MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type

The MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type is a mobile suit first appearing in Mobile Suit Variations for Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space. It is a mass-production space combat mobile suit, and one of many variants of the standard MS-06 Zaku II.

Technology and combat Characteristics
After the successful release of the MS-06R-1 Zaku II High Mobility Test Type the Zeon engineers began to receive feedback from the pilots of the new units on ways the design of the mobile suit could be further improved upon. The new ideas were incorporated into the next release of the MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type. The Zaku II High Mobility Type had some minor engine problems corrected, and the larger capacity propellant tanks were removed and replaced with exchangeable fuel cartridges, which were much quicker to reload and refuel.

Armaments

 * Shoulder Shield
 * The shield is a simple defense used to block most incoming ballistic and explosive projectiles. Also used to great effect in close quarters battle with enemy mobile suits. The Zaku II mounts a shield on its right shoulder.


 * 120mm Machine Gun
 * The 120mm machine gun is a standard weapon for Zaku type mobile suits. It is a shell firing gun that does not require energy to be used, however its effectiveness against heavy armor is very limited. It holds 100 rounds per drum with spare drums that can be stored on waist armor racks.


 * H&L-SB25K/280mmA-P Zaku Bazooka
 * The 280mm Zaku Bazooka was another standard weapon that could be equipped to a Zaku type mobile suit. The bazooka fired explosive rounds that were quite effective against the armor of Earth Federation mobile suits and battleships.


 * H&L-GB05R/360mm Giant Bazooka
 * A large bazooka originally designed for use by the Dom series of mobile suits. The 360mm bazooka is magazine fed and holds 10 rounds per magazine, and a single round is powerful enough to blow the torso off of an enemy mobile suit.


 * Heat Hawk
 * An axe-shaped close combat weapon, it uses a super-heated blade to cut through the armor of enemy MS or vehicles. The thermal energy is generated by the power output of the Zaku II's thermonuclear reactor and relayed through the MS' hands.


 * MIP-B6 Cracker Grenade
 * Identical to those used by infantry, the cracker grenade is an explosive weapons designed to be thrown or launched by the MS and detonate after a set amount of time. The "cracker" breaks into several smaller munitions over a wide area. The Zaku II can optionally equip up to four cracker grenades, that are stored on the left and right waist armor racks, with two on each side.

History
A total of fifty-six Zaku II High Mobility Types would be constructed, with half of the existing Zaku II High Mobility Test Types upgraded to the R1-A model. The Zaku II High Mobility Type became a highly sought after unit by many notable ace pilots such as the Black Tri-Stars, Eric Mansfield, Masaya Nakagawa, and Shin Matsunaga. But despite its incredible popularity and high performance, the suit was considered too difficult for rookie pilots to handle, as well as too expensive for a mass production run. One unit was piloted by Vincent Gleissner of Zeon's regiment the Marchosias and participated in the battle of Solomon.