RGC-83 GM Cannon II

The RGC-83 GM Cannon II is a mobile suit from the anime OVA Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The RGC-83 GM Cannon II is heavier armed than its predecessors. It is equipped with two shoulder-mounted beam cannons, unlike the RX-77-2 Guncannon, and can carry a 90mm machine gun as well as a beam saber for close combat. It also includes two 60mm vulcan guns mounted in the head, but these are usually last-resort weapons. To power the GM Cannon II's strong weapons the GM Cannon II has a stronger reactor. It is also very heavily armored, featuring Chobham armor based on the same design as the RX-78NT-1 Gundam "Alex". However, it pays the price for this durability with very low speed and mobility. A GM Cannon II on its own has been shown to not be able to fend for itself due to opponents being able to outmaneuver it, unless its opponent also lacks speed.

Armaments

 * 60mm Vulcan Gun
 * A standard armament of the mobile suits that are descended from the Earth Federation Forces's RX series is a pair of head mounted 60mm vulcan guns. These shell firing weapons have a high-rate of fire but have little power and can't damage the thick armor of a mobile suit, though it can damage lightly armored areas such as the sensors. The weapons are ideal for shooting down small, fast moving, lightly armored targets such as missiles, small land vehicles, and attack helicopters.


 * Beam Saber
 * The GM Cannon II is equipped with a single beam saber stored in a recharge storage rack on its left forearm.


 * Beam Cannon
 * The primary weapons of the GM Cannon II are a pair of mega-particle firing beam cannons mounted on the backpack. Mega-particles are fed to the beam cannons by the two large drum-like E-Caps mounted below them on the backpack.


 * Shield
 * Shields are simple in their design, being essentially thick slabs of metal that the equipped mobile suit can use to absorb the impact from attacks that, for whatever reason, cannot be dodged. However shields can only withstand so much pressure before becoming damaged themselves. As technology progressed it became necessary for shields to be treated with an anti-beam coating as a measure of defense against beam weapons which can normally penetrate any physical barrier, however the coating gets gradually burned away each time a beam strikes it until it is rendered useless.


 * HFW-GR·MR82-90mm GM Rifle
 * The 90mm GM rifle is one of several optional ranged armaments that the Earth Federation regularly equipped their GM mobile suits with. Though not as powerful as the beam spray gun the 90mm GM rifle has greater range. And unlike the beam spray gun which has a very limited number of shots and must be recharged using special facilities, the fact that the machine gun can be reloaded in the field and has a greater ammo capacity allows a pilot to be less conservative with ammunition. Also the 90mm GM Rifle is cheaper to produce, making it a cost effective weapon. The downside to using the 90mm GM rifle goes back to the power issue. Mobile suits are heavily armored and at great range can even stop the armor piercing rounds of mobile suit machine guns. Often bullets from a mobile suit machine gun has been seen penetrating the torso armor of an enemy mobile suit, only to stop short of damaging the reactor or killing the pilot and the enemy can still fight.

History
The RGC-83 GM Cannon II is a heavy-duty support type mobile suit designed to provide covering fire for its teammates. While it is the second version of the UC 0079 RGC-80 GM Cannon, it more closely resembles the Guncannon mobile suit made famous by fighting alongside the original RX-78-2 Gundam.

Although it isn't known how many GM Cannon II models were produced it is known that two units were stationed on the Albion and used during Operation Stardust in UC 0083.

The GM Cannon II was later deployed by the AEUG during the Gryps Conflict. Their units were painted forest green on gray with an orange visor.

Variants

 * RGC-83 GM Cannon II (Lucien Bendt Use)