TMF/A-802 BuCUE

Technology & Combat Characteristics

The TMF/A-802 BuCUE is a mobile suit designed for ground combat and unlike other ZAFT mobile suits, it is a quadruped machine. The four-legged design distributes the weight of the BuCUE, giving it greater balance and the ability to move on rough terrains on earth much more easily and nimbly than standard two-legged MS. Additionally, each leg is equipped with a caterpillar-treads. BuCUE can enter a "tank-mode" by crouching down and moving on these treads, giving it greater speed when travelling on terrains such a sandy deserts or snowy fields.

As the BuCUE's design emphasizes frontal armor strength, the tank mode with the overall height lowered, also functions as a measure against infantry, protecting its more vulnerable abdominal armor. The BuCUE possess a turret on its back for mounting either a twin 450mm railgun or a 13-tube 400mm missile pod. These were originally the BuCUE's only weapons. After ZAFT's theft and study of the G Project mobile suits, the BuCUE was upgraded with a head-mounted twin beam saber. In terms of defense, the BuCUE's armor is able to withstand impacts from conventional hand weapons, such as RPGs.

Armaments

• Twin 450mm Railgun

One of two weapons that can be mounted on the turret on the suit's back, this two barrel railgun use electricity to accelerate the projectiles. The projectiles are fitted with plasma warheads that can destroy a Linear Tank with a single blow. Due to the BuCUE's quadruped design, it is able to fire the railgun steadily, without worry of recoil.

• 13-tube 400mm Missile Pod

The other weapon that can be mounted on the turret on the suit's back, since the turret is a rotary type, the missile pod can be fired in all directions. A sensor is installed at the tip of the warheads to automatically recognize and track enemy targets. Andrew Waltfield calculated it would take exactly 76 of such missiles to drain the Strike Gundam's Phase Shift.

• Twin Beam Saber

The suit's primary melee weapon and only beam weapon, it is a later addition to the suit. Mounted in the mouth, it is primarily used for hit and run attacks.

History

While invading Earth during the First Alliance-PLANT War, ZAFT created the BuCUE, a quadrupedal mobile suit used for ground combat, and it soon became one of the key factors in planetary battle operations. After the Archangel descended down to Earth and landed in Africa, several BuCUEs attacked the ship and caused trouble for it and its only mobile suit, the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam, until Strike's pilot Kira Yamato was able to adjust to the new terrain. BuCUEs were later deployed in large numbers during Operation Spit Break, the attack on the EA headquarter JOSH-A.

Based on the BuCUE, ZAFT also created the TMF/A-802 P-Mod.W BuCUE Waltfeld Custom Type, which served as a testbed for the commander version TMF/A-803 LaGOWE. Another variant produced was the TMF/TR-2 BuCUE Tactical Reconnaissance Type, which was used for recon missions.

In CE 73, the BuCUEs were still used in large numbers during the Second Alliance-PLANT War, for example in battle against the massive EA mobile armor GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam. During this time, a more advanced version of the BuCUE was introduced, the TMF/A-802W2 Kerberos BuCUE Hound, which proved to be a formidable opponent even for ace pilots.

Variants

• TMF/A-802 P-Mod.W BuCUE Waltfeld Custom Type
• TMF/A-802W2 Kerberos BuCUE Hound
• TMF/TR-2 BuCUE Tactical Reconnaissance Type

Gallery

Tank mode

From the second opening of SEED

Illustration by Kimitoshi Yamane (from G Field)

Concept design

Gunpla

1/144 Original TMF/A-802 BuCUE (2003): box art)

1/144 HG SEED TMF/A-802 Mobile BuCUE (2006): box art

1/144 HG SEED TMF/A-802 Mobile BuCUE (SEED Remaster Version; 2012): box art

Action Figures

Mobile Suit in Action (MSiA / MIA) "TMF/A-802 BuCUE" (2006): package front view.

Notes and Trivia

• In the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny video game, the BuCUE has the ability to disable lock-on using a smoke screen despite not having smoke dispensers as standard equipment.

Reference

Lineart & Profile

Various Details

External links

• BuCUE on MAHQ