Half Zeta Gundam

Model number: N/A
Code name: Half Zeta Gundam
Unit type: prototype transformable mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics
Operator(s): AEUG (Anti-Earth Union Group); Karaba
First deployment: unknown
Accommodation: pilot only, in panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso
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; flight unit
Fixed armaments: 2 x vulcan gun, mounted in head; 2 x beam saber, stored in recharge racks in hip armor, hand-carried in use
Optional fixed armaments: 2 x beam rifle, mounted on flight unit, detachable
Optional hand armaments: none

As evidenced by the MSA-005 Methuss, Anaheim Electronics had been experimenting with transforming mobile suits even before they began work on the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam. The Half Zeta Gundam was one such experimental machine, named so because its wingspan in flight mode was roughly half of the Zeta Gundam’s. The Half Zeta’s transformation system was extremely simple. In normal mode, the machine carried a large shield with two detachable beam rifles. Flight mode was achieved by attaching the shield to the back of the mobile suit to act as a flight unit. This proved to be a major design fault as the flight unit was too bulky to be easily carried in mobile suit mode. In addition, damage received by the shield in combat tended to greatly affect the Half Zeta’s flight capabilities, often rendering it unable to fly at all. One strong point of the design was a modified arm design, giving the machine stronger arms to carry the heavy shield/flight unit. In the end, the Half Zeta was deemed a failed design and is given to Karaba, and later to an AEUG saboteur group. Near the end of the Gryps War it was critically damaged in battle with the prototype mobile armor Amon Doc while raiding a Titans support convoy.

Pilot: Edmund Edgar Smith
First appearance: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam 1/2 UC 0087: Another Story
Original mechanical designer: Yuichi Hasegawa

N/A