GAT-01A1 Dagger

The GAT-01A1 Dagger (aka 105 Dagger) is a mass-production all-purpose multi-modal mobile suit, it was first featured in the original design series SEED-MSV. The unit is piloted by Morgan Chevalier and Barry Ho.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The GAT-01A1 Dagger is a mass production model mobile suit designed and built using data from the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam. In terms of specs the two machines were highly similar though the Dagger differed in several aspects to make it cheaper to produce, easier to pilot, and a more efficient combat machine. One of the primary differences is that the Dagger lacks the Strike's Phase Shift Armor technology. Although this reduces its defensive abilities the lack of the power intensive technology dramatically increases the Daggers effective combat endurance. One possible explanation for this change is that after the theft of four of the prototype mobile suits the Atlantic Federation's military recognized that it would only be a matter of time before ZAFT deployed mobile suits equipped with beam weapons which a mobile suit scale PS armor system is useless against.

The standard armaments of the Dagger are simple but have been heavily changed from the Strikes. Like the Strike the Dagger still possesses two head-mounted Igelstellung CIWS guns. For close combat the Dagger replaces the Schneider anti-armor knives with a pair of beam sabers which are more powerful weapons stored in waist-mounted racks. The Dagger's design also includes a pair of 12.5mm anti-infantry guns, with one mounted in each foot. Finally the standard hand-held armament for the Dagger is a machine-gun, which is not as powerful as the Strike's beam rifle but does not drain energy from the battery and is cheaper to produce.

Because the Dagger is heavily based on the Strike Gundam it possesses the same Striker Pack technology and hardpoints for mounting Striker Packs. The Dagger is Fully compatible with Every Striker Pack used by the Strike as well as the Striker Packs developed in following months-years such as the Gunbarrel and the Jet Striker packs.

Armaments

 * "Igelstellung II" 40mm Multi-barrel CIWS
 * As with most other mobile suits, the Dagger mounts two "Igelstellung II" 40mm multi-barrel CIWS guns in its head to shoot down incoming missiles or enemies at close range. Unlike the earlier G-project machines and Strike Dagger's, these CIWS' are smaller in caliber, this was likely done to ease cost and streamline production.


 * ES01 Beam Saber
 * Another feature found on the Dagger and most other mobile suits are the two beam sabers of type ES01 fore close combat. These beam sabers are stored on the hips if not in use.


 * 12.5mm Anti-infantry Gun
 * The most unusual armament of the Dagger are the shell-firing 12.5mm anti-infantry guns, with each foot mounting a single gun. These guns are used to shoot down enemy soldiers on the ground and are powerful enough to cause severe damage to an area covered with humans.


 * GAU-8M2 52mm Machine Gun
 * The strongest ranged weapon the the suit is its handheld GAU-8M2 52mm machine gun. This weapon makes the Dagger one of the few Earth Alliance mass produced mobile suits which use a shell-firing weapon as their main handheld weapon, as most others use the more advanced and powerful beam guns.

System Features

 * Laminated Armor
 * For additional defense, the suit is equipped with laminated armor and an improved type of heat-resistant ablative gel DPX-30, similar to that used on Archangel-class. While this offered no increased protection against projectile weapons, it provided defense against mobile suit-scale beam weaponry.


 * Hardpoints for Striker Packs
 * The Dagger is the first mass produced mobile suit capable of mounting the same Striker Packs used on the original GAT-X105 Strike Gundam. As with the original unit, these packs grant the Dagger the ability to adapt to different combat situations and thus was nearly identical in performance to the prototype unit. It is also able to mount the newer Striker Packs developed after the first Bloody Valentine War.


 * Besides these two features, the 105 Dagger is also equipped with EMP shielding to defend against EMP weapons like ZAFT's Gungnir weapon.

History
In CE 71, the Earth Alliance rolled out its first five mobile suits as part of the secret G Project with the intention to create an own series of suits which could better fight against ZAFT's suits than the outclassed TS-MA2 Moebius mobile armors. One of these suits was the GAT-X105 Strike, which was able to mounts Striker Packs to adapt to different situations. The Strike was also the only unit of the five prototypes which was not stolen by ZAFT. The EA eventually created the Dagger, the "true" mass production version of the Strike. However, due to the need of many units to fight against ZAFT, the EA instead mass produced the GAT-01 Strike Dagger, an emergency model which was a stripped-down (and less expensive) version of the Strike. The Strike Dagger saw service for only a limited period of time (about 4-5 months) in the first war.

Nevertheless, the Alliance put the Dagger into limited mass production. Due to its resemblance to the GAT-X105 Strike and the fact that the "Strike Dagger" name was already taken, it was nicknamed the "105" Dagger. The produced Daggers were then given to ace pilots like Morgan Chevalier, who used his suit with the rare AQM/E-X04 Gunbarrel Striker, thus forming the GAT-01A1+AQM/E-X04 Gunbarrel Dagger. Morgan used his Dagger in several battles of the war, among them the Second Battle of Jachin Due, was well as the South American War of Independence, during which he fought another EA ace pilot, Edward Harrelson. Eventually however, both the Strike Dagger and Dagger were succeeded by the GAT-02L2 Dagger L, which was a combination of the two models and introduced shortly after the war. The Dagger lineage was eventually succeeded early in the second war by the GAT-04 Windam. However Earth Alliance Special Forces still made use of an upgraded version of the Dagger, the GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger, which could use a beam rifle.

During the Rebellion of the U.S.S.A. the GAT-01A1+AQM/E-X02 Sword Dagger was a common model of mobile suit the EA sent to South America.

Despite being succeeded by newer and more advanced models, several 105 Daggers stayed in service. In CE 74, a group of outdated but still functional 105 Daggers equipped with Launcher and Jet Strikers participated in the defense of Heaven's Base against a massive ZAFT attack. Additionally a specialized dark-colored version of the 105 Dagger was created, called the GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger. This model was the standard unit used by the elite Phantom Pain special forces unit.

Variants

 * GAT-01A1+AQM/E-X04 Gunbarrel Dagger
 * GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger
 * GAT-01A1+AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Dagger
 * GAT-01A1+AQM/E-X02 Sword Dagger
 * GAT-01A1+AQM/E-X03 Launcher Dagger