ZM-S14S Contio

Model number(s): ZM-S14S (production model); ZMT-S14S (prototype version)
Code name: Contio
Unit type: assault mobile suit
Manufacturer: BESPA (Zanscare Empire)
Operator: BESPA (Zanscare Empire)
First deployment: UC 0153
Accommodation: pilot only, in panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 16.1 meters
Weight: empty 10.9 metric tons; max gross 21.8 metric tons
Armor materials: high titanium alloy neo ceramic composite
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 5,960 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 93,740 kg total (2 x 21,410 kg, 2 x 16,960 kg, 2 x 8,500 kg); vernier thrusters/apogee motors: 38
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments: beam shield, mounted in left forearm; 3 x beam gun, mounted in torso; 2 x shot claw, large claw grappling weapon, wire-guided, with built-in beam gun/beam saber, mounted on shoulders
Optional fixed armaments: beam shield, mounted on either forearm
Optional hand armaments: beam rifle, powered by rechargeable energy cap

A new space combat mobile suit developed early in the Zanscare War, BESPA’s ZM-S14S Contio was considered quite powerful for a production model unit. Its armament consisted of a beam shield, a trio of linked beam guns mounted in its chest, and a pair of wire-guided shot claws carried on the shoulders. The shot claws were multi-purpose weapons, capable of conducting ramming, punching, and grappling melee attacks, and each carried a dual-use beam gun/beam saber. Due to the fact that the shot claws were controlled via cable, the Contio required a highly skilled pilot to effectively handle these weapons. The Contio was also unusual in that its cockpit hatch was located on its back, behind the head, rather than in the traditional front of the torso. Also of note, the Contio’s beam shield was originally located behind the left arm’s wrist in early production models, but this left the left manipulator hand exposed, and the beam shield was moved to the side of the left forearm in later units. The Contio served as the basis for a more advanced design, the ZMT-S34S Rig Contio.

Pilot: Cronicle Asher
First appearance: Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
Original mechanical designer: Junya Ishigaki

Beam rifle

Beam saber

Cockpit hatch

Rear view

Shot claw