LM111E03 Gunblaster

The LM111E03 Gunblastor is a mass production mobile suit that appeared in the anime series Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The LM111E03 Gunblastor is simply an upgraded version of the LM111E02 Gun Ez that was designed for space combat. In order to facilitate the need for space-use mobile suits, the League Militaire modified their ground-use Gun Ez by adding a pair of "twin tail" booster binders. While the technology behind was hardly new since the concept and practical application of binders, which is to increase the number of movable limbs on a mobile suit thus increasing the effectiveness of the AMBAC system, has been around since the Gryps conflict of U.C. 0087. Still even more than half-a-century later the technology was still a viable answer that increased the mobile suit's overall maneuverability, rocket thrust, and fuel capacity which in turn increased the overall flight range of the mobile suit.

Aside from the addition of the "twin tail" booster binders and the increase in performance and a slight change to the color scheme there really is little difference between the Gunblastor and its Gun Ez predecessor. Both units still possess a pair of shell-firing head mounted vulcan guns as anti-missile and anti-personal weapons. It possesses only one beam saber stored in a recharge rack mounted in the right shoulder. It possesses the 2-tube multi-launcher mounted in the left shoulder. It can mount a beam shield onto either of its forearms. And it possesses leg-mounted hardpoints that allow it to carry additional weapons and equipment. However there is a slight modification to its optional armaments in the form of a spider net, a weapon probably designed to disable a mobile suit for missions involving the capture of a target.

Armaments

 * Vulcan Gun
 * A standard armament of the mobile suits that are descended from the Earth Federation Forces's RX series is a pair of head mounted 60mm vulcan guns. These shell firing weapons have a high-rate of fire but have little power and can't damage the thick armor of a mobile suit, though it can damage lightly armored areas such as the sensors. The weapons are ideal for shooting down small, fast moving, lightly armored targets such as missiles, small land vehicles, and attack helicopters.


 * Beam Saber
 * The name "beam saber" is somewhat of a misnomer as, unlike other weapons with the word beam, the beam saber does not use mega-particles. Instead, it emits high-energy Minovsky particles to form a blade-shaped I-field (via manipulation of electromagnetic fields), and then fills this I-field shell with superheated Minovsky particle plasma to produce an effective cutting blade. The Minovsky particles are stored by E-cap in the hilt of the beam saber, which is recharged from the mobile suit's reactor when the saber is returned to its socket. Once activated, beam sabers do not rely on the mobile suit's reactor and can be thrown or discarded as decoys.


 * The termination of the I-field along a solid contact surface allows the plasma to eat away at the offending material until the I-field reestablishes itself, allowing the weapon to "cut" through almost any target. Likewise, as the beam saber's I-field enclosure repels plasma, it not only keeps the blade's plasma in but also keeps plasma from another blade out allowing one beam saber to be used to block another. Since the containing fields can be formed into a variety of simple shapes, it is trivial to create exotic variants like the beam tomahawk, beam axe, beam naginata etc, even beam flag as a signaling device.


 * The LM111E03 Gunblastor is equipped with a single beam saber that is stored in the right shoulder recharge rack when not in use.


 * 2-tube Multi-launcher
 * The left shoulder of the LM111E03 Gunblastor is equipped with a 2-tube multi-launcher. The multi-launcher can be loaded with multiply types of missiles to adapt to mission requirements.


 * Beam Shield
 * A new protective device used by the mobile suits of the U.C. 0120 era. Thanks to their increased generator output, the scaled-down mobile suits of this era are able to use beam technology for defensive purposes. Unlike an I-field generator, which is effective only against beam attacks, the beam shield blocks both beam and projectile weapons. The beam shield generates a plane of energy similar to the blade of a beam saber. This plane is divided into multiple sections, which can be turned on or off as needed to conserve energy. Individual sections are also automatically deactivated whenever they're in danger of coming into contact with the mobile suit itself.


 * The beam shields used by the Gunblastor are optional equipment that can be mounted on either arm.


 * Spider Net


 * Beam Rifle
 * A standard hand carried ranged beam weapon is the beam rifle. Capable of firing mega particle, attacks from a beam rifle are can damage any ordinary armor that has not be specially treated to resist it. One of the more effective methods of blocking a beam rifle is to use a beam shield. When the technology became available it became standard for beam rifles to be powered by rechargeable energy caps that can be replaced mid-battle if they run out of power.

Special Equipment & Features

 * Hardpoints
 * Hardpoints are multi-purpose storage racks designed to hold any weapon or equipment that has been designed to be carried by a hardpoint. The LM111E03 Gunblastor is equipped with two hardpoints, one on each leg, allowing it to carry two extra weapons or two pieces of equipment without using its hands which are free for combat.

History
As the war with the Zanscare Empire and BESPA built units continued to rage on in space it became apparent to the League Militaire that their units had to be upgraded in order to deal with the enemy effectively. Because the League Militaire was limited in its resources its engineers decided to upgrade the existing Lm111E02 Gun Ez into the unit known as the LM111E03 Gunblastor which easily performed on par with many of the Zansacare's Empire's units. After evaluating the effectiveness of the new machine the League Militaire upgraded all of their Gun Ez mobile suits to Gunblastors to continue service as the main front line units as the front lines moved to space.