Hover Truck

The Hover Truck is a support vehicle that first appeared in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team. It is known as the M353A4 Bloodhound in Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front.

Technology & Combat Characteristics

The Hover Truck was a support vehicle assigned to Federation Forces ground combat units to provide them with battlefield intelligence when radar was rendered ineffective due to Minovsky particle dispersal. Utilizing an advanced passive ground sonar suite to identify targets at long range, the Hover Truck was also equipped with a powerful communications system to penetrate low levels of Minovsky jamming. The Hover Truck was also designed with an open cargo bed for the transportation of supplies. For defense, the Hover Truck was armed with a multi-barreled 20mm Gatling gun mounted on the turret, primarily for anti-aircraft defense.

Armaments

• 20mm Gatling Gun

The multi-barreled Gatling gun is installed on Hover Truck's open-top turret as its main weapon. The Gatling gun has a high rate of fire and is primarily used to ward off advancing enemies, shoot down fast moving targets, and it also made good use as an anti-aircraft and anti-personnel weapons.

Special Equipment & Features

• Underground Sonar Probe

The Hover Truck is equipped with an extendable Underground Sonar Probe for enemy detection and information gathering for its affiliated MS Team. Sonar is a proven military technique to uses sound propagation via ground probe for detecting objects/enemies such as vehicles and mobile suits, in the surrounding area or wider battlefield. The Hover Truck will be braced when the sonar probe is operated, and it can be folded up when not in use.

History

The standard ground mobile suit team consisted of three mobile suits and a Hover Truck, and these units were deployed all across the world from Asia's Kojima Battalion to the White Dingo Team in Australia. In UC 0081 one Hover Truck unit supported the Phantom Sweep Corps in their operations against Zeon remnants.

Gallery

Line art: Main Cabin

Line art: Sonar control console

Line art: Underground sonar system

Hover Truck (bottom left) as seen on Gundam: After Jaburo

Blue Destiny Unit 1 being accompanied by Guinea Pig Team's Hover Truck (from Gihren's Greed:Blood of Zeon)

Gunpla

1/144 B-Club "E.F.F. Hover Truck" full resin cast kit (2005): box art

1/100 B-Club "E.F.F. Hover Truck" full resin cast kit (2006): box art

Action Figures

Hover Truck action figure as part of Mobile Suit in Action (MSiA / MIA) "RX-79[G]Ez8 Gundam Ez8" action figure (Asian release; 2001): package front view.

Hover Truck action figure as part of MSiA / MIA "RX-79[G]Ez8 Gundam Ez8" action figure (North American release; 2001): package front view.

Notes and Trivia

Reference

External Links

• Hover Truck on MAHQ.net