RX Project

RX Project
Era	Universal Century
Miscellaneous

The RX Project was the collective name of a series of weapons development projects and espionage operations initiated by the Earth Federation Forces prior to the outbreak of the One Year War. It was intended as a countermeasure to the Principality of Zeon's mobile suits.

History

The RX Project was secretly initiated in March, U.C. 0078, in response to vague intelligence that the Principality of Zeon was developing a "giant humanoid weapon". Based on eyewitness accounts by individuals and colony garrisons, simulations were conducted assuming the existence of a weapon equipped with walking legs and manipulators, with the goal of develop weapons or countermeasures of equal or greater capability.

At that time, the diplomatic situation between the Earth Federation and Zeon was highly tense, making formal inspections and reconnaissance difficult. As a result, most of the projects relied on speculation, and countermeasures were researched in numerous fields. Existing military-industrial complexes were also involved in the project, incorporating several ongoing weapons development projects. Additionally, numerous research projects were outsourced to civilian entities. Many revolutionary new materials and structural designs were proposed during this time.

In the early stage of the project, both its staff and the military officials who initiated it were hampered by their poor understanding of mobile suits. One of the first products of the RX Project was the prototype combat vehicle RTX-44. Originally a next generation MBT intended to succeed the Type 61 Tank, it was repurposed as an anti-mobile suit weapon after being integrated into the RX Project. However, its mobility was extremely poor, and it was said to be closer to a lump of metal than a weapon, making it a failure. The RTX-44 was later refined into the RX-75 Guntank with the assistance of defected Zeon scientists. However, even this was not a true mobile suit. The next product of the project was the RX-76, a space-use only mobile weapon based on the SP-W03 Space Pod, which was also far from mobile suits.

In addition, several technologies were developed to address the Federation's late start in mobile suit development, including the Core Block System, which sought to improve the survival rate of operational data and experienced pilots by separating the main power source and control systems into a cockpit module that could function as a fighter and an escape system. Developed simultaneously was the learning computer, which allowed the mobile suit to learn from combat data, improving the ease of data collection and mobile suit tactical analysis.

Ultimately, due to the lack of clear guidance and tactical/strategic direction from the Federation Forces, as well as intelligence manipulation by the Principality of Zeon, the development of mobile suits proceeded without a solid plan. Nevertheless, the RX Project allowed the Federation to accumulate valuable technological expertise. Following the outbreak of the One Year War, the RX Project was integrated into Operation V, which finally provided a clear direction for the RX Project, enabling the development of mobile suits capable of countering those used by the Principality of Zeon in a very short period. The training of pilots began in parallel, and simulators resembling actual mobile suits were completed several months into the war.

Because of the RX Project's integration into Operation V, the prototype mobile suits produced by Operation V were known as the "RX series", and their model numbers were all prefixed with "RX". The sole exception was the RX-76, which entered mass production as the RB-79 Ball.