The YMS-09D Dom Tropical Test Type (YMS-09D ドム・トロピカルテストタイプ Domu Toropikaru Tesuto-taipu?) is a variant of YMS-09 Prototype Dom. It was first featured in design series Mobile Suit Variation. Known pilots include Roy Greenwood, Frederick Cranberry and Mia Brinkman.
Technology & Combat Characteristics
The mass-produced MS-09 Dom was deployed in actual combat and achieved satisfactory results, but the mobile suit was not very good in high-temperature combats.[1] Its performance was not fully realized due to a series of mechanical problems. Numerous requests for improvement were submitted by the local Zeon forces, and YMS-09D Dom Tropical Test Type was Zeon Army's search for a simpler way to power up the Dom for tropical environments.[2] The Dom Tropical Test Type was designed to allow existing MS-09 Doms to be easily optimized by replacing them with optional parts. In other words, it was the development base for a "parts kit for on-site modification".[2] For the Zeon Army, using the YMS-09 Prototype Dom instead of the mass-produced MS-09 Dom for the improvement plan was twofold: firstly, they would like to send as many mass-produced Doms to the battlefield as possible, and secondly, the Prototype Dom which had undergone repeated testing and improvements, boasted performance almost identical to that of the mass-produced Dom, was sufficient as a development base.[2]
By utilizing YMS-09 Prototype Dom (unit 2) as a testbed to develop a Dom more suitable to tropical and desert environments,[3][4] the Dom Tropical Test Type was akin to Prototype Dom with virtually no changes to the body shape, but it was believed that dust filter had been installed.[2] Its head unit featured an additional heat dissipation pipe, plus a short range communication antenna on top.[5] This was required to enhance YMS-09D's communication capabilities that would not be hindered by sandstorms in the desert.[2] In addition, the backpack was enlarged with a propellant tank being been added, with the number of thrusters has been increased to six, and the hovering speed had also been increased.[2] With this new arrangement, the heat saber was now mounted on the left side.[2]
Armaments
- Heat Saber
- The Dom Tropical Test Type's main close combat weapon, it uses thermal energy to superheat its blade to melt through the armor of an enemy machine. It has an electrical discharge function and can store high charges via the application of Minovsky particle physics. As the heat saber degrades during use, it is discarded after usage. The heat saber was mounted on the left side of backpack when not in use.
- H&L-GB03K/360mm Giant Bazooka
- A bazooka for MS that fires rocket-propelled 360mm physical rounds. Liquid fuel supplied through a pipe from the Dom Tropical Test Type's hand is injected as a primary propellant, and then the projectile's speed is increased by rocket motor ignition. It is fed by a 10 rounds magazine, and a single round can blow the torso off of an enemy mobile suit. The giant bazooka could be mounted on the right side of backpack via a latch when not in use.
- Knuckle Shield
- The knuckle shield is a modified Zaku II shoulder shield that mounts on the left arm. When mounted on the forearm the curve of the armor fits over the mobile suits hand. One of the modifications is the additions of two spikes placed on the plate that rests in front of the hand. These spikes make the knuckle shield an effective bashing weapon.
History
The Dom Tropical Test Type was equipped with external antennas, backpacks, and other optional parts which could be attached or replaced on the existing MS-09 Doms.[2] The resulting part-replacement was called the YMS-09D, with a total of 30 units were reportedly upgraded at the California Base factory.[1][2] Of which, four units were assigned to Zeon Army's desert warfare unit the Caracal Corps stationed in North Africa, with two units being conversion from the mass-produced Doms.[6] One of these four units was the personal unit of ace pilot Maj. Roy Greenwood, nicknamed "Thunder Cat" because of the lightning bolt designs on its frame.[1] Combat data collected from the Dom Tropical Test Types would later be used in the development of MS-09F/trop Dom Tropen.[7] The Dom Tropical Test Type was also later adapted to create two artillery support mobile suits, the MS-09K-1 Dom Cannon and the MS-09K-2 Dom Cannon.[8]
Other known YMS-09D units included the one being test-operated in Arizona, North America and was piloted by Tech. 2nd. Lt. Mia Brinkman of the Noisy Fairy Squadron, replacing her destroyed MS-06JK Zaku Half Cannon.[9] Brinkman's YMS-09 was equipped with underground sonar (UGS), giving it excellent reconnaissance capabilities.[9] As Zeon's war situation worsened, Brinkman would further customized her YMS-09D into a gigantic artillery mobile suit, the MS-09［NF］ Dom Gnomides.[10] In UC 0094, a Dom Tropical Test Type belonging to Zeon Remnants pilot Taggis was destroyed in Bagan, Myanmar by a Mass Production Type ZZ Gundam of an Earth Federation Forces remnants-hunting unit.[11]
Gallery
Lineart
Manga
Illustrations & Artwork
Games
Fan Art
Gunpla
Action Figures
Zeongraphy
Robot Damashii
Notes & Trivia
- In the manga Gundam Battle Operation: Code Fairy, the Dom Tropical Test Type piloted by Mia Brinkman was said to be a completed version of a Tropical Type Dom, based on the data of the Dom Tropical Test Type. It was thus referred to as MS-09D Dom Tropical Version (MS-09D ドム熱帯仕様 Domu Netsutai Shiyō?) rather than YMS-09D. Previously, the model number MS-09D appeared in Bandai's Gundam Entertainment Bible 13, where it was listed as a missing link between the Dom Tropical Test Type and the MS-09F/trop Dom Tropen.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (June 2000) 機動戦士ガンダム MSV コレクションファイル [地球編] (in Japanese). 講談社, 105. ISBN 9784063465518.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 (October 2011) 双葉社MOOK グレートメカニック・スペシャル モビルスーツ全集4 MS07/09グフ&ドムBOOK (in Japanese). 双葉社, 59. ISBN 9784575464610.
- ↑ (April 1984) 講談社ポケット百科シリーズ33 機動戦士ガンダム モビルスーツバリエーション2 ジオン軍MS・MA編 (in Japanese). 講談社, 92. ISBN 406107783X.
- ↑ (May 2019) 双葉社MOOK グレートメカニック・スペシャル モビルスーツ全集13 ジオン陸戦モビルスーツ&兵器BOOK (in Japanese). 双葉社, 41. ISBN 9784575465150.
- ↑ (March 1983) 模型情報・別冊 MSバリエーション・ハンドブック1 (in Japanese). バンダイ, 14.
- ↑ (April 1984) 講談社ポケット百科シリーズ33 機動戦士ガンダム モビルスーツバリエーション2 ジオン軍MS・MA編 (in Japanese). 講談社, 164. ISBN 406107783X.
- ↑ YMS-09D Dom Tropical Test Type profile on Official Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy Website (Japanese)
- ↑ (January 2007) 電撃ホビーマガジン 2007年1月号 (in Japanese). メディアワークス, 109. ISBN 4910163710172.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy
- ↑ MS-09(NF) Dom Gnomides profile on Official Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy Website (Japanese)
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. 0094: Across The Sky