GAT-X103 Buster Gundam

Template:Infobox/Mobile Weapon Ver.2 The GAT-X103 Buster Gundam is a prototype artillery mobile suit featured in the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

Technology & Combat Characteristics

One of the five mobile suits developed as part of the Earth Alliance's G Project, the Buster Gundam is an artillery mobile suit and adopts the X100-series frame, similar to the one used by the GAT-X102 Duel Gundam. It has firepower rivaling that of a battleship's and is meant to provide rear support for the other units and to attack enemy ships or facilities from a distance.

Its primary armaments are the back-mounted gun launcher and high-energy rifle, both are energy intensive and equipped with their own sub-generators. They can also combine to form the more powerful anti-armor shotgun or the hyper impulse long-range sniper rifle, with the improved firepower seemingly caused by the linkage of the sub-generators. Although the suit has no close combat weapon, it has a pair of shoulder-mounted missile pods that can be used to discourage enemy units from closing in.

Due to its role, the main sensor camera on Buster's head is very important and is protected with additional armor. The suit also has the new Phase Shift armor like the other units in the project, making it nearly impervious to shell firing weapons.

Armaments

• 350mm Gun Launcher

Mounted on the backpack and carried in Buster's right hand when in use. It is a projectile weapon akin to a railgun or linear gun, which uses electromagnetic forces rather than gunpowder to launch its projectiles. In addition to ordinary solid shells, the gun-launcher can also fire specialized munitions such as armor-piercing and high explosive rounds.

• Anti-Armor Shotgun

When the High-energy Rifle and Gun Launcher combine, with the Gun Launcher on the front, it forms a very powerful shell-firing Anti-Armor Shotgun. It fires a single stream containing multiple shells that later splits apart, resulting in a scatter shot that damages a wide area. It appears that about four or five shells fired from the Anti-Armor Shotgun is enough to destroy some battleships. Although the combined form has higher power, the rate of fire is decreased.

• 94mm High-energy Rifle

Mounted on the backpack and carried in Buster's left hand when in use. It is a beam weapon similar to the beam rifle, and is the highest caliber energy rifle among those used by other units in the G Project. Its destructive power is above a battleship's beam cannon despite its smaller size.

• Hyper Impulse Long-Range Sniper Rifle

When the High-energy Rifle and Gun Launcher combine, with the High-energy Rifle on the front, it can form a Long-Range Sniper Rifle. This beam cannon type weapon has a higher energy output, firing a larger beam that is capable of penetrating several targets, including battleships. As the name implies, it also features sniping capabilities due to the longer range of the beam. Although the combined form has higher power, the rate of fire is decreased.

• 220mm 6-tube Missile Pod

Mounted on both shoulders, they compensate for the Buster's poor close combat capability, allowing it to fire a rain of missiles to destroy enemy units or to stop them from moving closer. They can also be used for bombing bases, anti-ship attacks, and missile interception.

Special Equipment & Features

• Phase Shift Armor

As with all of the G Project mobile suits, the Buster Gundam is equipped with phase shift armor. When activated the Buster's color is changed from a light grey to a beige scheme with a bit of green and orange mixed in. Phase Shift armor, when activated, renders the Buster immune to physical attacks such as bullets, the GINN sword, or against missiles. However Phase Shift armor continually drains the battery of energy, shortening the mobile suit's combat endurance, and uses up additional energy when it is hit.

• Operating System

The Buster uses the General Unilateral Neuro-Link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver Synthesis System.

History

The Buster was one of the prototype mobile suits created by the Earth Alliance under its G Project during the First Alliance-PLANT War. Together with four other machines, the Buster was manufactured secretly in the Orb Union's space colony Heliopolis.

Buster was stolen by ZAFT pilot Dearka Elsman on Cosmic Era January 25, 71, and was used by him throughout the rest of the war. Dearka frequently dueled with TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero/FX-550 Skygrasper pilot Mu La Flaga, neither pilot able to gain a competitive advantage over the other. The Buster was eventually shot down on earth and captured by the crew of the Archangel in June 71. Dearka spent approximately a month in the ship's brig and subsequently joined the Clyne Faction, using the Buster to bring about the end of the First Alliance-PLANT War. On the last day of the war, the Buster was severely damaged by the ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam. Dearka and the damaged Buster later met Yzak and his GAT-X102 Duel Gundam, but they came under attack by the GAT-X370 Raider Gundam. After the Duel's beam rifle was destroyed by Raider, Yzak borrowed the Buster's Hyper Impulse Long-Range Sniper Rifle to take it down.

The Earth Alliance developed a mass-produced variant of the Buster during the war, the GAT/A-01E2 Buster Dagger, which combined the frame of a GAT-01A1 Dagger with the Buster's weaponry and can be equipped with a pair of beam sabers, correcting a flaw in Buster's design. The artillery support paradigm of the Buster was used in developing another heavily-armed, long-range mobile suit, the GAT-X131 Calamity.

After the war, as part of the "Actaeon Project" MS development plan, another Buster Gundam was manufactured and piloted by Phantom Pain pilot, Shams Couza. The unit was later upgraded into the GAT-X103AP Verde Buster.

Variants

• GAT-X103AP Verde Buster
• LH-GAT-X103 Hail Buster
• GAT-X103 Buster Gundam (Underwater Equipment)

Appearing in the manga Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Re:, it is the Buster Gundam equipped with new parts on the chest, back, leg and feet, as well as a large METEOR-like underwater-use attachment. The attachment is built with parts from the UMF-4A GOOhN and UMF-5 ZnO, and can change into an underwater cruising mode when travelling in water. In MS mode, parts of the attachment are held in hand like the METEOR. A weakness of the underwater equipment is that it only has a shallow diving depth.

Picture Gallery

Phase Shift Down

350mm Gun Launcher (Bottom) and 94mm High-energy Rifle (Top)

220mm 6-tube missile pod

With Anti-Armor Shotgun

With Hyper Impulse Long-Range Sniper Rifle

Earlier Designs

Dearka and Buster

Using Anti-Armor Shotgun

Buster (2).jpg

Custom Gunpla with FA-78-2 Heavy Gundam Colors

Buster Gundam MS Girl

Buster Gundam (Underwater Equipment) (in lower left) on Earth with the other stolen Gundam in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Re:.

SD Gundam G Generation Crossrays

Fan-Art

Gunpla

1/144 GAT-X103 Buster Gundam (2002): box art

HG 1/144 GAT-X103 Buster Gundam (2003): box art

HG 1/144 R03 GAT-X103 Buster Gundam (Remaster; 2011): box art

1/100 GAT-X103 Buster Gundam (2003): box art

MG 1/100 GAT-X103 Buster Gundam (2012): box art

Action Figures

Mobile Suit in Action (MSiA / MIA) "GAT-X103 Buster Gundam" (Japanese release; 2004): package front view.

MSiA / MIA "GAT-X103 Buster Gundam" (Hong Kong release; 2004): package front view.

MSiA / MIA "GAT-X103 Buster Gundam" (North American release; 2004): package front view.

Advanced Mobile Suit in Action (AMSiA / AMIA) "GAT-X103 Buster Gundam" (2003): package front view.

AMSiA / AMIA "GAT-X103 Buster Gundam" (2003): package rear view.

Robot Damashii "GAT-X103 Buster Gundam" (2012): package front view.

Notes and Trivia

• The reason for Buster Gundam and its pilot, Dearka, joining the Archangel was to boost their popularity, in hopes of better sales of the associated model kits and action figures.
• In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny, the combination types of the Gun Launcher and High-energy Rifle can only be used under special conditions:
  • Anti-Armor Shotgun: SP Charge Attack (L+O when SP gauge is at 15%)
  • Hyper Impulse Long-Range Sniper Rifle: SP Special Attack (Triangle + O when SP gauge is at 50%)

References

Specifications & Design Details

Scan of the Buster Gundam (Underwater Equipment) from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Re:

GAT-X103 Buster Gundam (Underwater Equipment) Lineart & Profile (SEED:RE)

External links

• GAT-X103 Buster Gundam on MAHQ.net