RB-79 Ball

The RB-79 Ball is a fictional weapon from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam.

Real Life
Designed by Kunio Okawara, the Ball was the only Mobile Pod seen in Gundam for over 26 years(1979~2006). In one of the new animation productions, MS Igloo Apocalypse 0079, Zeon recived thier own Mobile Pod, the MP-02A Oggo. The Ball appeares in various Gundam stories, including its first appearance in Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Sentinel 0079, Mobile Suit Gundam:08th MS Team, Mobile Suit Gundam:0083 Stardust Memory, and Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam. It also appeared in many of the Gundam video games, including the Gihren's Ambition series, the SD Gundam Generation games, the Versus series, and even in the Super Robot Wars series on more than one occasion. The unit has recieved redesigns several times, including a redesign in Sentinel 0079 by Katoki Hajime, the later variation K type in 08th MS team (also seen in the SD Gundam games and MS Igloo), and the C type variation in Gundam 0083. The mangaka of Crossbone Gundam also based the designs of the RB-133 Ball and the side story unit B Gundam on the RB-79. In the story Magical Ensign Baster Mary, several MC coating-equipped Balls have also appeared.

Design history in story
During the outbreak of the One Year War between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon, the Federation lacked any sort of the mass-produced humanoid mecha, known as mobile suits. The Zeonic forces laid waste to the Federation with their mobile suits, the MS-05B Zaku I and the later MS-06F Zaku II.

To counteract this, the Federation scrambled to make some sort of mobile weapon that could counter the Zeon attack. However, their new prototype mobile suit, the RX-78-2 Gundam was too costly to mass-produce and their first mass-production mobile suit, the RGM-79 GM, just wasn't being fielded fast enough.

Thus, the RB-79 Ball mobile pod was born. The Federation refitted about 1200 of the civilian-model worker space pods, known as SP-W03 Mobile Pods. The Federation put heavier armor and a 180 mm recoilless cannon on top. The Ball mobile pod also had vernier thrusters mounted all along the body.

A standard EFSF combat team would consist of 3 RGM-79's and 2 RB-79's to clear out the 3 MS combination of Zeon group tactics, although other formations have been seen, including a few teams of 1 RB-79K and 2 RB-79 launched from a Salamis-Class Cruiser and the large formations launched from Columbus-class ships.

The directional thrusters mounted on all Ball units were directed solid fuel explosives, the detonation giving an impulse through the thrusters to change the direction of the Ball. This configuration gave the Ball unit good reaction speed and reasonable maneuverability on each thrust but very limited use of the system compared to the liquid fueled directional thrusters on Mobile Suits.

The Ball units had an advantage on refuelling onboard the Columbus class support vessel due to the lack of beam weapons and low number of liquid fuel thrusters, making the refueling/rearming time extremely short compared to any Mobile Suit with Thermo-nuclear power. In fact, the trusters and weapons were designed modularly, so that depleted thruster banks and the empty gun could literally be removed and replaced by the servicing crew, to be reloaded at a later date.

Official views on RB-79 Ball
At first, the Ball was seen as ill-suited for combat. It had limited ammo, comparably thin armor, lacked the AMBAC system, and any sort of close-in weapon other than its claws. The RB-79K, however, might have been intended as a close-range escort for teams of the longer-ranged artillery units - the -K variant is seen fielded in a 1/2 ratio with the standard Ball in MS Igloo. The Ball was, however, smaller than the average mobile suit, which not only made it a more difficult target than a GM, but also made it lighter, and gave it a higher acceleration rate than most OYW mobile suits. The Ball's real advantage came from both numbers and cost. The Ball cost about 1/4 of a RGM-79 (next to nothing to the EFSF) and was heavily mass produced, becoming a ship support unit and the RGM-79 GM's support unit during the One Year War. It is sometimes joked that the only time a Ball ever hit anything in Gundam 0079 was when we one is kicked into a GM by a Zaku II.

The most famous battle involving Balls was Operation Star-One. Zeon was moving away from Earth after the Federation took the upper hand following Odessa. In order to further suppress the Zeon and make them retreat quickly, the EFSF launched this operation. Since the GM was not yet ready, over 1000 Balls were used, along with Salamis class and Magellan class ships. This was one of the most brutal battles for the Federation. Their numbers overwhelmed the Zeon fleets and drove them away. Countless RB-79s were destroyed during this operation. Soon after, the Ball earned the nickname "Mobile Coffin" among EFSF pilots.

However, the specification of the unit counters this view of the Ball unit being weak. Actually, the Ball unit still had a specification superior to most Zeon mobile units. All of the supposedly very powerful Mobile Armours but a few Newtype units had less mass-thrust ratio(i.e. acceleration) than the Ball unit. All the earlier model space-combat Mobile Suits, specifically the MS-05's, MS-06's and MS-09R's had worse acceleration and less sensor range. This gave the Ball unit a very good advantage in hit-and-run tactics even when not teamed up with GMs. One of the mechanical designers of Bandai, Katoki Hajime, stated in the MG model instruction manual, that the Ball unit is actually an attempt of the Earth Federation Forces trying to reproduce the Mobile Armours, and is actually quite powerful. This is also not the first time such a positive review was seen on the unit; Gundam Officials (a Japanese magazine put out by Bandai) has made similar statements on the unit.

Furthermore, in those Gundam video games that feature it, the Ball can be a fearsome weapon. In the SD Gundam series of Tactical RPGs, the Ball's large movement range, low cost, and very powerful long-range main gun make it a devastating second-line unit, although lacklustre in close combat. In the Versus series of arcade games, the Ball is similarly dangerous.

Specifications
The RB-79 Ball prototype, numbered RX-76, is one of the Project V series, designed and manufactured at the same time as the RX-75 Guntank, RX-77 Guncannon and RX-78 Gundam. The RX-76 prototype Ball uses a SP-W03 body, fitting on sufficient armour, a single 120 mm recoilless cannon (of the same type as the RX-75 Guntank's fixed armament) and multiple thrusters. However, this version of the Ball was deemed too expensive to produce and thus different armaments were tested on the unit and EFSF gradually lost interest in the unit and turned to Mobile Suit units. Not until later in the One Year War when the GM production line was greatly delayed and the EFSF was in great need of Combat units was the Ball project resurrected and produced in great number.

RB-79 Ball


Manufacturer: Earth Federation Unit type: Mid-Range support Mobile Pod Head height: 12.8 meters empty weight: 17.2 tons Max weight: 25 tons Construction: Titanium composite Tri-Frame Semi-Monocoque Generator Output: 400 kW(Fuel Cell) Thrust: 24000 kg 180 degrees turn: 2.2 seconds Thrust to mass ratio: 0.96G Fixed armament: 120/180 mm recoilless cannon with 21 rounds stored in double lined magazine

RB-79K Ball
One variation was built from the basic design. The RB-79K mounted a pair of light machine cannons, a harpoon gun, and larger manipulator arms. In the hands of Federation pilot Shiro Amada, it recorded possibly its greatest achievement by reaching a stalemate with an experimental Zaku in satellite orbit.



Manufacturer: Earth Federation Unit type: Mid-Range support Mobile Pod Head height: 12.8 meters empty weight: 17.2 tons Max weight: 25 tons Construction: Titanium composite Tri-Frame Semi-Monocoque Generator Output: 400 kW(Fuel Cell) Thrust: 24000 kg 180 degrees turn: 2.2 seconds Thrust to mass ratio: 0.96G Fixed armament: Double barrel machine cannons Wire Launcher

RB-79C Ball
The RB-79 Ball units left after the One Year War were refitted and integrated into a single design as the RB-79C Ball and were still in use in UC 0083. They were the basic units for combat zone working conditions and used for adjusting the focus of the mirrors for the Solar System II while defending it.

B Gundam
In the hands of a good pilot, the Ball unit can display amazing powers just like any other weapon. In the manga Crossbone Gundam there is an old Ball pilot boasting to have destroyed 6 MS-09R Rick Dom units in one battle. The sequel Skull Heart, however, shows that at least three of these kills were in large part aided by the fact that the Dom pilots mistakenly believed the Ball to be a gigantic RX-78 Gundam, due to a Gundam-style faceplate mounted on the Ball, and one of the kills came from the pilot, Umon Samon, ejecting the faceplate directly into a Rick-Dom's cockpit.

GM Juggler
Since the Ball unit was so small and inexpensive, it was also used in some rather odd situations. The Federation developed an RGM-79 GM prototype, the GM "Juggler", which consisted of a GM body and 2 beam weapon equipped RB-79s as Psycommu weapon units mounted on its shoulders. It was built as the EFSF's Newtype weapon test bed for remote control long range weaponry using Newtype abilities.

RB-79N Fisheye
The Ball unit was also used in environments other than space. The RB-79N Fisheye was designed for underwater use. The generator output was increased to 425 kW(as compared to the 400 kW of the other Ball configurations) and a multiple barrel long spear launcher was mounted to replace the 180 mm cannon. The manipulators were also enlarged for melee combat. This type had a single propellor instead of two thrusters on the back of the unit.

RB-133 Type 133
As late as UC 0133, in the story of Crossbone Gundam, the Earth Federation still had Ball units mixed in Mobile Suit formations. These units have a triple barrel configuration and are seen in the background. These units are later called Type 133 (133式 or 133 shiki)

Other appearances and references
A joke of the Ball unit is that if it is painted red and a horn is attached to it, it will become one of Char Aznable custom and became 3 times more powerful than an ordinary unit. This gag has at least appeared in two Doujin manga, one Super robot wars doujin manga was actually published by a branch of Bandai showing a Ball unit painted red, with a horn and stripped with ammo. Char Aznable seems to actually like it but was shot down in less than 3 panels. Another model manga(a comic with model pictures instead of drawings) was published in a modeling magazine Dengiki Hobby, where titled as Why Char assassinated Kysilia showing in place of where in the story should be MSN-02 Zeong, Kysilia actually provided Char with a red ball, with two horns like Zeong, labelled Horns next to them; an enlarged bottom thruster, labelled 3 times next to it; the cannon was replaced by the hand of Zeong, labelled Psycommu next to it, referencing the traits of Char's Custom units. Another appearance is in the SD Musha Gundam series(a SD Gundam series featuring sengoku period like world where residents are super deformed Gundam world mechas), the ball was called 暴流 (Bakuru) and is the primary foot soldiers siding with the Gundam Warriors and Generals.