Mobile suits

The name 'mobile suit' is believed to be a reference to the terms 'Mobile Infantry' and 'Powered Suit' from the Robert A. Heinlein book, Starship Troopers.

In the Gundam terminology, the terms normal suit (Universal Century) and astrosuit (After Colony) are used to refer to normal astronaut spacesuits, so as to avoid confusion with mobile suits.

Mobile weapons types

 * Mobile Pod
 * Mobile Suit (MS)
 * Mobile Armor or Mobile Armour (MA)
 * Mobile Doll (After Colony timeline) - an unmanned computer-controlled mobile suit
 * Mobile Worker - a unit used for construction purposes (Worker-use Mobile Suit seem to be more common)
 * Mobile Fighter (Future Century timeline)
 * Mobile Bit (After War timeline) - unmanned remote-controlled mobile suits

Mobile Pod
A Mobile Pod is the predecessor of the mobile suit, simpler machines consisting of a main body frame, usually sphere-shaped, with two manipulator hands and a number of thrusters along the body.

In the Universal Century timeline, mobile pods were built to construct the space colonies, long before the mobile suit concept. Later, when the Earth Federation came under attack by Zeon's first mobile suits, many mobile pods were retrofitted into the RB-79 Ball type units. The Ball was just a stopgap weapon until they could finally develop their own mobile suits. Even after the Federation released their mass production mobile suits, the Ball mobile pods continued to be used as artilley and back-up support.

Mobile Suits
Mobile suits are the technological machinery that is the basic namesake of the Gundam universe. Mobile suits are generally humanoid in shape with two upper torso limbs and two lower torso limbs. Generally, the cockpit of a mobile suit is located in the chest, although in some cases it is located in the head. In general, a mobile suit stands around 60 feet tall.

Mobile Suits in Universal Century
In the Universal Century timeline, Mobile SUIT (MS in short) is an acronym for Mobile Space Utility Instrumental Tactical. While this definition has since been officially endorsed by Sunrise, it is a backronym that originated from a semi-official guide book called Gundam Century.

In the Universal Century timeline, two main technological advancements led to the creation of the mobile suit: the AMBAC (Active Mass Balance Auto Control) technology, and the Minovsky particle. The original AMBAC prototype only had two large limbs (instead of the four that later suits would have), but moving those limbs allowed it near-thrusterless maneuverability in space by changing its center of mass. This led to a revolution in space warfare tactics. Another revolution would follow the development of a type of nuclear fusion reactor designed by Dr. Y.T. Minovsky. Not only could his nuclear reactor be shrunk down to the size of a quartet of refrigerators, but it also produced a unique subatomic particle called the Minovsky particle. These particles could block out certain types of radiation, including radar and radio signals. This would hamper space combat over large distances and force modern combat back down to the visual range. The first prototype mobile suit would be the MS-01, while the first mass produced model would be the MS-05 Zaku I.

The most famous mobile suit is the second prototype model RX-78-2 Gundam piloted by Amuro Ray in the first series, Mobile Suit Gundam.

Mobile suit design in the UC universe follows two lineages - the Gundam line and the Zaku line. Zaku type mobile suits are "fatter" than Gundam type mobile suits, though neither is necessarily faster or more maneuverable than the other; it's largely a matter of body styling and design. Zaku-derived mobile suits tend to have a mono-eye sensor and a more bulky, "slouchy" design than Gundam-derived suits; more of a "soldier" appearance to the Gundam's "superhero" look. This is due to a difference in design philosophies - Zeon manufacurers designed mobile suits by creating an external shell, and then fitting components within, while the Federation designed mobile suits by creating an internal skeletal structure and then fitting components and armor to the support structure, a philosophy eventually fully realized in the creation of moveable frame construction.

Mobile Suits in After War
In 1996's After War Gundam X, mobile suits were the main weapons of both the Old Earth Federation and the Space Revolutionary Army. After the 7th Space War ended with a massive colony drop, which brought the Earth to a post-apocalypse state, a large number of these mobile suits remaine on Earth and many are taken by civilians for personal use. These includes powerful Gundam type mobile suits used by the Earth Federation during 7th Space War, which are rare and highly value machines.

In addition to the mobile suits from the 7th Space War, new mobile suit models continue to be developed by the Space Revolution Army and the newly formed New Earth Federation.

Mobile Suits in After Colony
In 1995's New Mobile Report Gundam W, the first mobile suit was the OZ-00MS Tallgeese, a high-powered prototype unit built in After Colony 170. This prototype unit was considered too powerful for mass production (and for most pilots to handle), and was later redesigned into the more average-performing mass-production OZ-06MS Leo. The researchers who worked on the Tallgeese then defected to the Space Colonies, designing a mobile suit that would outperform the Tallgeese on all levels: the XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero. However the project was canned not only because it was deemed too powerful due to its Twin Buster Rifle, which at full power could destroy a colony, but due to its operating system, codenamed the ZERO system, which could turn a pilot into the perfect pilot by sampling their thoughts and giving them visions of possible outcomes. It would however decrease mental stability, making the pilot insane, and only a truly skilled pilot could handle the system. The five scientists believed the type of power the Wing Zero had wasn't necessary to attain peace. With each taking a copy of the plans of the Wing Zero, each of the researchers fled to a different colony, and developed each of the five Gundam suits independently that were based on the plans.

Another line of mobile suit in the After Colony era is the G-UNIT. Developed at MO-V, the G-UNIT was based on information gathered from the first five Gundams. G-UNIT Gundams look like basic mobile suits when compared to the original five Gundams, but this makes them much more versatile. G-UNIT Gundams are also able to be equipped with additional parts to improve their performance. Another feature that is applied to G-UNIT Gundams is the PX system. The PX system increases the machine's performance, and also forces the pilot's brain to have hormones produced, namely epinepherine/adrenaline, to increase his/her combat ability. Since it puts stress on both the MS and the brain, the PX system can only be used for a short time (about 65 seconds was the max for Odin's PX System) before damage can be done. The first G-UNIT Gundams are OZ-GU01A Gundam Geminass 01 and OZ-GU02A Gundam Geminass 02.

Mobile Suits in Cosmic Era
In the Cosmic Era timeline, the first mobile suit, the YMF-01 Proto GINN, was rolled out in CE 65, while the first production mobile suit, the ZGMF-1017 GINN, entered production two years later. The Earth Alliance begins mobile suit development in CE 69 with the "G Series" (the Gundam mobile suits), and development culminates with the rollout of five Gundam prototypes on 20 January CE 71. The first Earth Alliance mass-production mobile suit, the GAT-01 Strike Dagger, rolls out late in the war just before the Battle of Porta Panama. The Orb Nation, in order to defend themselves against both the Earth Federation and ZAFT, aids the Federation in the development of their mobile suits with the express purpose of stealing the technology behind the machines (the process was somewhat successful - Orb was able to learn of and steal the design of the Alliance's beam weaponry, but not the secrets behind Phase Shift armor). Orb then proceeded on mobile suit development of its own, code named Astray. Three prototypes were developed (Red Frame, with an OS designed to allow Naturals to fight at the same level as Coordinators; Blue Frame, with an OS designed to allow for modules to be grafted onto the mobile suit to extend its capabilities; and Gold Frame, equipped with power interfaces for both Earth Alliance and Orb beam weapons), and the data from the three prototypes was then used to create Orb's mass-production mobile suit, the MBF-M1 Astray.

Postwar MS development continues apace on both sides, with the Alliance developing the stopgap Dagger L and advanced Windam mobile suits and ZAFT continuing to develop its GuAIZ and ZAKU lines. Both sides heavily utilize Striker Pack technology after the war, which allows a single mobile suit to fulfill multiple roles. In addition, ZAFT made several breakthroughs in the design of transforming mobile suits, developing MS that are capable of transforming between an all-purpose mobile suit form and a specialized mobile armor form.

Mobile Suits in CC (Seireki)
In 1999's Turn A Gundam, the technology on Earth has regressed back to that of early-20th century, and in some cases, even to pre-industrial levels. The Militia, which is Earth's defense against the invading Moonrace, had biplanes and jeeps tanks as its main war vehicles. However, in certain locations of the world, called mountain cycles, ancient mobile suits are buried, protected from deterioration and decay by regenerative nanomachines called nano-skin. These mobile suits are said to be relics from the Dark History, and when the first Militia mobile suit, the Turn A Gundam, is uncovered from a statue called the White Doll, the Militia begins searching through these mountain cycles and discovering more and more mobile suits. These uncovered mobile suits become the backbone of the Militia and allow to produce them the war between it and the Moonrace, which has never lost its mobile suit technology, to proceed on a more even scale. Later, the Moonrace also begins searching through mountain cycles on both the Earth and the Moon, and a menagerie of both low-tech and high-tech mobile weapons from various ages of the lost past are eventually fielded by both sides.

Mobile Suits in Future Century
In 1994's Mobile Fighter G Gundam, mobile suits are very common much as airplanes are in the early 21st century. Their development began even before mankind left the Earth for Space Colonies. However, what is special about G Gundam's timeline is the presence of advanced mobile suits called Mobile Fighters. Using the mobile trace system, these mobile fighters mimic the movements of their pilots, making them very effective for close-ranged martial arts combat.

Mobile Armour
The Mobile Armour is not a specialized variation of a mobile suit. While the mobile armour concept is most prevalent in the original Universal Century timeline, it also appears in other Gundam alternate universes.

Mobile Armour in the Universal Century
In the Universal Century timeline, Mobile ARMOUR (MA in short) is an acronym for All Range Maneuverability Offence Utility Reinforcement. While this definition has since been officially endorsed by Sunrise, it originated from a semi-official guide book called Gundam Century. In addition, the acronym does not seem to be a particularly accurate description of mobile armours, as they rarely display "all range" capabilities (instead tending to be specialized to very specific environments) and are almost always employed as independently-operating juggernauts, rather than as "reinforcement" for mobile suits.

Considering the term "all range" is also used to describe the use of bits and funnels, it might meant MAs can attack on many directions. However, MAs rarely have this ability (MAN-03, MAN-08, GP03, AMX-002, MRX-009, MRX-010, etc. being the exceptions) therefore, this is also not a very accurate explanation.

Originally, Mobile Armours were built to compete with Mobile Suits (MS). While Zeonic Co. was building MS as the next generation of mobile weapons for Zeon before the One Year War, the rival company MIP was developing MA. However, MIP lost the competition, and MAs were never mass-produced. Later, both Zimmad (another rival company which later developed the famous MS-09 Dom) and MIP became sub-contractors of Zeonic Co. and assisted in the mass-production of Mobile Suits.

In general, a mobile armour is a unit emphasizing generator power output so that it can support a mega particle cannon, this series of model include the test type model MA-04X and the mass production models MA-05 and MA-06.

In Gundam Officials (the ultimate UC guide book) and various settings announced, MAs should have at least two of the following performance compared to the other mobile weapons within the same time frame:

High mobility (high acceleration or high terminal velocity in atmospheric/subsuface conditions)

High maneuverability (having high ability to turn and aim)

High fire power (usually means carrying different types of weapon for various enemies or high power mega beam weapon.)

Strong defence (usually I-Field generators)

However, most MAs in the One Year War did not meet the above requirements. For example, MA-05 have worse acceleration, maneuverbility and defence(due to worse metallurgy technology of the Zeon side) compare to RGM-79 and this should be a better design over MA-04X. The only MA that should have met all the requirements in the One Year War should be MA-06 appeared in the series 0083. MAs after 0079 have better performance but almost none were produced in great number and most considered to be testing platform for new technologies.

Due to their high costs, MAs remained as experimental units or limited production ones during the One year war like the MA-04X and MA-05. Another draw back of MAs is, they can only do combat missions because some do not have humanoid arms or too large in size to complete certain tasks. Mobile suits, however, can be used for construction work or carry ammunation and materials over short distances in a ship or a base.

A mobile armour is usually non-humanoid, and is usually much larger and more powerful than contemporary mobile suits. The MA-08 Big Zam exemplifies the typical traits of a mobile armour.

The MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam's non-humanoid mode is not considered a mobile armour, and instead is designated as a Wave Rider. Most TMS in the Zeta project only have a Wave Rider form (with the exception of the MSZ-08 Z II), and are not considered to be mobile armours. These mobile suits are designated VMSAWRS(usually with the S's and R decapitalized as VMsAWrs for unknown reasons.) for "Variable Mobile Suit And Wave Rider System".

Mobile Armour in the Cosmic Era
In the Cosmic Era timeline, mobile armours are non-humanoid units employed by the Earth Alliance forces. Early mobile armours were essentially small space fighters, and were vastly outclassed by ZAFT's mobile suits: on average, it would take five TS-MA2 Moebius units to equally match a single ZGMF-1017 GINN. However, in the sequel TV series Gundam SEED Destiny, larger MAs equipped with powerful positron reflector shields are used, such as the YMAG-X7F Gells-Ghe. These units more closely resemble the MAs used in the UC timeline, with their huge size, overwhelming firepower, and ability to resist attack.

Transformable Mobile Weapons in Universal Century
Also, there are some mobile weapons that have the ability to transform between two or more operating modes, classified either as transformable mobile suits (TMS) or transformable mobile armours (TMA). These typically consist of a mobile suit mode and a mobile armour mode. Examples of transformable suits include the AMX-003 Gaza-C, MSA-005 Methuss, MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam, MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam, RX-110 Gabthley, and RX-139 Hambrabi. Transformable mobile armours include the MRX-009 Psyco Gundam, MRX-010 Psyco Gundam Mk-II, NRX-044 Asshimar, NRX-055 Baund Doc, ORX-005 Gaplant, and PMX-000 Messala. Typically, the term transformable mobile armour is used to describe a transformable mobile weapon that is substantially larger than contemporary mobile suits, even if the mobile suit mode is its primary configuration. TMS are normally not considered MAs in their non humanoid form.

Transformable mobile weapons were widely used during the Gryps War and First Neo Zeon Conflict, but generally fell out of favor among military designers soon afterward. This is likely a result of the increased expense and the weakened structural issues that lead to lesser durability involved in such designs; only the Neo Zeon forces at Axis had any success in mass-producing even the simplest transformable mobile suit designs. However, in the side story Moon Crisis the Earth Ferderation Space Forces did produced some transformable mobile suits in UC0099 to form a high speed strike team called Z-Plus team to react to special situations like mobile suit terrorist attacks and such. The team mainly compose of second generation Z-Plus units called Z-Prompt and excel in re-entree missions.

Transformable Mobile Suits in Alternate Universes
While the concept is most prevalent in the late 0080s of the Universal Century, some transformable mobile suits have appeared in other Gundam timelines, such as After Colony's XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero, XXXG-01W Wing Gundam, OZ-12SMS Taurus, and OZ-13MS Gundam Epyon, After War's GW-9800 Gundam Airmaster and NRX-0015 Gundam Ashtaron, and Correct Century's FLAT-L06D FLAT.

Transformable Mobile Weapons in the Cosmic Era
Outside of the Universal Century, transformable mobile suits are most common in the Cosmic Era, with examples including the GAT-X303 Aegis, GAT-X370 Raider, MVF-M11C Murasame, ZGMF-X23S Saviour, ZGMF-X24S Chaos, ZGMF-X31S Abyss, and ZGMF-X88S Gaia. In addition, the Cosmic Era features the only transformable mobile armor to appear in an Alternate Universe, the GFAS-X1 Destroy.