FA-78 Full Armor Gundam (anime)

The Earth Federation Forces experimented with the full armor concept during the One Year War, which led to the creation of mobile suits like the FA-78 Full Armor Gundam, the similarly named FA-78-1 Full Armor Gundam and the RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 Alex. Compared to the RX-78-2 Gundam, the FA-78’s base unit featured additional thrusters on the shoulders, calves and legs, plus hardpoints for mounting external weapons. It also featured hardpoints for mounting external armor on its legs, torso and arms, plus a large space backpack with additional thrusters that compensate for the added weight. The Full Armor Gundam’s weapons included a twin beam rifle with shield carried by the right hand, plus a 5-tube rocket launcher with shield on the left forearm. The backpack mounted a large beam cannon and 6-tube missile pod, and it also featured two sub-arms that could mount a pair of shields. Small missile launchers were built into the waist and shoulder armor. In the event of damage or ammo depletion, all the external weapons and armor could be purged.

Late in the war, the Full Armor Gundam was assigned to Io Fleming, a pilot in the Moore Brotherhood volunteer force that was fighting the Zeon in the ruins of Side 4, known as the Thunderbolt Sector. Io faced off against Daryl Lorenz’s MS-06R High Mobility Type “Psycho Zaku” and was ultimately bested in combat. Io and his damaged Gundam were taken to the space fortress A Baoa Qu on the eve of the EFF’s Operation Star One. Io managed to escape following a brutal interrogation and freed his comrades from their former mothership, the Beehive. As the Battle of A Baoa Qu ended in the EFF’s favor, Zeon forces retreated with the damaged Full Armor Gundam in tow. After the war, Io was assigned a new, state-of-the-art mobile suit: the RX-78AL Atlas Gundam.