ZAFT



From the Cosmic Era universe, ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty) is a political, economic, and military alliance of PLANT colonies. Specifically, ZAFT usually refers to the military side of organization. It was originally formed as the political alliance known as the Zodiac Alliance to peacefully fight for the rights and independence of Coordinators. This follows in the rather curious Gundam tradition of naming the space-colony military with a 'Z' (Zeon, from early Universal Century, and the Zanscare Empire of Victory Gundam) or 'Zodiac' within its acronym (such as Gundam Wing's OZ/Order of Zodiac).

ZAFT is well-equipped with Nazca-class and Laurasia-class warships in space, Lesseps-class and Petrie-class vessels on land, and Vosgulov-class submarines at sea.

ZAFT fights the Earth Alliance to a standstill in the Bloody Valentine War of Cosmic Era 70-71. During mid CE 71 Patrick Zala, who blames all Naturals for the death of his wife in the Bloody Valentine Incident, becomes leader of not only ZAFT but also of PLANT and effectivly removes the moderate faction of the PLANT Supreme Council. Zala plans to wipe out all human life on Earth, eliminating, he believes, Naturals who are the cause of all warfare and establish Coordinators as the master race, a "new humanity".

ZAFT's military is organized as a militia rather than the Earth Alliance's OMNI Enforcer military force, using positional titles as ranks rather than more traditional ones. In addition, command is assigned based on personal connections as skill - it is made clear at several points that a large part of why Athrun Zala is given command of the Le Creuset team on Earth is because of his father's position. Some of the common descriptive terms used are:

Kanchou: Captain, the officer in charge of a particular military vessel, such as a battleship, a land carrier, or a submarine.

Taichou: Commander, given charge of one of ZAFT's teams, which are frequently formed, dissolved, and rearranged. The team is identified by the name of its leader, hence "Creuset-team", "Zala-team", and "Joule-team". A commander will usually be given control of one or more vessels, whether space, land, or sea-based, and/or a number of mobile suits. He or she will be responsible for developing the appropriate strategies to use those resources to carry out the tasks assigned to him or her by the Gichou, or chairperson.

Uniforms are also color coded, based on an individual's military achievements to date.

Green: Worn by common soldiers, technicians, or mobilesuit pilots. Olive: Worn by soldiers in ground combat situations. Bright Green: Worn by mechanics only. Red: Worn by elite soldiers or mobile suit pilots, typically the top graduates from ZAFT's academy. Although they are respected, soldiers who wear red do not necessarily have higher positions than their green-clad comrades. In many respects though, Reds fill the same function as noncomissioned officers in a traditional military. Black: Worn by the vast majority of officers, including most "Kanchou", or ship captains. This is also the color worn by ZAFT's military bureaucracy. White: Worn only by those who have distinguished themselves with considerable military achievements, and often those who have earned the Nebula Medal, ZAFT's highest military decoration. Officers who wear this uniform are almost always "Taichou", or team commanders. This is a distinction similar to how Generals have different star ratings, but is in its own way unique. Purple: General/Member of the PLANT Supreme Council, or space navy task force commanders, or officers otherwise above black-garbed ship captains and garrison commanders. In a traditional military, as a rule of thumb, these would be Lieutenant Colonel or above.

Lastly, it should be noted that pilot suits are also colored a variety of colors, but these colors do not always correspond to rank. Typically, pilots who wear green or red uniforms wear the matching color of pilot suit. However, numerous varieties, such as purple, white, white and purple, and orange exist and are used, typically by elite pilots with custom units. Despite this, pilot suits usually have a stripe (or series of stripes not unlike real-life military chevrons) indicating rank, though what rank or superiority precisely indicated is unknown.

Following the Junius Seven colony drop disaster, the Earth Alliance demands that ZAFT demilitarize and its government disperse; the obvious refusal results in the second war between ZAFT and Earth in four years. Earth support for ZAFT greatly increased after PLANT Chairman Gilbert Dullindal's famous anti-Logos/Blue Cosmos speech that was broadcast throughout the PLANTS and Earth. Even though ZAFT and the Three Ship Alliance joined forces and fought together against Earth Alliance forces, they still remain enemies.

ZAFT has consistently proven itself to be on the cutting edge of nuclear technology, producing the Neutron Jammer, the Neutron Jammer Canceller, and the Neutron Stampeder. In addition, they developed the Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System, which allows a battleship to recharge its mobile suits' batteries without them having to return to the ship.