MS-06D Zaku Desert Type

Model number: MS-06D
Code name: Zaku Desert Type
Unit type: mass production desert combat mobile suit
Manufacturer: Zeonic Company/Principality of Zeon field engineers
Operator: Principality of Zeon
First deployment: UC 0079
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: overall height 18.2 meters; head height 17.5 meters
Weight: empty 61.3 metric tons; max gross 79.4 metric tons
Armor materials: unknown
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 976 kW
Propulsion: jet thrusters: total output 42,900 kg
Performance: maximum ground running speed 80 km/h
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments: 2 x vulcan gun, mounted in head; SA-712 cracker grenade, stored in pod on hip armor racks
Optional fixed armaments: Ratsriver 3-tube missile pod, mounted on left forearm; Ratsriver P-3 2-tube missile pod
Optional hand armaments: M-120AS Zaku machine gun, drum-fed; heat hawk

During the early months of the One Year War, Principality of Zeon military field engineers were developing variants of its standard MS-06F Zaku II mobile suit to operate in the varied and sometimes harsh climates on Earth. One such variant was the MS-06D Zaku Desert Type, which was based on the standard ground combat MS-06J. The Zaku Desert Type (or Type D) sported several new features to make it adaptable to desert and tropical climates. The most notable feature was the replacement of the standard thruster-laden backpack with a special heat-dissipating radiator backpack, while jet thrusters were added to the legs and skirt armor area to provide additional mobility. With additional power and armor to top off the modifications, the Type D Zaku proved highly effective in the climate it is designed for.

Developed at Zeon’s California Base, the Zaku Desert Type was designed for Earth’s desert and tropical regions, and was first field tested in North Africa by Roy Greenwood’s Karakal unit. Operating an early type with two antennae on the head, the design soon proved itself, and a newer version sporting only one antenna was produced shortly thereafter. In all, 114 Type D Zakus were produced (43 two-antenna and 71 one-antenna types), making the Zaku Desert Type the backbone of Zeon’s Earthside forces in North Africa and the Middle East for many months, with the later produced MS-09 Dom line becoming Zeon’s main ground-combat mobile suit. A modified and improved version, the MS-06D Desert Zaku, was used by Zeon remnants around the world as late as UC 0096.

Pilot: Roy Greenwood
First appearance: MSV
Original mechanical designer(s): Kunio Okawara (MSV version), Hajime Katoki (Gundam: The Origin MSD version)

Grenades (Version 1)

Head (Version 1)

M-120AS Zaku machine gun (Version 1)

Ratsriver 3-tube missile pod (Version 1)

Ratsriver P-3 2-tube missile pod (Version 1)

Rear view (Version 1)