GAT-04 Windam

GAT-04 Windam is a mass-production all-purpose multi-modal mobile suit, it is featured in the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. The unit is piloted by Neo Roanoke.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The GAT-04 Windam is an Earth Alliance general purpose mass production mobile suit descended from the Dagger series of mass production mobile suits and can trace its lineage back to the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam. Of the Earth Alliance's mass production mobile suits the Windam is the most recent and most advanced machine, making it the most powerful mass production mobile suit developed by the Earth Alliance. In terms of performance the Earth Alliance intended the machine to be superior to ZAFT's ZAKU-type mobile suits. While in space the two machines were often equal, on Earth a Windam equipped with a Jet Striker had superior mobility and has the advantage against a ZAKU, especially a ZAKU that is participating in an orbital drop. When piloted by a skilled enough pilot the Windam can prove to be a challenge even to Kira Yamato's ZGMF-X10A Freedom

Weapons wise, the Windam features a set of rather standard armament, including CIWS guns, beam sabers, a beam rifle and a shield. It however mounts a new type of weapon in form of the anti-armor penetrator. Like its Dagger predecessors the Windam has the ability to mount Striker packs, however the design of its shoulder armor prevents it from mounting the Sword or Launcher Striker packs. The Windam has been seen mounting only the Jet Striker, Doppelhorn Striker, Aile Striker, and the new Nuclear Striker packs.

Armaments

 * M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm Automatic CIWS
 * Like most other mobile suits, the Windam is equipped with head-mounted CIWS guns to shoot down incoming missiles or enemies at close range. While most models, except the GFAS-X1 Destroy, only feature two guns, the Windam however mounts twice as much, which are of the new M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm automatic CIWS model.


 * ES04B Beam Saber
 * Another prominent armament of the Windam which is standard on most mobile suits are its two ES04B beam sabers for close combat. When not in use, these sabers are stored on the hips of the suit.


 * Mk315 "Stiletto" Rocket-Propelled Anti-Armor Penetrator
 * A new type of weaponry mounted on the Windam are its two Mk315 "Stiletto" rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrators. These penetrators are dagger-like weapons, which are stored in "pockets" on the hip armor of the suit. The penetrators can be used for close combat but are most times used as throwing weapons, which, if they hit a critical spot, can destroy a single suit.


 * A52 Offensive Shield Type E
 * Mounted on the left arm of the Windam is a single physical A52 offensive shield type E, used to defend against enemy attacks.


 * Mk438/B Dual Multipurpose Missile "Würger" SA10
 * This shield also mounts a Mk438/B dual multipurpose missile "Würger" SA10, allowing the shield to be used as an offensive weapon.


 * M9409L Beam Rifle
 * For ranged combat, the Windam is equipped with a M9409L beam rifle. This rifle is larger and more powerful than the carbine used by the GAT-02L2 Dagger L series.

System Features

 * Hardpoints for Striker Packs
 * As with the old GAT-01A1 105 Dagger and Dagger L mobile suit series, the Windam is capable of mounting Striker Packs, thus being able to adapt to different missions and environments. Among these are the AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Striker, which gives the Windam atmospheric flight capability, the AQM/E-M11 Doppelhorn Striker, a simplified version of the Launcher Striker, which consists of a pair of recoilless cannons, the AQM/E-M2N Nuclear Striker, which mounts two large nuclear missile launchers and the old AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker, which can be used as an alternative to the newer Jet Striker. The Windam however has considerably different shoulders than the previous GAT-01 and GAT-02 models, and is probably not compatible with Striker packs that use shoulder-mounted weaponry, like the AQM/E-X02 Sword Striker and AQM/E-X03 Launcher Striker.

Development
The Windam is a newly introduced mass production mobile suit of the Earth Alliance, intended to replace the Dagger L. Like its predecessor, the Windam is derived from the GAT-X105 Strike, which it resembles far more than the older GAT-01 Strike Dagger or Dagger L.

Introduction
The Windam was introduced in October CE 73, when a squad equipped with Nuclear Strikers was sent to destroy PLANT, shortly after declaration of the Second Bloody Valentine War. However, they and their supporting fleet were all destroyed by ZAFT's Neutron Stampeder. Soon afterwards, Windams equipped with the Jet Striker were deployed to oppose ZAFT's "Operation Spear of Twilight", in which large numbers of mobile suits were dropped to Earth to reinforce their Carpentaria and Gibraltar bases. Windams were also employed in a failed attempt to destroy ZAFT's battleship Minerva as it left Orb territorial waters, and in most major Earth Alliance operations on the planet thereafter.

With Heaven's Base, Daedalus lunar base, and Terminal
Neo Roanoke, commander of the 81st Independent Mobile Battalion, piloted a custom Windam with a unique purple and dark gray color scheme, operating from the aircraft carrier John Paul Jones and later the land aircraft carrier Bonaparte. The Windam was also used in large numbers in space in the last month of the second war, during which they were deployed without any Striker Pack or with the Doppelhorn Striker. The Windams were used to protect the emitter of the Requiem superweapon at the Daedalus lunar base as well as its relay stations.

At the end of the war, a dozen Windam joined Terminal to destroy Requiem.

Variants

 * GAT-04+AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Windam

Notes & Trivia

 * The Windam appears to be analogous to the RGM-89 Jegan to the Dagger L's RMS-179/RGM-79R GM II
 * The performance level of the Windam however remains unknown. Although the Windam was originally stated to be a high-performance, high-mobility "ZAKU buster", the show has done little to confirm this. The reason for this is that the majority of the battles in SEED Destiny are implied, with only small parts of the war and portions of individual battles being shown to us. We almost never see a Windam in any scene which does not involve ZAFT's Minerva battleship, and as such, they are often quickly shot down by ace pilots Shinn Asuka, Athrun Zala, and occasionally Kira Yamato. The single exception to this is Neo Roanoke, who piloted his custom colored Windam skillfully. During the battle in the Indian Ocean, Neo and Sting Oakley together managed to fight Athrun Zala to a standstill, and given previous examples of Athrun's superior performance relative to Oakley, this gave us some evidence that a Windam can be used as a serious fighting force. Roanoke even managed to (very briefly) hold his own against Kira Yamato, destroying Freedom's shield with a rocket propelled knife before his Windam was destroyed.
 * Neo Roanoke's Windam Custom sports a reddish paint job. This, along with the fact that Neo wears a mask, is a homage to the Principality of Zeon's Ace Pilot, Char Aznable, who is famous for piloting red, generally enhanced, Mobile Suits.
 * While some material such as Gundam SEED DESTINY MS Encyclopedia state that Windam has VPS armor and wrecks of PS-down Windam can be spotted, it's contradict by fact that Windam can be damaged by all sort of projectile, explosion, missile and Minerva-class battleship's 40mm CIWS. Other source such as Gundam Fact Files list its armor as unknown.
 * While the Windam possesses a Hard Point for mounting the Jet and Aile Strikers, the shoulders of the Windam would not be able to mount the parts from Sword or Launcher Striker.