MSA-003 Nemo

MSA-003 Nemo is a mass-production attack-use mobile suit, it is first featured in the anime series Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, the design is later updated and featured in the novel series Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The MSA-003 Nemo is a mobile suit developed by Anaheim Electronics that is based upon the the Earth Federation's RMS-179/RGM-79R GM II mobile suit. Although this new suit strongly resembled the old GM II it was far better in terms of generator power, armor material, thruster acceleration, and maneuverability. Additionally the Nemo was able to use already existing weapons such as the RMS-099 Rick Dias’s beam saber or the GM II’s beam rifle, which also reduced the costs to produce these units.

The MSA-003 Nemo could be fitted with a ballute system, allowing the mobile suit to survive atmospheric entry on its own. Once its close enough to the ground the Nemo's thrusters are enough to slow descent, allowing it to land safely. Although not designed for aerial combat because of its lack of flight capabilities, the Nemo is still capable of firing its weapons at ground targets and aerial targets such as the FF-6 TIN Cod as long as the pilot pays attention to altitude. Despite not being designed for aerial combat the Nemo's durable armor and powerful weapons make it a deadly opponent for outdated fighter craft like the TIN Cod.

Armaments

 * 60mm Vulcan Gun
 * A standard armament of the mobile suits that are descended from the Earth Federation Forces's RX series is a pair of head mounted 60mm vulcan guns. These shell firing weapons have a high-rate of fire but have little power and can't damage the thick armor of a mobile suit, though it can damage lightly armored areas such as the sensors. The weapons are ideal for shooting down small, fast moving, lightly armored targets such as missiles, small land vehicles, and attack helicopters.


 * Beam Saber
 * The close range standard armament for the Earth Federation's, AEUG's, and Karaba's mobile suits is the beam saber. The beam saber is a small cylindrical device held in the mobile suit's hands when operated and is powered by an energy capacitor that is recharged from special racks. The beam saber emits a blade of plasma contained by an I-field and is capable of cutting through any metal alloy. The only way to block a beam saber is to counter with another beam saber or to use armor that has been treated with an anti-beam coating. The MSA-003 Nemo is equipped with two beam sabers stored in recharge racks on the rear waist armor.


 * Shield
 * Most mobile suits are equipped with an optional arm-mounted shield. The shield is a thick sheet of armor designed to take severe punishment that would normally destroy a mobile suit. Since the introduction of beam weapon, shields have been treated with an anti-beam coating allowing it to withstand several beam shots before the coating wears off. Typically physical shields can only take so much damage before they succumb to the pressure and break.


 * Beam Rifle
 * The standard ranged armament of the majority of mobile suits is the beam rifle. The beam rifle makes use Minovsky Physics to generate a particle beam that can penetrate any armor that has not been treated with specific counter-measures. To keep the cost of the MSA-003 Nemo down it is equipped with the same beam rifle as the RMS-179/RGM-79R GM II, which has a power rating of 1.9 MW and powered by a rechargeable energy cap.

History
During the Gryps Conflict in UC0087 the AEUG relied heavily on mobile suits stolen from the Earth Federation, mainly the RGM-79R GM II. However its leadership soon decided that the AEUG needed a mass-produced unit of their own so that they could compete the Titans' units' and show to their enemy that they were a serious threat. The task to develop this new suit went to Anaheim Electronics, which then introduced the Nemo.

Shortly after its introduction the Nemo proved to be a capable and versatile mobile suit and the AEUG's leadership made it the organization's primary mobile suit, and would serve the AEUG for the entirety of the Gryps Conflict and the First Neo Zeon War. The Nemo is used in various important missions such as the attack to capture Earth Federation Salamis Kai-class cruiser, and the orbital drop to attack the Titans base at Jaburo. As an act of comradeship in their combined goal the AEUG gave a number of their Nemo mobile suits to Karaba for their use.

By the year UC 0096 the MSA-003 Nemo is still in service, though now for the Earth Federation as it had absorbed the AEUG and Karaba. Most units have maintained their original paint scheme, but units that are stationed in deserts have been repainted so that the torso keeps the original color scheme but the rest of the mobile suit is tannish color. Almost a decade old the Nemo is no longer a front line unit, but would still see action fighting against the Sleeves.

Descendents
The Nemo's design is eventually used to developed the MSA-004 (MSK-004) Nemo II, which features, aside from a modified external appearance, improved thrusters, sensor range, and ultracompact fusion reactor. The design of the Nemo II serves as a test-bed that is developed into the MSA-004K Nemo III, a unit armed with an additional shoulder beam cannon to allow it to take the role of a medium range support unit. Still, the Nemo III never passed the prototype stage and it wasn't mass-produced.

The design of Nemo also inspired another of Anaheim Electronics's mass production mobile suit, the MSA-007 Nero.

Variants

 * MSA-004 Nemo II
 * MSA-004K Nemo III
 * MSA-003 Nemo Kanon
 * MSA-003C Nemo Cannon
 * MSA-003N Nemo Kai
 * MSA-003 Nemo High Maneuver