MA-05 Bigro

The MA-05 Bigro is a fictional weapon (mobile armor) from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam.

MA-05 Bigro
Before the One Year War began, there was a conceptual weapons competition between rival companies: one entry was MIPs MIP-X1 mobile armor, but it was rejected in favor of Zeonic Company's mobile suit technology. However, when the war started, Zeon took a second look at the MIP-X1 and retooled it into an anti-warship mobile armor called the MA-05 Bigro. It had a very powerful fusion reactor to power a Minovsky particle scattering system that jammed warship and MS sensors. Propulsion was a pair of nuclear powered rocket engines, giving it a powerful thrust. The armament was a pair of large claw arms with limited AMBAC ability, a mega-particle cannon in the nose, and two 4-tube missile launchers.

Due to its late entry in the war, a handful of these costly mobile armors were constructed. One was piloted by ace pilot Tokwan on-board Char Aznable's Zanzibar. It engaged the SCV-70 White Base, but was defeated by Amuro Ray in his RX-78-2 Gundam unit. Several of these saw combat at A Baoa Qu.

MA-05Ad Big Rang
During the battle of A Baoa Qu, Zeon fielded the Big-Rang, a massive mobile armor created by combining a Bigro with "the fuselage of a battleship". The class of the ship used is unknown. The MA's fuselage seems to share no exterior or hull features with any known Zeonic ship; thus, it may be possible that the "fuselage" referred to may simply be large components from another ship - recovery systems, the reactor, etc. The Big-Rang's powerful reactor supposedly allowed it to quickly replenish its energy supply (although Lt. Oliver May, the unit's test pilot, was dissatisfied with the recharge rate of the main beam cannon aboard, and was reduced to firing short low-power bursts soon after entering combat). The most important feature of the MA, however, was a modified catapult/hangar within the lower body, which allowed MP-02A Oggo Mobile Pods to dock, repair, resupply, and continue fighting; in essence, it vastly extended the combat period for both the Bigro and Oggo. It sacrificed the speed and maneuverability the Bigro was designed for, though by mounting it on a heavily-armored battleship fuselage the Bigro effectively became a turret, allowing Big Rang to destroy several enemy ships in a single shot.

It only saw combat during the Battle of A Baoa Qu, defending the E-field (the "east" side of A Baoa Qu) and later covering the Zeon retreat through that area. It helped keep a majority of the Oggo pilots alive by dispensing beam dispersion chaff, while destroying at least 8 ships - including 1 Magellan-Class Battleship in a dark green scheme (possibly a flagship), another Magellan-class and its two Salamis-Class Cruiser escorts in a single shot at the beginning of the fight, and 3 more Salamis-classes destroyed singly later in the battle, and over a dozen Federation RGM-79 GM mobile suits and RB-79 Ball mobile armors. It was destroyed under heavy fire, but its pilot, Oliver May, miraculously survived and was rescued by Lt Monique Cadillac in her EMS-10 Zudah.

MA-06 Val Varo
In the last few weeks of the One Year War, a variant of the Bigro was produced, the MA-06 Val Varo. It was a major improvement over the original Bigro. The jammer was removed, but it had a much more powerful armament. It sported a mega-particle cannon, two anti-air beam guns, a pair of 2-tube missile pods, vulcan cannons, larger claws, and three "plasma leaders", a big improvement over the original leader weapon used on the MAX-03 Adzam. They would open up, deploy around a target, and emit electrical plasma that would overload a mobile suit's systems and electronics. Only a handful were built during the war, and only saw combat at A Baoa Qu. One survived the war and was repaired by Kelly Layzner, but was destroyed in a fight against the RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam Full Vernian "Zephyranthes".

MA-05 Bigro
Type: mass production space combat mobile armor Manufacturer: Principality of Zeon Operator: Principality of Zeon First deployment: UC 0079 Accommodation: pilot only Overall length: 45.5 meters Weight: empty 125.5 tons; max gross 229.8 tons Powerplant: ultracompact fusion reactor, power rated at 17800 kW Equipment and design features: Minovsky particle scattering system Armament: 2x claw arms; mega particle cannon; 2x 4-tube missile launchers Pilot: Tokwan, Kelly Layzner

MA-05Ad Big Rang
Type: combat support mobile armor Operator: Principality of Zeon First deployment: UC 0079 Accommodation: pilot only Overall length: 203 meters Overall width: 139.1 meters Overall height: 138 meters Empty weight: 12000 metric tons Full weight: 1,00 metric tons Payload: 9200 metric tons Maximum thrust: 4600000 kg Equipment and design features: Catapult/Hangar and Equipment for support of MP-02A Orgg Mobile Pod; Allowing Orgg to dock within its Battleship chassis, resupply and repairing Armament: 2x claw arms, mega particle cannon x 1, 2x 4 tube missile launcher, Gatling cannon, counterbeam chaff launcher, anti-spaceship missiles Pilot: Oliver May

MA-06 Val Varo
Type: mass production space combat mobile armor Manufacturer: Principality of Zeon Operator: Principality of Zeon First deployment: UC 0079 Accommodation: pilot only Overall length: 68.0 meters Weight: empty 254.1 tons; max gross 379.8 tons Powerplant: ultracompact fusion reactor, power rated at 26030 kW Equipment and design features: none Armament: 2x claw arms; mega particle cannon; 2x 2-tube missile launcher; 2x 110mm vulcan gun; 2x anti-air beam gun; 3x "plasma leader" Pilot: Kelly Layzner