MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type

The MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type looks very similar to the standard MS-06F Zaku II, so much so, that the Earth Federation can generally only tell the difference from color schemes most pilots apply to their units and the increased performance of this version.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The S-Type Zaku II features a squad-leader "antenna" that is mounted on the head on the Zaku II, which is used to designate squad-leaders or higher ranking pilots from other squad-members or lower ranking pilots. It also featured a more powerful powerplant. In turn, the S-Type Zaku II had greater thrust and acceleration. This allowed them to move at speeds 3x faster than a normal Zaku II (This figure was later retconned to +30%). This made it incredibly dangerous in the hands of the ace pilots it was handed out to, such as the "Red Comet" Char Aznable, who sank 5 Magellan-Class Battleships in the Battle of Loum.

Armaments

 * ZMP-50D/120mm Machine Gun
 * The primary weapon of S-Type Zaku II is a drum-fed machine gun. It holds 100 rounds per drum with spare drums that can be stored on waist armor racks


 * H&L-SB25K/280mmA-P Zaku Bazooka
 * A secondary heavy assault weapon is a bazooka type weapon. The weapon holds a four round magazine and can be stored on waist armor racks.


 * Heat Hawk Type5
 * A melee type weapon bearing resemblance to a tomahawk that is stored on a waist armor rack. The weapon features a heated blade to increase cutting prowess. The heating function is powered by an independent battery.


 * ZIM/M·T-K175C Magella Cannon


 * MarkVIII Sturm Faust
 * The Strum Faust is a type rocket propelled grenade, good for a single shot, that Zeon mobile suits were often equipped with During the One Year War. Used mainly for anti-ship attacks during the early days of the war the Sturm Faust likely made a good anti-mobile suit weapon during the latter days has a Zaku could be equipped with both a Sturm Faust and a machine gun giving it greater versatility.

History
The MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type was introduced during the One Year War at about the same time as the MS-06F Zaku II as a slightly improved version of the F-type Zaku II. For most the the One Year War these S-types were the most powerful mobile suits fielded and were piloted by only the best. However the S-Type Zaku's superiority would end in July of 0079 U.C. when the Federation's RX-78 Gundam mobile suit would be rolled out.

Char Aznable would use his custom Zaku II to sortie against the Gundam piloted by Amuro Ray. Despite Amuro Ray's evident talent he was still a novice whose piloting skills simply did not match up to Char's during their early battles. The only reason Amuro Ray survived was because the Gundam greatly outperformed the Zaku II in terms of both offense and defense.

Seeing that the Federation could create a mobile suit so powerful it could survive in engagements against Char Aznable likely prompted Zeon to focus more on the development of newer mobile suits, mobile suits that could fight evenly against the new machines the Federation had developed. Though most of these new mobile suits would have superior performance specs than any model of Zaku, the mobile suit that could be called the truest successor to the MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type would be the MS-14S Gelgoog Commander Type, which was also built by the Zeonic Company, the same manufacturers of the Zaku.

Variants

 * MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type (Johnny Ridden)
 * MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type (Black Tri-Stars custom)
 * MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type (Char Aznable colors)
 * MS-06S Zaku II Patrol Type

Appearnces in other media
Char's Zaku II is a playable unit in many video games, most recently in ''Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2. It has made appearances in almost all Gundam-related video games, including Journey to Jaburo, Federation vs. Zeon, Gundam vs Gundam'', and others.