The TS-MA2 Moebius is a Mobile Armor that appears in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
Technology & Combat Characteristics
A mass production mobile armor created by the Earth Alliance, it is the Alliance's main space-use weapon during the early days of the war with ZAFT. Since beam weapons weren't invented when the Moebius series began production, its armament consists mainly of projectile weapons and missiles. The Moebius has a pair of vulcan guns built-in, and is often equipped with a linear gun as its main weapon. This gun is often flanked by four missiles, two on each side.
One feature of the Moebius is its ability to replace its standard armament, except for the vulcan guns, with other weapons if the mission required it. Such weapons include a gatling gun and an experimental beam cannon later on when beam weaponry was invented. The most powerful weapon a Moebius can mount is a nuclear missile. In terms of performance, the Moebius is surpassed by ZAFT's ZGMF-1017 GINN in almost every aspect except raw speed. It is stated that the average kill ratio of the Moebius against GINN is 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
- The standard armament for the Moebius includes a linear gun which mounts directly beneath the unit's main body and uses magnetic rails to electromagnetically accelerate a physical projectile to destructive velocities. The linear gun is based off the model used on the TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero and has the power to 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, as part of its standard armament. When the missiles are launched they are first dropped before the missiles' on board computer activates the missile's 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 and they are the unit's 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 was equipped with a Gatling gun, giving it a high rate of fire.
- Experimental Long-range Beam Cannon
- Mounted under the unit's body, and as indicated by its name, 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 mobile armor was designed after the prototype TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero and later became the main mobile weapon of the Earth Alliance for space combat. While in the beginning they were a swift and powerful weapon, they became obsolete when the ZGMF-1017 GINN is introduced by ZAFT. Until the introduction of Natural-pilotable mobile suits, the Moebius is the backbone of the Earth Alliance forces, despite its general inadequacy in combat against enemy mobile suits. Nevertheless it was a single Moebius unit which fired the nuclear missile that destroyed the PLANT colony Junius Seven, which triggered full scale war between the two forces.
The Moebius is 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 are launched from the Earth Alliance's Agamemnon-class carriers for use as nuclear weapons delivery platforms. Most of these Moebius units are destroyed during the battle, along with the majority of the Alliance's Strike Dagger forces. Eventually Moebius units are replaced entirely by the Earth Alliance's mobile suit like the GAT-04 Windam, which could also be equipped with a nuclear missile launcher which carries twice as many missiles as the Moebius and still be effective in combat. However, the legacy of mass-produced mobile armors in the Earth Alliance is long from over with the introduction of the TS-MB1B Euclid during the later half of the Second Alliance-PLANT War.
Picture Gallery
Notes & Trivia
- In many ways the Cosmic Era's TS-MA2 Moebius is analogous to the Universal Century's RB-79 Ball in that 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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