GN-007GNHW/M Arios Gundam GNHW/M

GN-007GNHW/M Arios Gundam GNHW/M (aka Arios Gundam GNHW/M, Arios), is an upgraded version of the original Arios Gundam seen late in Season 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Arios is now equipped with a GN Heavy Weapons Missile pack. After Celestial Being's victorious campaign, Arios was repaired and equipped with its Ascalon equipment.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Arios GNHW/M retains the high speed flight combat characteristics of the original Arios. The unit also doubles 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.

Also in fighter mode, Arios Gundam GNHW/M can use its GN Missile pack to bombard enemy forces along with GN Archer. Although it is unused in the series, Arios GNHW/M is also given a GN Beam Rifle in the nosecone section, which was modified from the original that contained only a GN Vulcan.

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 contains 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 defensive barrier using beam energy (a mechanism different from traditional GN Fields), thus a physical hand-held shield was not made. Its weakness lies with the pilot of Arios, Allelujah. He 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 it's full combat potential because of it.

Arios was later fitted with a GN Heavy Weapons package. It sports a more powerful new beam cannon and dual back-mounted missile launcher packs to increase combat potential and survivability. Arios can now vaporize enemy MS units with a single shot and manage more enemy units with missiles that can destroy or divert off enemy combatants.

Armaments
The GN-007GNHW/M retains all the weapons used by the GN-007, while adding additional systems.


 * GN Cannon
 * The GN Cannon is a newly added weapon to Gundam Arios' arsenal. It replaces the commonly used GN twin beam rifle in combat. The cannon is larger in size, length, and packs greater destructive power with quick successive shots. The cannon is capable of firing a powerful single beam that can vaporize a GN-X whole. The cannon also has a pair of GN Vulcans built into its sides for rapid-fire capability and these vulcans been shown to work even under anti field conditions.


 * GN Missile Container
 * A new power-up component added onto Arios by CB engineers, it duals as thrusters and a missile launcher pack. The two missile containers rest at the forward section of Arios in fighter mode and transforms as a missile launcher backpack in MS mode. The booster unit is similar to Kyrios' GN Tail Booster, but can be used in between fighter and MS forms. The component overall adds speed, firepower, and maneuverability for Arios.


 * GN Beam Rifle
 * One of the parts of GNHW/M equipment is new Sensor Unit. There's fixed Beam Rifle placed on it's tip. It's usable in Flight Mode only and allows shooting only it forward direction.

System Features

 * Trans-Am System
 * GN Field

Variants

 * GN-007GNHW/M + GNR-101A Archer Arios
 * This MS configuration is when GN Archer is docked on top of Arios Gundam. It acts as a GN Tail Booster component to 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-007/AL Arios Gundam Ascalon

Development
Celestial Being had planned for Arios, Cherudim, and Seravee to undergo system upgrades as part of their overall GN-H(eavy)-W(eapons) development to their Gundams. Two plans were drafted and originally Arios' refit would produce the GN-007/AL Arios Gundam Ascalon; the plans for such a project became unrealistic as production problems arose and the secondary plans were reconsidered. Since the Ascalon configuration was more oriented towards Arios' MA mode, CB engineers opted for creating the GN Heavy Weapons Missile parts for a quick refit for Arios. The GNHW/M upgrades were completed in Lagrange 5 and transported by CB's Lab Transport ship to Ptolemy II for the refit. The refit gave Arios an additional pair of GN Missiles and a more powerful single barrel GN Beam Rifle to better handle new MS. These upgrades played a pivotal role in CB's mission to end their battle between the A-Laws and Innovators.

According to GN-007/AL Arios Gundam Ascalon's background story, Arios Gundam GNHW/M is designed by Robert Spacey based on Sherilyn Hyde's Arios Gundam Ascalon.

Aftermath
After Allelujah's departure from CB, Arios was returned to the drawing board. CB engineers wanted to create a new generation MS when Allelujah decides to return, however CB had recently run into serious resource problems. To compensate, they opted to recycle Arios' frame, along with GN Archer's frame, to re-develop it into a new enhanced/upgraded unit; GN-011 Gundam Harute became Arios' successor.