MSA-003 Nemo

The MSA-003 Nemo is a mass-production attack-use mobile suit first featured in the anime series Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. The design was later updated and featured in the light novel/OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The MSA-003 Nemo is a mobile suit developed by Anaheim Electronics that is based upon the Earth Federation's RMS-179 GM II mobile suit. However, since Anaheim Electronics had no experience in the development of the GM series, risks were considered with parts procurement, maintenance, and the high costs that accompanied a completely new design. This was addressed by adopting design features and equipment from the RGM-79SP GM Sniper II, a machine considered a masterpiece that was fielded by Federation Forces and ace pilots late in the One Year War. Although this new suit strongly resembled the old GM II it was far better in terms of generator power, armor material, thruster acceleration, and maneuverability. Additionally the Nemo was able to use already existing weapons such as the RMS-099 Rick Dias’s beam saber or the GM II’s beam rifle, which also reduced the costs to produce these units.

The MSA-003 Nemo could be fitted with a ballute system, allowing the mobile suit to survive atmospheric entry on its own. Once its close enough to the ground the Nemo's thrusters are enough to slow descent, allowing it to land safely. Although not designed for aerial combat because of its lack of flight capabilities, the Nemo is still capable of firing its weapons at ground targets and aerial targets such as the FF-6 TIN Cod as long as the pilot pays attention to altitude. Despite not being designed for aerial combat the Nemo's durable armor and powerful weapons make it a deadly opponent for outdated fighter craft like the TIN Cod.

Armaments

 * 60mm Vulcan Gun
 * A standard armament of the mobile suits that are descended from the Earth Federation Forces's RX series. These head mounted shell firing weapons have a high-rate of fire, but have little power and are generally ineffective against mobile suits; however, the vulcan gun can damage lightly armored areas such as the sensors. These weapons are ideal for shooting down small, fast moving, lightly armored targets such as missiles or small vehicles.


 * Beam Saber
 * The standard close range armament for most Federation mobile suits. The beam saber is a small cylindrical device held in the mobile suit's hands when operated and is powered by an energy capacitor that is recharged from special racks. The beam saber emits a blade of plasma contained by an I-Field and is capable of cutting through almost any metal that has not been treated with anti-beam coating. The Nemo is equipped with two beam sabers stored in recharge racks on the rear waist armor.


 * AE/ZIM.C-BAZ-531 Clay Bazooka
 * A projectile-firing bazooka, as its name indicates, the clay bazooka was originally designed to fire adhesive rounds which immobilize enemy machines rather than destroying them outright. However, this weapon can fire several different types of ammunition, and it's normally used with conventional explosive shells.


 * 170mm Cannon
 * During the battle at Torrington Base in UC 0096, one Earth Federation Nemo was seen using a 170mm shell-firing cannon. While the weapon has a similar appearance to that of the NNFHI·GMCa-type.09/180mm Cannon used by the RX-79[G] Gundam Ground Type, there are some clear differences in the design of the two weapons which set them apart from one another.


 * BOWA·BR-S-85-C2 Beam Rifle
 * The standard ranged armament of many mobile suits is the beam rifle. The particle beam fired from a beam rifle can penetrate almost any armor that has not been treated with specific counter-measures. To keep the cost of the Nemo down, the Nemo is equipped with the same beam rifle used on the RMS-179 GM II; which has a power rating of 1.9 MW and powered by a rechargeable energy cap.


 * HFW-GR·MR82-90mm GM Rifle
 * The GM Rifle is a simple shell-firing machine gun that is based on older technologies, it has no where near the power of a beam rifle, but it is a weapon that can be cheaply produced and easily maintained. It features different barrel, sensor unit, stock and magazine configurations that allows for different ballistic and handling properties. The ammunition is stored in spare clips that can be replaced when they are used up.


 * HWF GMG·MG79-90mm Bullpup Machine Gun
 * The bullpup machine gun is an open-bolt, gas-operated, magazine-fed, mobile suit handheld sub-machine gun. It does not require energy to be used, however it is ineffective against heavy armor. When the magazine is empty, it can be discarded and replaced with a new one.


 * Shield
 * A basic optional arm-mounted defense armament for many Federation mobile suits. The shield is a thick sheet of armor designed to take severe punishment that would normally destroy a mobile suit. Since the introduction of beam weaponry, shields have been treated with an anti-beam coating allowing it to withstand several beam shots before the coating wears off. Typically physical shields can only take so much damage before they succumb to the pressure and break. A shield can be equipped to either arm of the Nemo in order to increase defense against both beam and physical attacks.

Special Equipment & Features

 * Ballute System
 * An atmospheric entry device designed to be used by a Mobile Suit. As the mobile suit enters the atmosphere, a bowl-shaped ballute (balloon parachute) deploys to protect it from the friction heat of atmospheric entry. The balloon then detaches, leaving the mobile suit with chest and leg hover units which ease its descent to the ground. If the mobile suit reaches the ground without expending all the fuel in the leg units, these devices can also be used for hovering and high-speed strike missions. The equipment was designed and mass produced between the years UC 0083 and 0087 and is designed to be used by a multitude of different mobile suit models.

History
During the Gryps Conflict in UC 0087 the AEUG relied heavily on mobile suits stolen from the Earth Federation, mainly the RMS-179 GM II. However its leadership soon decided that the AEUG needed a mass-produced unit of their own so that they could compete the Titans's units and show to their enemy that they were a serious threat. The task to develop this new suit went to Anaheim Electronics, which then introduced the Nemo.

Shortly after its introduction the Nemo proved to be a capable and versatile mobile suit and the AEUG's leadership made it the organization's primary mobile suit, and would serve the AEUG for the entirety of the Gryps Conflict and the First Neo Zeon War. The Nemo is used in various important missions such as the attack to capture Earth Federation Salamis Kai-class cruiser, and the orbital drop to attack the Titans base at Jaburo. As an act of comradeship in their combined goal the AEUG gave a number of their Nemo mobile suits to Karaba for their use.

Even in the year UC 0096 the MSA-003 Nemo was still in service within the Earth Federation, as it had absorbed the AEUG and Karaba. Most units maintained their original paint scheme, but units stationed in deserts had been repainted so that the torso kept the original color scheme but the rest of the mobile suit is tan-like color. Almost a decade old the Nemo was no longer a front line unit, but would still see action fighting against remnants of Zeon during the Zeon attacks on Dakar and Torrington Base.

Descendents
The Nemo's design is eventually used to developed the MSA-004 Nemo II, which features, aside from a modified external appearance, improved thrusters, sensor range, and ultra-compact fusion reactor. The design of the Nemo II serves as a test-bed that is developed into the MSA-004K Nemo III, a unit armed with an additional shoulder beam cannon to allow it to take the role of a medium range support unit. Still, the Nemo III never passed the prototype stage and it wasn't mass-produced.

The design of Nemo also inspired another of Anaheim Electronics's mass production mobile suit, the MSA-007 Nero.

Variants

 * MSA-004 Nemo II
 * MSA-004K Nemo III
 * MSA-003 Nemo Cannon
 * MSA-003C Nemo Cannon
 * MSA-003N Nemo Kai
 * MSA-003 Nemo High Maneuver
 * MSA-003+FXA-05D Nemo-Defenser
 * MSA-003E Nemo Early Warning Type
 * RS-81-STI Nemo
 * RS-NF-81 STI SES Nemo Sword Custom
 * RS-NF-81 SES III Slave Sword Nemo Sword Custom Proto 3