Model number: RX-78GP00
Code name: Gundam GP00 "Blossom"
Unit type: prototype general purpose mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics Von Braun Factory
Operator: Earth Federal Forces
First deployment: unknown
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso using Core Block System
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
Armor materials: unknown
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, power output rating unknown
Propulsion: unknown
Performance: unknown
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; Minovsky Particle Interference Wave Searcher (MPIWS), mounted on backpack behind left shoulder
Fixed armaments: long-range beam rifle, power rating unknown, mounted on backpack behind right shoulder and hand-carried in use; 2 x beam saber (doubles as beam gun), stored in shoulders, hand-carried in use
Optional hand armaments: none

Technical and Historical Notes

The RX-78GP00 Gundam GP00 is a trial machine developed by Anaheim Electronics as part of the Gundam Development Project, nicknamed Blossom. Inheriting the Core Block System of the RX-78-2 Gundam, it can combine with the FF-X(7)II Core Booster II and carry experimental equipment such as a long-range beam rifle and a Minovsky Particle Interference Wave Searcher (MPIWS). The GP00 is equipped with two drum-type frame units on its back, whose weapon mount arms are designed to carry various kinds of equipment. This feature was eliminated from the later Gundam Development Project machines, which were intended to perform single functions. The combination of the Core Booster unit and large equipment like the long-range beam rifle and MPIWS is also said to produce attitude control problems.

Supplemental thrusters are attached to the GP00's legs to increase its mobility, but these also contribute to the machine's maintenance problems, and the idea is reconsidered at the same time that the Core Booster docking functions are eliminated. The long-range beam rifle used by the GP00 doesn't have an E-Cap system, and requires a long recharging period after firing. The MPIWS device, which resembles a radome, is a large high-performance sensor powerful enough to detect wreckage on the lunar surface from a high altitude, but its reliability is low and it frequently malfunctions. The GP00 is destroyed in combat with a YMS-16M Xamel cannon team while conducting a patrol mission with this equipment. Analysis of the valuable combat data recovered from the GP00 indicates that the attempt to make it so multipurpose put too much strain on its pilot, and the GP01-GP04 are thus designed to perform a single function.

Miscellaneous Information

Pilot(s): Jack Bayard
Appearances: Dengeki Hobby Magazine "Gundam Secret Weapons"

Lineart

FF-X(7)II Core Booster II