Model number: MS-06K
Code name: Zaku Cannon
Unit type: mass production artillery test type mobile suit
Manufacturer: Zeonic Company
Operator: Principality of Zeon, Earth Federation Forces
First deployment: UC 0079
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: overall height 18.4 meters; head height 17.7 meters
Weight: empty 59.1 metric tons; max gross 83.2 metric tons
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 976 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 41000 kg total
Performance: maximum thruster acceleration 0.49 G; maximum ground running speed 73 km/h
Equipment and design features: sensors, range 4400 meters
Fixed armaments: 180mm cannon, mounted on backpack over right shoulder; 2-tube smoke discharger
Optional fixed armaments: 2 x 2-tube rocket launcher

Technical and Historical Notes

An anti-aircraft variant of the ground-pounding MS-06JC Zaku II, called the MS-06J-12, was under development at Zeon's California Base on Earth during the One Year War when word of the Federation's prototype mobile suits reached them. Inspired by the mix of close combat (RX-78-2 Gundam) and fire support (RX-77-2 Guncannon) mobile suits, the J-12-type Zaku II project was changed in scope, becoming the anti-MS support unit MS-06K Zaku Cannon. Nine prototype units were constructed at California Base, and this squadron of Zaku Cannons were led by 1st Lieutenant Ian Greydon in defense of the base until the end of the war. Greydon's own Zaku Cannon sported a custom twin-antenna head that came to be known as the "rabbit type." A handful of other Zaku Cannon units also turned up in other theaters of the Earthside war, including Southeast Asia.

The Zaku Cannon sported some new features in addition to its backpack-mounted, over-the-shoulder 180mm cannon. In addition to the cannon-equipped backpack being able to be exchanged for a standard J-type Zaku backpack to improve performance when the cannon wasn't necessary, the head also featured a 360-degree monoeye for increased vision and target acquisition, and additional thrusters in the legs to overcome the added weight and encumberance of the cannon. Unfortunately, the shock and recoil of the cannon created problems with balance in the mobile suit, and the Zaku Cannon development project was quickly terminated.

Miscellaneous Information

Pilot(s): Ian Greydon, Alfredino Lam
Appearances: MSV (Mobile Suit Variations); Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team; Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam; Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny; Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes; Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield; Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Sight
Original mechanical designer: Kunio Okawara