RX-79[G] Gundam Ground Type

Model number: RX-79[G]
Code name: Gundam Ground Type
Unit type: mass production ground combat mobile suit
Manufacturer: Earth Federation Forces
Operator: Earth Federation Forces
Rollout: UC 0079
First deployment: UC 0079
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 18.0 meters
Weight: empty 52.8 metric tons; max gross 73.0 metric tons
Armor materials: Luna Titanium alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1,350 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 52,000 kg total
Performance: unknown
Equipment and design features: sensors, range 5,900 meters; periscope, mounted in head; optional parachute pack, can be mounted on backpack rack; optional weapons storage container, can be mounted on backpack rack
Fixed armaments: vulcan gun, mounted in chest; multi-launcher, mounted in chest; 2 x beam saber, stored in recharge racks in legs, hand-carried in use; short shield, mounted on either forearm
Optional hand armaments: 100mm machine gun, clip-fed, 2 spare clips stored on hip armor; 180mm cannon, clip-fed; beam rifle, powered by rechargeable energy cap; bazooka gun, clip-fed, 7 rounds per clip; 6-tube missile launcher; net gun, fires large net to entangle a target

While the Earth Federation Forces’ Operation V mobile suit development program was underway at the Side 7 research colony, the EFF also began production of experimental units at its Jaburo military headquarters in South America on Earth. Intended to help turn the tide of the ground war during the One Year War, the engineers at Jaburo used spare parts originally manufactured for the RX-78-2 Gundam prototype and built approximately 20 units of a specialized ground combat model Gundam, the RX-79[G]. Twelve of these units were assigned to the Kojima Battalion stationed in Southeast Asia, particularly to the 04th and 08th M.S. Teams. Since the RX-79[G]s were made primarily of spare parts leftover from Operation V, no replacement parts were available. This resulted in hasty field repairs like Shiro Amada’s RX-79[G]Ez-8 Gundam Ez8. When Karen Joshua’s unit was damaged, the head of an RGM-79[G] GM Ground Type was used as a replacement, earning the Gundam the nickname “GM Head.”

Though in many ways similar to its RX-78-2 predecessor, the RX-79[G] was quite a bit different in others, particularly in its armament. The beam sabers were stored in the legs, as the backpack mounted an equipment rack to carry storage containers, parachute packs, or other field options. The head vulcan guns were removed, as the head now carried a periscope for underwater and trench warfare. The Gundam still had the generator power to use a beam rifle, though it was often equipped with a standard 100mm machine gun or a heavy 180mm cannon. A single vulcan gun and a multiple-use multi-launcher mounted in the torso’s left breast rounded out the new armament. The complicated and expensive Core Block System was also replaced with a standard cockpit mounted in the upper chest just below the head.

Pilot(s): Shiro Amada, Karen Joshua, Terry Sanders, Jr., Michel Ninorich, Matt Healy, Barry Balzary, Nao Jessica Parker, Sebastian Kurie
First appearance: Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th M.S. Team
Original mechanical designer: Kunio Okawara

100mm machine gun

180mm cannon

6-tube missile launcher

Bazooka gun

Beam rifle

Beam saber

Cockpit hatch

Hand

Head

Net gun

Rear view

Short shield