MS-06K Zaku Cannon

The Zaku Cannon was one of many variants of the standard MS-06 Zaku II produced by the Principality of Zeon during the One Year War. The suit first appeared as part of the Mobile Suit Variations line.

History
The Zaku Cannon was a mass production artillery test-type developed during the One Year War. The Zaku Cannon was developed out of the Zeon's MS-06J-12 Project, which was to build an anti-aircraft Zaku II unit. That project was scrapped when the Zeons learned of the Earth Federal Force's close-combat RX-78-2 Gundam and their mid-range fire support RX-77-2 Guncannon. Thus, the scope of the project changed from anti-aircraft mobile suit to an anti-mobile suit and mid-range support unit.

The MS-06K was based on the Zeon's highly successful MS-06F Zaku II design. This new model feeatured a powerful 180 mm cannon mounted on the right shoulder, the same cannon size as the Federation's RX-75-4 Guntank. The Zaku II K-Type could even be refitted with a MS-06J Zaku II Ground Type's standard backpack by removing the K-Type backpack and cannon. The Zaku Cannon also featured a 360 degree camera eye for improved vision and target acquisition. Lastly, the mobile suit had more powerful thrusters placed in its legs to overcome its increased mass. However, The Zaku Cannon suffered from poor balance due to the large cannon's recoil. This problem was significant enough to cancel its production by the Zeon Military Force after a production run of only nine units.

This wasn't the end of the Zaku Cannon though. In U.C. 0087, the Earth Federation picked up the designs. After the costly battle with the Delaz Fleet, the Federation's new and powerful mobile suits had been destroyed. They needed very cheap models to replace the advanced mobile suits that had been lost (the Titans taskforce was using up a great deal of the Federation's money for the military). Thus, the Federal Force filled their ranks with a few of the old Zeon designs, such as the MS-06K Zaku Cannon, to provide aid in their forces.