RB-79K Ball Type K

Model number: RB-79K
Code name: Ball Type K
Unit type: mobile pod
Manufacturer: Earth Federation Forces
Operator: Earth Federation Forces
Rollout: UC 0079
First deployment: UC 0079
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in body
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, power output rating unknown
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: total output unknown
Performance: unknown
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; rocket-guided grappling wench, mounted on body
Fixed armaments: 2 x 180mm cannon, mounted on body

As the Earth Federation Forces’ Operation V scrambled to get their first mobile suit prototypes operational and begin mass production, a stopgap was needed to counter the Principality of Zeon’s mobile suit forces. During the stalemate of the middle months of the One Year War, civilian-model SP-W03 Space Pod space construction pods were converted into RB-79 Ball combat units, armed with a 180mm recoilless cannon. Although this was the standard armament for the Ball, several weapons variations appeared in different fronts of the war. One variant was the RB-79K Ball Type K, which was armed with a pair of cannons in place of the single one. The Type K was also equipped with larger manipulator arms and a rocket-guided cable wench for grappling objects and targets. One Ball pilot, Shiro Amada, became famous for using the normally hopelessly-outclassed Ball to defeat a high-performance MS-06RD-4 Zaku II RD-4 Type prototype operating in Earth orbit on October 6, UC 0079.

Pilot: Shiro Amada
First appearance: Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th M.S. Team
Original mechanical designer: Hajime Katoki

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