The TS-MA2 Moebius is a Mobile Armor that appears in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
Contents
Technology & Combat Characteristics
A mass production mobile armor created by the Earth Alliance based on the prototype TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero, it is the Alliance's main space-use weapon during the early days of the First Alliance-PLANT War. As beam weapons weren't invented when the Moebius began production, its armament consists mainly of physical projectile weapons. It has a pair of vulcan guns built-in, and is often equipped with four missiles and a linear gun. When necessary, the missiles and linear gun can be replaced by other weapons including a gatling gun, an experimental beam cannon when beam weaponry was invented, or a nuclear missile. In terms of performance, the Moebius is surpassed by ZAFT's ZGMF-1017 GINN in almost every aspect except raw speed. The average kill ratio of the Moebius against GINN is stated to be three to one (the Special Editions puts it as five to one), although it usually fares worse in real combat. Even when the Moebius is considered obsolete, they can be useful as support squads by utilizing their speed in "hit-and-run" attacks, as demonstrated in the manga Gundam SEED X Astray by the Ortygia squad.
Armaments
- Linear Gun
- Mounted directly beneath the unit's main body, the linear gun fires electromagnetically accelerated physical projectile and usually serves as the main weapon. This linear gun is based off the model used on the TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero and can damage a mobile suit's armor or a warship's armor. However, the weapon's limited rate of fire and the Moebius's poor mobility when compared to a mobile suit negates much of its power. This linear gun can be switched with other weapons depending on the mission's needs.
- Missile
- Slung underneath the section between the main body and the engine pods, the Moebius is often outfitted with four missiles, two on each side. When the missiles are launched, they are first dropped before the missiles' on board computer activates the missiles' thrusters. The missiles are typically launched two at a time, and can be switched for other weapons depending on the mission's needs.
- 40mm Vulcan Gun
- The Moebius has a pair of built-in 40mm vulcan guns as its only fixed armament. The vulcan guns are small caliber armament that is useful for restricting the movement of enemy units and intercepting enemy's attacks, but are not powerful enough to damage a GINN's armor.
- Mk5 Nuclear Missile
- Amongst the optional weapon that can be mounted to the Moebius is a nuclear missile, but this is at the expense of carrying other weapons. When loaded with the nuclear missile, the Moebius is essentially a mobile missile platform for the weapon of mass destruction. The nuclear missile is later fitted with Neutron Jammer Canceller to negate the effects of Neutron Jammers.
- 45mm Gatling Gun
- Gai Murakumo's Moebius uses a Gatling gun in place of a Linear Gun, giving it a high rate of fire.
- Experimental Long-range Beam Cannon
- Mounted under the unit's body, it is an experimental beam weaponry and to make it work with the Moebius, the cannon is equipped with its own power unit. Although the beam cannon virtually doubles the Moebius's mass, it does gives the mobile armor better firepower.
History
Created before the First Alliance-PLANT War, the Moebius was initially a swift and powerful weapon, but they became obsolete when the ZGMF-1017 GINN was introduced by ZAFT. Until the introduction of Natural-pilotable mobile suits, the Moebius is the backbone of the Earth Alliance forces, despite its inferior performance against enemy mobile suits. Nevertheless, it was a single Moebius unit which fired the nuclear missile that destroyed the PLANT colony Junius Seven, triggering full scale war between the two forces.
The Moebius was phased out of frontline use by late June, CE 71, replaced by the GAT-01 Strike Dagger. Nevertheless, in November, at the Second Battle of Jachin Due, several squadrons were launched from the Earth Alliance's Agamemnon-class carriers as nuclear missiles delivery platforms. Most of these Moebius units were destroyed, along with the majority of the Strike Daggers. After the war, the Alliance fully replaced the Moebius units with mobile suits like the GAT-04 Windam, which could be equipped with a nuclear missile launcher carrying twice as many missiles and still be effective in combat. However, the Moebius' legacy is far from over with the Alliance's introduction of the new mobile armors in the Second Alliance-PLANT War, cumulating in the mass production TS-MB1B Euclid.
Picture Gallery
Notes & Trivia
- In many ways, the TS-MA2 Moebius is analogous to the Universal Century's RB-79 Ball as both serve as the first mobile weapon for the Earth forces, have more similarities to conventional combat vehicles than mobile suits, and both are drastically outclassed by their respective enemies' mobile suits.
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