RGM-109 Heavygun

Template:Infobox/Mobile Weapon Ver.2The RGM-109 Heavygun is a mass production combat mobile suit, which appears in the theatrical movie Mobile Suit Gundam F91. One of these units is piloted by Birgit Pirjo.

Technology & Combat Characteristics

In the U.C.100s, as the scale of conflicts reduced and anti-Federation movements subsided, the Earth Federation Forces decided to adopt miniature mobile suits to save on military expenses. The first miniature mobile suit to be mass produced was the RGM-109 Heavygun developed by the Anaheim Electronics. As the latest entry in the GM series, it is essentially a smaller version of the older RGM-89J Jegan Normal Type‎. Although it used the same type of reactor as the Jegan, the Heavygun's smaller size and reduced weight grants it higher mobility and maneuverability.

The Heaygun has very well-balanced performance, and its standard armaments are similar to those of the Jegan, including head-mounted vulcan guns, grenade racks, a beam rifle, a beam saber, and a shield. It remained in service for an extended number of years, and together with the newer F71 G-Cannon, fought against the more advanced mobile suits of the Crossbone Vanguard. Despite being a relatively old unit by then, the Heavygun could still perform adequately against the newer mobile suits when in the hands of a skilled pilot.

Armaments

• Vulcan Gun

These shell firing weapons have high rate of fire but little power, and can't damage the thick armor of a mobile suit, though they can damage lightly armored areas such as the sensors. They are ideal for shooting down small, lightly armored targets such as missiles, attack vehicles, etc.

• Hand Grenade

The Heavygun is equipped with a pair of waist-mounted grenade racks each carrying 4 hand grenades. The explosive power of the grenades are reduced to avoid damaging the colony's outer walls, thus they are less effective during anti-MS combat.

• Beam Saber

The beam saber 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 Heavygun usually stores a beam saber in its body for melee combat, but can be equipped with another if required.

• Beam Rifle

The standard hand carried ranged beam weapon of the Heavygun is a beam rifle powered by a rechargeable energy cap. It features a full barrel structure for barrel protection and to maintain accuracy. As the weapon is developed during a time where anti-MS combat is not the main focus and usage of beam rifles are actively avoided to protect the space colonies, it is installed with a sub-sensor as well as a limiter to avoid excessive power. When not in use, the Heavygun's beam rifle is stored on the rear waist armor.

• Shield

A type of defensive armament used by many mobile suits. The shield is a thick sheet of armor designed to take severe punishment that would normally destroy a mobile suit. It is also treated with an anti-beam coating to withstand several beam shots before the coating wears off. Typically, physical shields can only take so much damage before they succumb to the pressure and break.

Special Equipment & Features

• Searchlight

A pop-up searchlight mounted on the head. It is equipped in consideration of combat within space colonies, and is prepared for the loss of the light source either due to mirror damage or a power outage.

History

First introduced in UC 109, the Heavygun was the first successful mass-produced miniature mobile suit created by Anaheim Electronics and sold to the Earth Federation Forces. It replaced the aging RGM-89J Jegan Normal Type and quickly proved to be a popular model among the pilots. This caused the Heavygun to remain in service for more than two decades, well into the UC 0130s. Though the first decade of its deployment was relatively peaceful, the following years saw periods of intense conflict between the Earth Federation and several space-based factions including Mars Zeon, the Crossbone Vanguard, and the Jupiter Empire.

The light-weight Heavygun proved to be highly effective against the mobile suits of Mars Zeon, who had yet to introduce miniaturized mobile suits. However, it was less effective against the mobile suits of the Crossbone Vanguard and the Jupiter Empire. Both factions possessed mobile suits that were comparable in size, weight, speed, and maneuverability to the Heavygun, if not surpassing it in the latter two categories. More importantly, these mobile suits possess more powerful reactors, allowing them to more effectively use advanced beam technology, like the beam shield technology, giving them a significant defensive advantage over the Heavygun which still used a physical shield that had an anti-beam coated surface.

Eventually, the Heavygun was phased out in favor of the newer RGM-119 Jamesgun and RGM-122 Javelin. However, some Heavyguns continued to serve as a part of civilian defense militias into the early UC 0150s as the upgraded RGM-109M-5 Heavygun. Despite the upgrades it received, which were relatively minor, this new version of the Heavygun was still woefully outmatched by the mobile suits of the Zanscare Empire.

Variants

• RGM-109 Heavygun Full Equipment Type
• RGM-109M-5 Heavygun

Gallery

Various Linearts

Color Art (bottom left)

Beam Rifle

Grenade rack

Shield

Using Beam Sabers in twin sword fashion

Art from Gundam Perfect File

As seen on the game Gundam Diorama Front 3rd.

Gunpla

1/100 Original RGM-109 Heavygun (1991): box art

References

Specifications/Technical Detail/Profile

Lineart/Specifications/Basic Profile

Lineart/Specifications/Profile

External links

• RGM-109 Heavygun on MAHQ.net