Model number: MS-09F/trop Code name: Dom Tropen Unit type: localized ground combat mobile suit Manufacturer: Zimmad Company Operator: Principality of Zeon First deployment: UC 0079 Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso Dimensions: head height 18.5 meters Weight: empty 44.8 metric tons; max gross 79.0 metric tons Armor materials: super-hard steel alloy Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1199 kW Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 2 x 22000 kg, 2 x 7300 kg Performance: maximum thruster acceleration 0.74 G; 180-degree turn time 2.1 seconds; maximum ground hovering speed 360 km/h Equipment and design features: sensors, range 6300 meters Fixed armaments: scattering beam gun, mounted in torso; heat saber, battery powered, stored in recharge rack on back, hand-carried in use Optional hand armaments: 880mmRB-T27 raketen bazooka, clip-fed, 5 rounds per clip, spare clips can be stored on waist armor storage racks; MMP-80/90mm Ver.8 machine gun, clip-fed, 32 rounds per clip, spare clips can be stored on waist armor storage racks, machine gun can be stored on rear skirt armor storage rack; 280mm Zaku bazooka, cartridge-fed, 4 rounds per cartridge; sturm faust, rocket-propelled warhead, can be stored on waist armor storage racks
Technical
and Historical Notes
An advancement on the YMS-09D Dom Tropical Test Type, the Zeon military introduced the MS-09F/trop late in the One Year War, designed to operate exclusively in localized desert and tropical regions on Earth ("tropen" is German for "tropical"). In addition to sand protection filters to protect its equipment and powerful cooling systems to overcome the desert heat, the Dom Tropen featured special sand protection filtered intakes for its leg-mounted thermonuclear jet engines, allowing the mobile suit to retain its high ground hovering speeds without fear of sand ruining the engines. It also sported specialized block-shaped armor designed to help keep sand from getting inside. Though the exact production numbers of the Dom Tropen are unknown, at least a few units did survive the war, with two participating in the theft of the Earth Federation Forces' RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis" mobile suit in October UC 0083 and four units aiding in the defense of Zeon's underground Kinbareid Base in eastern Africa.