GN-007 Arios Gundam

GN-007 Arios Gundam (aka Arios Gundam, Arios), is the successor unit to GN-003 Gundam Kyrios in season 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. It is piloted by Allelujah Haptism. Similar to the Kyrios, it has the ability to transform in between mobile suit form and an aircraft form for high speed combat. It is later upgraded into GN-007GNHW/M Arios Gundam GNHW/M.

Fighter Mode
The new fighter body of Arios is meant for high speed flight and combat and is capable of atmospheric or zero-gravity flight. The unit also duals as a semi-mobile armor against enemy units. Kyrios originally had a GN Shield that could transform into a pincer claw weapon that could grab enemy units and destroy them with an electro-blade. While Arios has no physical shield, the pincer-claw aspect was incorporated into the design of the front body of Arios's fighter form. When transformed, Arios can grab enemy units and can either remove a mobile suit out of the combat zone or literally clip them down with its GN particle infused pincer.

To increase the effectiveness and survivability of combat, GN Archer was added to Arios' overall arsenal. The unit was originally meant to be a new generation Gundam, but CB engineers evolved the design of a tail booster into a transformable MS unit for Arios. GN Archer is still a Tail Booster unit, granting Arios greater speed, maneuverability, and additional firepower with GN Missiles; the GN Cannon aspect of the original Tail Booster was never incorporated. GN Archer can break off from Arios for independent combat to help relieve Arios on missions, but need to return to Arios to recharge as the unit is dependent on GN particles.

The Arios is also better at hiding its Gundam identity in jet mode, as the Kyrios exposed its Gundam face during flight, while the Arios has its face tucked into the chest. This was probably included in the design to add the element of surprise into Arios' earlier missions, in the same fashion as Kyrios.

Mobile Suit Mode
Just like its predecessor, it carries a twin beam rifle as it's primary weapon and a pair of beam sabers for melee combat. Arios' forearms contain sub-machine guns for rapid fire to spray a hail of beam fire against enemy units and can attack at greater speeds. It carries two GN Beam Shield emitters on its shoulders that can generate a protective GN field, thus a physical hand-held shield was not made. Its weakness lies with the pilot of Arios, Allelujah, who is no longer the super soldier he used to be, having received a head injury after Operation Fallen Angels. The unit is unable to reach its full combat potential because of it.

Armaments

 * GN Beam Saber
 * Located within the front skirts of Arios' waist, the beam sabers slide out from under the front skirt for Arios to use in melee combat. The beam emitted is sufficiently strong enough to destroy a GNX's lance.


 * GN Beam Shield
 * The beam shield parts are equipped on both of Arios' shoulders. This new defense system is capable of generating a barrier of GN Particles, thus a hand carried shield is not used. Unlike the GN Field Barrier, it has offensive capabilities. In fighter mode, its front section can open to ensnare an enemy before cutting it in two with beam energy.


 * GN Twin Beam Rifle
 * The GN twin beam rifle is the main weapon of Gundam Arios. It is composed of 2 barrels so it can be fired rapidly for a higher hitting rate. One of the barrels is movable, so Arios can attack the ground when in flight mode. Compared to Kyrios' weaker sub-machine rifle, this beam rifle can inflict severe damage, if not destroy a standard mobile suit such as the Ahead.

System Features

 * Trans-Am System

Variants

 * GN-007 + GNR-101A "Archer Arios"
 * Archer Arios is the MS configuration when GN Archer is docked on top of Arios Gundam. It acts as a GN Tail Booster component for Arios to give the Gundam greater speed, firepower, and maneuverability. GN Archer itself is a transformable MS unit, but it can't transform or combine with Arios in MS form.


 * GN-007GNHW/M Arios Gundam


 * GN-007/AL Arios Gundam Ascalon

Development
After the disappearance of Allelujah Haptism and Gundam Kyrios, only Kyrios' GN Drive was recovered from the battle. The solar furnace was kept at one of the secret Lagrange point resource satellites until another Gundam could utilize the drive. During the 4-year hiatus of Celestial Being, Arios Gundam went into production. Arios was ready to roll out by 2312 A.D. without a pilot. Arios was kept in Lagrange 3 until they discovered Allelujah Haptism's location and deployed it on automatic pilot to rescue the Meister.

Aftermath
With Allelujah absent, the Arios is suggested to have been kept in Celestial Being's resource satellite for storage as a new successor model is in the works to replace it.

Notes & Trivia

 * In September 2009 special version of 1/100 Arios Gundam kit was released featuring designer's colors and markings.
 * Arios Gundam, in its Mobile Suit form, resembles the GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam from Gundam SEED, while in Fighter mode, it resembles the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam's Waverider mode from Zeta Gundam. This is further accentuated by Allelujah performing a "waverider crash" maneuver during the final battle.
 * Arios is derived from the Hebrew name Arioch, which means "fierce lion".