeline, aircraft were extensively used in the One Year War both in atmosphere and in space. Earth Federation Air Force mainly uses FF-3 Saberfish as their high altitude interceptor, FF-4 Toriares and FF-6 Tin cod as their short range fighter.

The FF-3 is actually a joint project with the EFSF and could be slightly modified and become the space fighter FF-S3.

The Zeon Forces, having a different testing environment, developed the Dopp fighter to counter the EFAF. The unit flies mainly by thrust and little by air lift due to space colonies having no gravitational pull in the middle. The Dopp fighter design concept is the same as mobile suits which relies heavily on its turning speed rather than its flight speed. A special type of material called Zeonium was used on such planes to give it a lighter yet stronger frame. Despite the strange name given, it is actually just a type of aluminium alloy.

The Gattle used by Zeon forces in the One Year War also incorporates Wing Binder system for minimal AMBAC.

Later, EF developed the FF-7 to slowly phase out FF-3 series.

Space fighters

Before the One Year War, an average space fighter uses liquid fuel rocket engine for propulsion and directed solid fuel pellet for turning. This gives an average space fighter a 2.5 second turning speed (for 180 degrees) and could turn about 30 times before running out of fuel. The space fighters in Universal Century starts to incorporate new technologies during and after the One Year War. For example, the FF-X7[Bst] uses the E-Cap technology on it and the FF-08WR came along after that and the booster unit of it incorporated the Minovsky Ultracompact Fusion Reactor for powering its beam cannon and thermo-nuclear propulsion system and a Tail binder for AMBAC. It was not only used as the main fighter of the EFSF but also as a trainer plane for Z Plus pilots.

The FF-08WR is actually a fighter capable of combat in and out of the atmosphere.

Mobile pods

The mobile pod is the predecessor of the mobile suit. They are simpler machines, consisting of a main body frame, usually spherical, with manipulator arms and a number of thrusters along the body.

In the Universal Century
Universal Century
is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C. is often used instead in recent production like MS Igloo and Master Grade model instructions and official pages is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C....

 timeline, mobile pods were civilian craft used to construct the space colonies, long before the mobile suit concept was developed. Later, when the Earth Federation came under attack by Zeon's first mobile suits, many civilian SP-W03 Space Pods were retrofitted into the RB-79 Ball
RB-79 Ball
The RB-79 Ball is a fictional weapon from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. Its design was partially inspired by the EVA Pod from 2001: A Space Odyssey...

 type units. It is designed as a mid-range support unit for both space ships and mobile suits. During the Earth Federation Space Force's offensive at the end of the One Year War, the Ball was used as a fighter unit before EFSF's mass production of their own mobile suit finished and form a group of 6 to counter Zeon mobile suits. Later, it is used as a middle to long range support unit in conjunction with the EFSF's mobile suit, the RGM-79 GM
RGM-79 GM
The , supposedly an acronym of Gundam Mass-production type, is the mass-produced version of the RX-78 Gundam. Though many variants were produced over the years, the RGM-79 GM was the Federation's first true mass-produced mobile suit...

. Despite being generally unsuited to anti-mobile suit combat, the standard Ball saw service in 0083, when it was used in the defense of the Earth Federation's Solar System II during Operation Stardust. In UC 0133, Ball-type units equipped with three cannons, later called the Type 133(133式/133 Shiki), were seen supporting mass-production Gundam F91
F91 Gundam Formula 91
The F91 Gundam Formula 91 is the title mobile suit of the anime movie Mobile Suit Gundam F91.-F91 Gundam Formula 91 :The F91 Gundam is a high-performance mobile suit developed by Earth Federation's Strategic Naval Research Institute...

s.

Towards the end of the One Year War, due to lack of resources and construction sites and time, Zeon forces built their own mobile pod MP-02A Oggo. The unit cost is about half of a MS-06F Zaku and is cylindrical in shape. This unit was first fielded by the 603 test team.

Mobile suits

are the technological machinery (mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...

s) that is the basic namesake of the Gundam universe. Mobile suits are generally humanoid in shape with two upper torso limbs and two lower torso limbs. Generally, the cockpit of a mobile suit is located in the abdomen, although in some cases it is located in the head or chest. An average mobile suit stands around 18 meters tall, roughly 10 times the size of a man, although later models are miniaturized to under 15 meters. The name "mobile suit" is believed to be a reference to the terms "mobile infantry
Mobile Infantry (Starship Troopers)
The Mobile Infantry is a fictional military force in Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers and in the movies Starship Troopers, released in 1997, the 2004 sequel, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, the 2008 film Starship Troopers 3: Marauder and the TV series Roughnecks: Starship...

" and "powered suit
Powered exoskeleton
A powered exoskeleton, also known as powered armor, or exoframe, is a powered mobile machine consisting primarily of an exoskeleton-like framework worn by a person and a power supply that supplies at least part of the activation-energy for limb movement.Powered exoskeletons are designed to assist...

" from the Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...

 book, Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...

.

Mobile suits in Universal Century

In the Universal Century timeline, Mobile SUIT (MS in short) is an acronym for mobile space utility instrument tactical. While this definition has since been officially endorsed by Sunrise, it is a backronym
Backronym
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....

 that originated from a semi-official guide book called Gundam Century in Page 34.

In the Universal Century
Universal Century
is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C. is often used instead in recent production like MS Igloo and Master Grade model instructions and official pages is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C....

 timeline, two main technological advancements led to the creation of the mobile suit: the AMBAC
Universal Century technology
Universal Century technology are technologies from the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. Although they are only fictional technologies, they form the basics of the Real Robot genre of anime and is influencing real life academic research and different anime series.-...

 (Active Mass Balance Auto Control) technology, and the Minovsky particle. The original AMBAC prototype only had two large limbs (instead of the four that later suits would have), but moving those limbs allowed it near thruster-less maneuverability in space by changing its center of mass. This led to a revolution in space warfare tactics. Another revolution would follow the development of a type of nuclear fusion reactor designed by Dr. Y.T. Minovsky. Not only could his nuclear reactor be shrunk down to the size of a quartet of refrigerators, but it also produced a unique subatomic particle called the Minovsky particle. These particles could block out certain types of radiation, including radar and radio signals. This would hamper space combat over large distances and force modern combat back down to the visual range. The first prototype mobile suit would be the MS-01, while the first mass produced model would be the MS-05 Zaku I
MS-05 Zaku I
In the Mobile Suit Gundam universe, the MS-05 Zaku I was the first successful mobile suit design to be developed by the Zeonic Company in the Principality of Zeon's quest to develop a combat-capable mobile suit that used the AMBAC System and the Minovsky ultracompact fusion reactor. The Zaku I was...

.

The most famous mobile suit is the RX-78-2 Gundam piloted by Amuro Ray
Amuro Ray
is a fictional character from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam and its sequels, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Char's Counterattack, voiced by Tōru Furuya , Brad Swaile , Michael Lindsay and Matthew Erickson is a fictional character from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam and its sequels, Mobile...

 in the first series, Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam
is a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes...

.

Mobile suit design in the UC universe follows two lineages—the Earth Federation
Earth Federation
The is a fictional organization in the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam anime series. The name also made a reappearance outside of the Gundam series in following media.* Godzilla vs...

 line and the Zeon
Zeon
In the television anime Mobile Suit Gundam universe, Zeon can refer to the Republic of Zeon, the Principality of Zeon or Neo Zeon. It is also referred to as the Duchy of Zeon or the Zeon Dukedom...

 line. Zeon type mobile suits are "fatter" and less human-like than EF type mobile suits, though neither is necessarily faster or more maneuverable than the other; it's largely a matter of body styling and design. Zeon-derived mobile suits use mono-eye system as the main optical sensor and EF-derived mobile suits use a forehead main camera with the help of two secondary optical sensors (also known as Gundam Head, where GMs have an eye shield like plate covering the two secondary sensors and a fourth camera in the back of the head). Zeon line normally has a more bulky design than EF line due to difference in design philosophies—Zeon manufacturers designed mobile suits by creating an external shell, and then fitting components within, while the Federation designed mobile suits by creating an internal skeletal structure and then fitting components and armor to the support structure, a philosophy eventually fully realized in the creation of moveable frame
Universal Century technology
Universal Century technology are technologies from the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. Although they are only fictional technologies, they form the basics of the Real Robot genre of anime and is influencing real life academic research and different anime series.-...

 construction. After the One Year War, due to two major reasons, the lines were mixed:
  1. Due to the collapse of Zeon, EF forces captured and secured many mobile suits from the Zeon forces.
  2. The bankruptcy of Zeon weapons manufacturers (namely Zeonic, Zimmad and MIP), which were bought by and merged into Anaheim Electronics
    Anaheim Electronics
    Anaheim Electronics is a fictional civilian company that appeared in the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The company appeared first in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam as the main financier, supplier, and manufacturer of the faction AEUG...

    .

A good example would be the GP
Gundam Development Project
The following are a list of mobile weapons that appeared in the Japanese OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, which is part of the Gundam franchise, as well as related media.-History of the Gundam Development Project models:...

 series where ex-Zeonic workers worked on the GP-02A and GP-04, these two units have a Gundam head but the construction of them is from the Zeon line mobile suits. Because Anaheim Electronics will sell their technology to anyone, Axis (later named Neo Zeon) have their hands on the EF design triads, too.

Mobile suits in Future Century

In 1994's Mobile Fighter G Gundam, mobile suits are very common much as airplanes are in the early 21st century. Their development began even before mankind left the Earth for Space Colonies. However, what is special about G Gundam's timeline is the presence of advanced mobile suits called mobile fighters. Using the mobile trace system, these mobile fighters mimic the movements of their pilots, making them very effective for close-ranged martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

 combat. However Mobile Suits are also developed for defensive purposes since they has a lower production cost and has no worries in developing suitable pilots.

Mobile suits in After Colony

In the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, known in Japan as , is an anime series in the mecha genre, and is one of the alternate universe Gundam series, taking place in the After Colony timeline. It is the second alternate universe in the Gundam media franchise, following Mobile Fighter G Gundam...

anime (and the related works that make up the After Colony fictional setting), the first military mobile suit was the Tallgeese, itself based on unspecified work mecha. OZ (an acronym for Organization of the Zodiac) was the first organization to develop mobile suits for its arsenal; the developers of the Tallgeese were initially in the employment of OZ before defecting to the colonies. OZ, and its provision of mobile suits to the United Earth Sphere Alliance, enabled the latter's total control of the Earth and surrounding colonies. Following events in the backstory, mobile suit development went down two different paths from this point; mass-produced mobile suits such as the Leo used by the controlling Alliance and OZ, and the individualised Gundam mobile suits built by the rebelling orbital colonies, such as the titular Wing Gundam. The Gundams in this era earned their names because they are constructed from a rare and astonishingly durable material Gundanium alloy, which can only be refined in outer space.

Eventually, the controlling powers developed a system that allowed mobile suits to be controlled remotely with the aid of a form of AI
Ai
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...

, eliminating the need for individual human pilots. Such computerized suits became known as mobile dolls.

Mobile suits in After War

In 1996's After War Gundam X
After War Gundam X
After War Gundam X, known in Japan as , is an anime television series from Japan. It is a part of the Gundam franchise that started in 1979, but takes place in an alternate universe called After War Era. The series has 39 episodes, aired in Japan from April 5, 1996 to December 28, 1996 across TV...

, mobile suits were the main weapons of both the Old Earth Federation and the Space Revolutionary Army. After the 7th Space War ended with a massive colony drop, which brought the Earth to a post-apocalypse state, a large number of these mobile suits remained on Earth and many are taken by civilians for personal use. These include powerful Gundam-type mobile suits used by the Earth Federation during 7th Space War, which are rare and highly valuable machines.

In addition to the mobile suits from the 7th Space War, new mobile suit models continue to be developed by the Space Revolutionary Army and the newly formed New Earth Federation.

Mobile suits in Correct Century

In 1999's Turn A Gundam, the technology on Earth has regressed back to that of early-20th century, and in some cases, even to pre-industrial levels. The Militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

, which is Earth's defense against the invading Moonrace, had biplanes and jeeps tanks as its main war vehicles. However, in certain locations of the world, called mountain cycles, ancient mobile suits are buried, protected from deterioration and decay by regenerative nanomachines called nano-skin. These mobile suits are said to be relics from the Dark History, and when the first Militia mobile suit, the Turn A Gundam, is uncovered from a statue called the White Doll, the Militia begins searching through these mountain cycles and discovering more and more mobile suits. These uncovered mobile suits become the backbone of the Militia and allow to produce them in the war between it and the Moonrace, which has never lost its mobile suit technology, to proceed on a more even scale. Later, the Moonrace also begins searching through mountain cycles on both the Earth and the Moon, and a menagerie of both low-tech and high-tech mobile weapons from various ages of the lost past are eventually fielded by both sides.

Mobile suits in Cosmic Era

In the Cosmic Era timeline, the first mobile suit, the YMF-01 Proto GINN, was rolled out in CE 65, while the first production mobile suit, the ZGMF-1017 GINN, entered production two years later. The Earth Alliance begins mobile suit development in CE 69 with the "G Series" (the Gundam mobile suits), and development culminates with the rollout of five Gundam prototypes on 20 January CE 71. The first Earth Alliance mass-production mobile suit, the GAT-01 Strike Dagger, rolls out late in the war just before the Battle of Porta Panama. The Orb Nation, in order to defend themselves against both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, aids the Earth Alliance in the development of their mobile suits with the express purpose of stealing the technology behind the machines (the process was somewhat successful - Orb was able to learn of and steal the design of the Earth Alliance's beam weaponry, but not the secrets behind Phase Shift armor. Orb then proceeded on mobile suit development of its own, code named Astray
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray
is a collection of "gaiden" set in the Cosmic Era of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Whereas the main story of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED focuses on the struggles between the Earth Alliance, ZAFT, and Orb Union, the Astray series is focused on the three MBF-P0x mobile suit prototypes and their respective...

. Three prototypes were developed (Red Frame, with an OS designed to allow Naturals to fight at the same level as Coordinators; Blue Frame, with an OS designed to allow for modules to be grafted onto the mobile suit to extend its capabilities; and Gold Frame, equipped with power interfaces for both Earth Alliance and Orb beam weapons), and the data from the three prototypes was then used to create Orb's mass-production mobile suit, the MBF-M1 Astray.

Postwar MS development continues apace on both sides, with the Earth Alliance developing the stopgap Dagger L and advanced Windam mobile suits and ZAFT continuing to develop its GuAIZ and ZAKU lines. Both sides heavily utilize Striker Pack technology after the war, which allows a single mobile suit to fulfill multiple roles. In addition, ZAFT made several breakthroughs in the design of transforming mobile suits, developing MS that are capable of transforming between an all-purpose mobile suit form and a specialized mobile armor form.

Mobile suits in Anno Domini

In Mobile Suit Gundam 00, mobile suit is a technology introduced by Aeolia Schenberg along with orbital elevators, originally purposed as construction implements. As a defensive measure of the orbital elevators, the military from Union, AEU, and the Human Reform League developed mobile suits for military purposes. While the newer model of Union and AEU unitizes solar energy to power their suits, older models still relied upon (the near-depleted) fossil fuels for propulsion.

The private paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....

 force Celestial Being themselves possess a small number of mobile suits collectively known as Gundams. These units make use of a technology called GN Drives, granting the Gundams virtually unlimited energy supply: the Gundams consequently have superior capabilities compared to the mobile suits in the same period. The first Gundam to utilise a GN Drive was the O Gundam, which was deployed in AD 2301. Subsequent models are developed, with third generation Gundams unveiled by AD 2307; these units can overwhelm most of the mass produced forces of the time. However, the advantage Celestial Being enjoyed from having the only GN Drives would be removed, when the UN obtained 30 GN Tau Drives (virtually similar to the original GN drives, except they have a limited operational time). After the final battle between the UN and the Celestial Being, the UN would lose all but one GN Tau equipped unit, and also capture Kyrios (however, not before its GN drive is ejected).

By AD 2312, the Earth Sphere Federation has the abilities to mass produce GN Tau Drives, and deploy them to their peace-keeping forces. The A-Laws under the Federation also developed their own GN-Drive mobile weapon lines respectively. Celestial Being, during this time, would complete development of their first 4th Generation Gundam, in addition to producing enhanced 3rd Generation Gundams. The rebel group Katharon, and some nations not controlled by Federation are using suits widely used in 4 years ago. The Innovators seems to have ability to develop mobile weapons that outperforms the mobile suits the A-Laws possess; these units can perform on par with the Gundams in some instances.
See also: モビルスーツ , 모빌 슈트 , โมบิลสูท 

Mobile armour

is not a specialized variation of a mobile suit. While the mobile armour concept is most prevalent in the original Universal Century
Universal Century
is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C. is often used instead in recent production like MS Igloo and Master Grade model instructions and official pages is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C....

 timeline, it also appears in other Gundam
Gundam
The is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....

alternate universes.
See also: モビルアーマー 

Mobile armour in the Universal Century

In the Universal Century
Universal Century
is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C. is often used instead in recent production like MS Igloo and Master Grade model instructions and official pages is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C....

 timeline, Mobile ARMOUR (MA in short) is an acronym for all range maneuverability offence utility reinforcement. While this definition has since been officially endorsed by Sunrise, it originated from a semi-official guide book called Gundam Century in page 54. In addition, the acronym does not seem to be a particularly accurate description of mobile armours, as they rarely display "all range" capabilities (instead tending to be specialized to very specific environments) and are almost always employed as independently-operating juggernauts, rather than as "reinforcement" for mobile suits.

Considering the term "all range" is also used to describe the use of bits and funnels, it might meant MAs can attack on many directions. However, MAs rarely have this ability (MAN-03, MAN-08, GP03, AMX-002, MRX-009, MRX-010, etc. being the exceptions) therefore, this is also not a very accurate explanation.

Originally, mobile armours were built to compete with mobile suits.
While Zeonic Co. was building MS as the next generation of mobile weapons for Zeon before the One Year War
One Year War
The is a fictional conflict from the Universal Century timeline of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam metaseries. The One Year War is very similar to World War II, the major difference being that The One Year War is in a science fiction setting and some major battles occurred in space...

, the rival company MIP was developing MA. However, MIP lost the competition, mainly due to their competing prototype, MIP-X1, even though it had superior performance when compared to the inferior AMBAC prototype Zeonic design, it had less than 10 minutes combat time because of its performance being based on consuming great amount of propellant and could hardly fight on its own without heavy support from its mothership for resupplies, MAs were never mass-produced. Later, both Zimmad (another rival company which later developed the famous MS-09 Dom) and MIP became sub-contractors of Zeonic Co. and assisted in the mass-production of mobile suits. Zeon, later in the one year war, reconsidered the concept of MA due to the advancement of beam weapons in the Earth Federation MS which their own MS cannot equip due to a shortage of power, larger units like MAs better served the purpose of equipping high power output beam weapons, and were reintroduced into the war as test beds for different technologies that would be hard to minimize to fit a MS.

In general, an original mobile armour is a unit emphasizing generator power output so that it can support a mega particle cannon, this series of models include the prototype model MIP-X1, test type models MA-04X and MA-06 and the mass production models MA-05 and MAM-07.

In Gundam Officials (the ultimate UC guide book) and various settings announced, MAs should have at least two of the following performance compared to the other mobile weapons within the same time frame:
  • High mobility (high acceleration or high terminal velocity in atmospheric/subsurface conditions)
  • High maneuverability (having high ability to turn and aim)
  • High fire power (usually means carrying different types of weapon for various enemies or high power mega beam weapon.)
  • Strong defence (usually I-Field generators)


However, most MAs in the One Year War did not meet the above requirements. For example, the MA-05 Bigro has worse acceleration, maneuverbility and defence (due to worse metallurgy technology on the Zeon
Zeon
In the television anime Mobile Suit Gundam universe, Zeon can refer to the Republic of Zeon, the Principality of Zeon or Neo Zeon. It is also referred to as the Duchy of Zeon or the Zeon Dukedom...

 side) compared to the RGM-79 and this should be a better design over MA-04X Zakrello.
MA-08 Big Zam met the fire power and defence, yet the acceleration and maneuverability are poor.
Newtype
Newtype
A Newtype is theorized to be the next stage of human evolution in the fictional Gundam universe. This minor but groundbreaking metamorphosis is usually expressed as a heightened mental awareness, the result of an evolutionary adaptation to life in space....

 units are better in any case, MAN-03 Braw Brow and MAN-08 Emerth both meet two performance requirements of fire power and mobility.
The only MA that should have met all the requirements in the One Year War should be the MA-06 Val Varo which appeared in the series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
is a 13-episode anime OVA series set in the Gundam universe. The first volume containing two 30-minute episodes was released in Japan on May 23, 1991. Subsequent volumes, containing one 30-minute episode each, followed every one or two months; the final volume went on sale on September 24, 1992...

.
MAs after 0079 have better performance but almost none were produced in great number and most considered to be testing platform for new technologies.

Due to their high costs, MAs remained as experimental units or limited production ones during the One Year War
One Year War
The is a fictional conflict from the Universal Century timeline of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam metaseries. The One Year War is very similar to World War II, the major difference being that The One Year War is in a science fiction setting and some major battles occurred in space...

 like the MA-04X and MA-05. Another draw back of MAs is, they can only do combat missions because some do not have humanoid arms or too large in size to complete certain tasks. Mobile suits, however, can be used for construction work or carry ammunition and materials over short distances in a ship or a base.

A mobile armour is usually non-humanoid, and is usually much larger and more powerful than contemporary mobile suits. The MA-08 Big Zam exemplifies the typical traits of a mobile armour.

The mobile pod RB-79 Ball
RB-79 Ball
The RB-79 Ball is a fictional weapon from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. Its design was partially inspired by the EVA Pod from 2001: A Space Odyssey...

, is said to be the Earth Federation concept of a minimized version of mobile armour in the MG model construction manual and MS encyclopedia 2006 by Katoki Hajime. However, both source still listed the unit as a mobile pod instead of mobile armour.

Comparing the Mobile Armour with World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 war machines, it is laying in the same position as the Tank Destroyer
Tank destroyer
A tank destroyer is a type of armored fighting vehicle armed with a gun or missile launcher, and is designed specifically to engage enemy armored vehicles...

s. Minimizing the weight of the turret and installing larger calibre guns, their main objectives are countering newer enemy tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

s; while Mobile armours are mainly designed to counter enemy new mobile suits, which is the main battle weapon in space.

The MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam's non-humanoid mode is not considered a mobile armour, and instead is designated as a Wave Rider
Wave Rider
Wave Rider was a quarterly surfing magazine of the 1970s published out of Cocoa Beach, Florida. Founded by Gunnar and John Griffin, it was launched during the mid-1970s and ceased publication by the early 1980s. Staff photographers included Rob Battipaglia, Joaquin Garcia and Larry Marshall...

.
Most TMS in the Zeta project only have a Wave Rider form (with the exception of the MSZ-08 Z II), and are not considered to be mobile armours. These mobile suits are designated VMSAWRS (usually decapitalized as VMsAWrs) for "variable mobile suit and wave rider system".

Mobile armour in the Cosmic Era

In the Cosmic Era timeline, mobile armours are non-humanoid units employed by the Earth Alliance forces. Early mobile armours were essentially small space fighters, and were vastly outclassed by ZAFT's mobile suits: on average, it would take five TS-MA2 Moebius units to equally match a single ZGMF-1017 GINN. However, in the sequel TV series Gundam SEED Destiny
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
is an anime television series, acting as a sequel of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED by Sunrise. It retains most of the staff from Gundam SEED, including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. Set two years after the original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, the plot follows the new character Shinn Asuka, a soldier from ZAFT,...

, larger MAs equipped with powerful positron reflector shields are used, such as the YMAG-X7F Gells-Ghe. These units more closely resemble the MAs used in the UC timeline, with their huge size, overwhelming firepower, and ability to resist attack. The Blue Cosmos-dominated Earth Alliance Forces expresses its preference for larger mobile armors to counter the influence of the "impure" Coordinators on military doctrine. Despite the apparent size and power of MAs, though, none manages to significantly improve upon the combat utility of mobile suits.

Mobile armour in Anno Domini

Mobile Armour in Anno Domini are seen as early as 4th Solar Conflict with mobile suits. The mobile armour in series are mostly appearing as an extended part of, or docked with mobile suits. But a very small amount of mobile armours can be operate on their own.

In the 24th century, Mobile Armours were considered obsolete and went out of use. However, terrorists used mobile armours as part of their plan to get Celestial Being to stand down. The AEU also gives Ali Al-Saachez the massive Mobile Armour Agrissa which docks with his Enact. Mobile armours are also used by Setsuna F Seiei and Alejandro Corner in their final battle. Like Al-Saachez's Agrissa, these mobile armors are controlled via docked mobile suits, and both mobile armors are abandoned in the course of the battle after suffering crippling damage.

In AD2312, the uses of newly-developed aquatic mobile armours by the A-Laws is confirmed. Celestial Being also developed a small bunch of supporting mobile armor, which works as support units of Gundams.

Transformable mobile weapons

Also, there are some mobile weapons that have the ability to transform between two or more operating modes, classified either as transformable mobile suits (TMS) or transformable mobile armours (TMA). These typically consist of a mobile suit mode and a mobile armour mode. Typically, the term transformable mobile armour is used to describe a transformable mobile weapon that is substantially larger than contemporary mobile suits, even if the mobile suit mode is its primary configuration. TMS are normally not considered MAs in their non humanoid form.
See also: 可変モビルスーツ 

Transformable mobile weapons in Universal Century

Universal Century transformable mobile suits include the AMX-003 Gaza-C, MSA-005 Methuss, MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam, MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam, RX-110 Gabthley, and RX-139 Hambrabi. Transformable mobile armours include the MRX-009 Psyco Gundam, NRX-044 Asshimar, NRX-055 Baund Doc, ORX-005 Gaplant, and PMX-000 Messala.

Transformable mobile weapons were widely used during the Gryps Conflict
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
is a television anime, part of the Gundam series and a sequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam. The show was created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, with character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, while the series' mechanical designs is split amongst Kunio Okawara, Mamoru Nagano, and Kazumi Fujita...

 and first Neo Zeon movement
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
is a TV series aired on Japanese TV from 1986–1987, was the third Gundam series, and a direct follow up to Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Director Yoshiyuki Tomino returned to lead the series, and he assembled a new team consisting of character designer Hiroyuki Kitazume, who had been one of Zeta...

, but generally fell out of favor among military designers soon afterward. This is likely a result of the increased expense and the weakened structural issues that lead to lesser durability involved in such designs; only the Neo Zeon forces at Axis had any success in mass-producing even the simplest transformable mobile suit designs.

However, in the side story Moon Crisis the Earth Federation Space Forces did produce some transformable mobile suits in UC0099 to form a high speed strike team called Z-Plus team to react to special situations like mobile suit terrorist attacks and such. The team was mainly composed of second generation Z-Plus units called Z-Prompt and excelled in re-entry missions. In addition, the transformable Guntank seen in Mobile Suit Gundam F91
Mobile Suit Gundam F91
is a 1991 anime film, which was Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino's attempt to launch a new Gundam saga, set thirty years after Char's Counterattack and twenty seven years after Gundam Unicorn. He re-teamed with character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and mecha designer Kunio Okawara for the occasion....

was apparently developed at some point in the period between the second Neo Zeon movement
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
is a 1988 anime film set in Gundam's Universal Century timeline of Gundam, specifically U.C. 0093.Making its theatrical debut on March 12, 1988, Char's Counterattack is the culmination of the original saga begun in Mobile Suit Gundam and continued through Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Mobile Suit...

 and the Crossbone Vanguard Conflict
Mobile Suit Gundam F91
is a 1991 anime film, which was Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino's attempt to launch a new Gundam saga, set thirty years after Char's Counterattack and twenty seven years after Gundam Unicorn. He re-teamed with character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and mecha designer Kunio Okawara for the occasion....

, in the early 0110s.

Transformable mobile suits in alternate universes

While the concept is most prevalent in the late 0080s of the Universal Century, some transformable mobile suits have appeared in other Gundam timelines, such as After Colony's XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero, XXXG-01W Wing Gundam, OZ-12SMS Taurus, and OZ-13MS Gundam Epyon, After War's GW-9800 Gundam Airmaster and NRX-0015 Gundam Ashtaron, and CC (Seireki)'s FLAT-L06D FLAT.

Transformable mobile weapons in the Cosmic Era

Outside of the Universal Century, there are most variations of transformable mobile suits, which are usually one-off model. Examples including the GAT-X303 Aegis, GAT-X370 Raider, MVF-M11C Murasame, ZGMF-X23S Saviour, ZGMF-X24S Chaos, ZGMF-X31S Abyss, ZGMF-X88S Gaia, plus Raider Full Spec, Regenerate Gundam, Proto Saviour, Forbidden Blue, Forbidden Vortex, Deep Forbidden, Guardshell and many more. The GFAS-X1 Destroy is also the first non-Universal Century transformable mobile armour.

Transformable mobile weapons in Anno Domini

In the 24th century, TMS are the most common types of mobile suits in both the Union of Free Nations and Solar Energy (Union) and Advanced European Union (AEU) and they were mass-produced and sold to other member nations. The Union have the Union Flag and Realdo, and the AEU have the Enact and Hellion. However, since only few skilled pilots can transform their mobile suit in mid-air with no difficulty, most of the pilots would rather keep their mobile suit either in plane form or mobile suit form. The Gundam Kyrios (and its successor, the Arios (and its successor the Harute) can also transform into a waverider flight mode.. Arios' support unit GN-Archer can also transform, and further combine with Arios in fighter mode. Arios and GN Archer frames were used to make the Harute.

Miscellaneous types

In addition to the types listed here, there are a number of units that can be classified as mobile weapons but do not fit into any of the standard subcategories. Such units include the GP-03 Dendrobium Orchis
Gundam Development Project
The following are a list of mobile weapons that appeared in the Japanese OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, which is part of the Gundam franchise, as well as related media.-History of the Gundam Development Project models:...

, which has many characteristics of both a mobile suit and a mobile armour but not officially classified as any. The MAX-03 Adzam is also one of these, although it is usually classified as a mobile armour in video games, it is not classified as one according to MS Encyclopedia, instead, it is classified as an ancestor of mobile armours. The unmanned mobile suit from G-Saviour
G-Saviour
G-Saviour is an live-action made for television movie set in Gundam metaseries, set in the Universal Century timeline. It also officially marks the last events of the Universal Century.-Production:...

also called by the term mobile weapon.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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