The Magella Eins is part of a family of tanks that also includes the HT-01B Magella Attack battle tank. It briefly appears in the Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front CGI-animated OVA.
Technology & Combat Characteristics
The Magella Eins is an "airborne tank", meaning that it is designed to provide the otherwise lightly-equipped air- and/or orbital-landing troops with a weapon platform that can engage well-protected targets such as armored vehicles and pillboxes as well as be easily transported inside the confines of transport airplanes or landing crafts. An interesting fact is that the supposedly more-compact Magella Eins is more adherent to the layout of a traditional tank, with its primary armaments mounted within a 360-degree-traversing turret. This is a surprising departure from the heavier and more-lethal Magella Attack which, despite being designed for general-purpose frontline combat, has its weapons restricted to engaging targets to its frontal arc. Nevertheless, the requirement of being brought into battle with airborne troops is likely to have imposed limits on the level of protection to be incorporated into the tank's design, thereby rendering it just as vulnerable in a head-on confrontation with heavily-armored Earth Federation weapons such as the M61 Main Battle Tank.
The tank is also fitted for an additional, independently-traversing optical sensor on the turret roof, suggesting a "hunter-killer" capability for the turret crew (for example, the tank commander might search for enemies using the independently-traversing sensor and then pass the targeting information to the gunner or whoever responsible for aiming the main gun).
Armaments
- 133mm Main Gun
- Mazura MG74 Machine Gun
History
Little is mentioned on when the Magella Eins entered service, except that the type had reached frontline units by the time of Earth Federation's Odessa Campaign.
Notes
- The design of the Magella Eins closely resembles that of the real world Israeli Merkava main battle tank.
External Links
Template:Universal Century vehicles