TS-MA2 Moebius

TS-MA2 Moebius is a mass produced mobile amor, is is featured in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Designed as a heavy space fighter with tough armor, the Moebius is a unit which can be easily mass produced. Since beam weapons for mobile weapons weren't invented when the Moebius series began production, their armament consists mainly of projectile weapons and missiles. Their main weapon is a single linear gun, mounted beneath the main body of the unit. This gun is often flanked by four missiles, two on each side. Lastly two 40mm vulcan guns round up the standard armament of the Moebius.

One feature of the Moebius was its ability to replace its standard armament with other weapons if the mission required it. Such weapons include a gatling gun and a beam cannon after mass production began on beam weaponry in mobile weapon format. The most powerful weapon a Moebius can mount is a nuclear missile launcher, carrying a single nuclear missile, however the missile is a single use weapon and although it can cause massive amounts of destruction once deployed the Moebius is virtually defenseless.

In terms of performance, the Moebius is surpassed by ZAFT's ZGMF-1017 GINN in almost every aspect except raw speed. Even when the Moebius was considered obsolete, they can be useful as support squads by utilizing their speed in quick bombardment "strike-and-run" hits, as demonstrate in the manga Gundam SEED X Astray by the Ortygia squad.

Armaments

 * Linear Gun
 * The Moebius's equipment allows its selection of armaments to be switched out and replaced. The standard all-purpose combat equipment for the Moebius includes a linear gun which mounts directly beneath the main body of the Moebius and uses magnetic rails to electromagnetically accelerate a physical projectile to destructive velocities. The linear gun is based off the model used on the TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero and should have the power to damage a mobile suit's armor. However the weapon's limited rate of fire and the limitations of the mobile armor's mobility when against a mobile suit negates much of the advantage of its power.


 * Missile Launcher
 * When outfitted with standard combat equipment the Moebius is outfitted with one linear gun and a pair of missile launchers. The missile launchers are slung underneath the section between the main body and the engine pods. Each missile launcher can carry two missiles, for a total of four, which are left completely exposed. When the missiles are launched they are first dropped before the missiles on board computer activates the missile's thrusters. The missiles are typically launched two at a time.


 * 40mm Vulcan Gun
 * The TS-MA2 Moebius has a pair of built-in 40mm vulcan guns. The vulcan guns are a light caliber armament that is the only weapon built into the Moebius.


 * Nuclear Missile Launcher
 * Amongst the optional equipment for the TS-MA2 Moebius is a nuclear missile launcher. This allows the Moebius to carry a large nuclear missile at the expense of other weapons. This effectively turns the Moebius into a mobile missile platform for the weapon of mass destruction.


 * Gatling Gun
 * Gai Murakumo's personal Moebius was equipped with a Gatling gun, allowing it a high rate of fire.


 * Beam Cannon
 * Although beam weapons were developed years after the Moebius, the Earth Alliance still worked to make the two technologies compatible, and were successful. The Earth Alliance developed a beam cannon equipped with its own power unit that can be mounted under the main body of the Moebius. Although the beam cannon virtually doubles the Moebius's mass the weapon gives the mobile armor firepower that can easily destroy battleships.

History
Created some time before the Bloody Valentine War, the Moebius mobile armor was designed after the prototype TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero and later became the main mobile weapon of the Earth Alliance for space combat. While in the beginning they were a swift and powerful weapon, they became terribly obsolete when the ZGMF-1017 GINN is introduced by ZAFT. Until the introduction of Natural-pilotable mobile suits, the Moebius is the backbone of the Earth Alliance forces, despite its general inadequacy in combat against enemy mobile suits. It is stated that the average kill ratio of the Moebius against GINN is three to one (the Special Editions retcon this into five to one), although it usually fares worse in real combat, thus allowing ZAFT's military to make great progress before the Battle of Heliopolis. Nevertheless it was a single Moebius unit which fired the nuclear missile that destroyed the PLANT colony Junius Seven, which triggered full scale war between the two forces.

The Moebius is phased out of frontline use by late June, CE 71, replaced by the GAT-01 Strike Dagger, which probably saved the Earth Alliance from total annihilation. Nevertheless, in November, at the Second Battle of Jachin Due, several squadrons are launched from the Earth Alliance's Agamemnon-class carriers for use as nuclear weapons delivery platforms. Most of these Moebius units are destroyed during the battle, along with the majority of the Alliance's Strike Dagger forces.

Eventually Moebius units are replaced entirely by the Earth Alliance's mobile suit GAT-04 Windam, which could also be equipped with a nuclear missile launcher which carries twice as many missiles as the Moebius and still be effective in combat. However, the legacy of mass-produced mobile armors in OMNI Enforcer is long from over with the introduction of the TS-MB1B Euclid during the later half of the Second Bloody Valentine War.

Variants

 * TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero
 * AQM/E-X04 Gunbarrel Striker