RX-78-2 Gundam 

Technology & Combat Characteristics

he Gundam was incredibly advanced for its time. Built from lightweight Luna Titanium Alloy, its frame was both lighter than that of Zeon's mass-produced mobile suits and much sturdier, able to shrug off a Zaku II's machine gun fire with little to no damage. Its offensive power was above and beyond that of the Zeon Zakus. The Gundam would engage in most battles with its beam rifle making it the first mobile suit to have firepower equivalent to a battleship beam cannon. In addition, it made use of two beam sabers, blades of extremely hot plasma which could cut through any metal with ease. Those beam sabers could be extended into a spear-like beam javelin, which could be used to stab into an enemy from a longer distance than the blade of the saber would allow.

The Gundam Hammer was eventually upgraded for use in space and outfitted with a number of verniers on the ball, and renamed to be the "Hyper Hammer." Lastly, it wielded a large shield which would offer it a defense against enemy attacks that not even its Luna Titanium body could withstand without damage. Gundam pilot Amuro Ray would make use of the shield as a decoy in many battles, taking advantage of its size to fool the enemy into thinking he was charging at them, then attacking the enemy through the shield.

Armaments

• 60mm Gatling Cannons "Vulcan Guns"

The Vulcan guns were 60mm gatling guns stored on the sides of the Gundam's head. Having the greatest rate of fire of all the Gundam's weapons these are primarily used to ward off advancing enemies, shoot down missiles, or hit other fast moving targets. They also made good use as an anti-aircraft and anti-personnel weapons. The Vulcan guns however had a hard time piercing heavy armor (though they had shown the ability to do severe damage to mobile suits if fired at point-blank range) and thus were not often used against larger, more heavily armored foes. Still the Vulcans were useful in preserving ammunition for the Gundam's more powerful weapons such as the beam rifle.

• Beam Sabers
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The Gundam was the first mobile suit to ever use a beam-oriented weapon in melee combat. The sabers are stored on the backpack, and can transform from saber to the "Gundam Javelin," a large pole with a three pronged beam at the end. The beam sabers use Minovsky particles held in place by an I-Field to form an effective cutting surface that can slice through nearly any material. The particles for the beam sabers are stored by E-cap in the hilt of the saber, which is recharged from the Gundam's reactor when the saber is returned to its socket. Once activated, beam sabers do not rely on the mobile suit's reactor and can be thrown or discarded as decoys. The beam saber is most often used for close range combat or as an emergency weapon once all other ammunition has been depleted. One can be used as a reserve weapon, or both can be used simultaneously in a twin sword fashion.

• Beam Javelin
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The beam javelin is an alternative to the beam saber, it has a higher output than the standard beam saber, and the beam's shape allows for a greater amount of armor penetration ability. The long reach of the weapon gives the RX-78-2 a considerable advantage in close quarters combat.

• Gundam Hammer/Hyper Hammer

A rather unusual weapon, the Gundam Hammer was essentially a large spiked ball attached to a chain. It was used to give the Gundam a ranged melee weapon. The Gundam could either throw or swing the Hammer around itself in order to impact and damage its target through the sheer mass of the hammer. Later, it was upgraded into the Hyper Hammer and had several rockets mounted into the ball in order to give it use in space allowing it to maneuver in zero-gravity also the ability to change it's direction before impact, and to increase the damage it could cause.

• BAUVA*XBR-M-79-07G (Bauva eXperimental Beam Rifle Medium-range)

A revolutionary weapon for it's time, the beam rifle is the primary weapon used by the Gundam. Making use of the Federations E-cap (or "energy capacitor") technology, the rifle uses charged concentrations of Minovsky particles as ammunition. This gives the beam rifle firepower equivalent to that of a battleship's beam cannons. As the Minovsky particles destroy matter on a molecular scale, the beam rifle can penetrate even the thickest armor and destroy its target with a single shot. One weak point of the rifle was its energy limits. The rifle could only be fired 16 times before depleting its energy and becoming useless.

• BLASH*XHB-L-03/N-STD (Blash eXperimental Hyper Bazooka Long-range)

Similar to the Zaku's bazooka, the Hyper Bazooka was a heavy weapon used by the Gundam. Technically a large rocket launcher it could fire several 380mm missiles to attack targets at long range. No mass-production MS's armor is able to stop this weapon. While very powerful, it has a slow rate of fire and a fairly little amount of ammunition. Most oftenly used to take out slow, heavily armored targets.

• RX*M-Sh-008/S-01025 (Renpou [Federation] eXperimental Medium Shield)

Hand-carried, forearm-mounted or stored on the Gundam's backpack, the shield is a simple defense used to block most incoming ballistic and explosive projectiles. Also used to great effect in close quarters battle with enemy mobile suits. Has a view port than can be sealed off with an internal blast plate. The shield is also used to deflect heat away from the mobile suit when undergoing atmospheric re-entry.

Special Equipment & Features

• Core Block System
  

The prototype mobile suits produced by the Earth Federation Forces' Operation V, are equipped with a central block which houses the mobile suit's cockpit, control systems and main power source. This core block can eject in case of emergency and unfold into a small Core Fighter.

• Hardpoints

An attachment point for weapons, shields, spare ammunition, or optional mission-specific equipment. Hardpoints can also be used to store carried weapons when a mobile suit needs its manipulators free for other purposes.

• Learning Computer

A critical component of the Gundam's success in combat, the Learning Computer System was similar to a modern day black box. It recorded the data from each of the Gundam's battles for further use. However, the system could also actively learn and improve the capabilities of the Gundam. This was conceived of as a means to get around the difficulty of training pilots. The computer could apply various programs for walking, fighting, and working to the case at hand, independently reaching decisions and making improvements. Once adequate data had been accumulated, the programs could be transplanted, allowing even a machine operated by a novice to perform like a veteran pilot.

• Heatproof Field

A system installed in the RX-78-2 Gundam, which pumps out air to counter the friction heat of atmospheric entry. The mobile suit's internal cooling systems must also be engaged to deal with the heat that penetrates the air field.

• Magnetic Coating
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A special membrane treatment applied to mobile suit joints to improve their response speed. The mobile suits developed by the Earth Federation Forces use special actuators called field motors, whose efficiency is increased by the magnet coating process. The treatment also reduces friction resistance in the mobile suit's joints. First tested on the RX-78-3 Gundam, this process is then applied to the RX-78-2 used by Amuro Ray, reducing the time required for changes of direction by roughly 27%.