RX-78GP01 Gundam GP01 Zephyranthes

Model number: RX-78GP01
Code name: Gundam GP01 Zephyranthes
Unit type: prototype general purpose mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics
Operator: Earth Federation Forces
Rollout: 29 September UC 0083
First deployment: 13 October UC 0083
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso with Core Block System using FF-XII Core Fighter II
Dimensions: head height 18.0 meters
Weight: empty 39.7 metric tons; max gross 65.0 metric tons
Armor materials: Luna Titanium alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1,790 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 108,000 kg total (2 x 42,000 kg, 2 x 12,000 kg)
Performance: 180-degree turn time 0.9 seconds
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments: 2 x 60mm vulcan gun, mounted in head; 2 x beam saber, stored in recharge racks in backpack, hand-carried in use
Optional hand armaments: beam rifle, power rated at 1.5 MW, powered by replaceable e-pac, with mounted “jitte” beam saber blocking unit, 2 spare e-pacs stored in shield; 90mm machine gun, clip-fed, 20 rounds per clip; shield, can be optionally mounted on either forearm

During its military reconstruction following the devastating One Year War, the Earth Federation Forces contracted a private company, Anaheim Electronics, to develop a series of new Gundam-model mobile suits to serve as conceptual testbeds for new and improved mobile suit technology. The first of these new prototypes to come out of Anaheim’s Von Braun City lunar factory was the RX-78GP01 Gundam GP01, code-named Zephyranthes. In terms of speed, weaponry and performance, the GP01 was still better than any mass produced unit fielded by the EFF at the time. However, its basic design was nothing more than a slightly improved version of the original RX-78-2 Gundam prototype. Equipped with a Core Block System, the pilot could eject either the upper or lower halves of the mobile suit in an emergency, or eject from the mobile suit altogether in a new-and-improved FF-XII Core Fighter II. Aside from the standard head vulcan guns, beam sabers and beam rifle, the GP01 featured more up-to-date avionics and control systems, as well as a general increase in acceleration and maneuverability.

The GP01 and a second prototype, the RX-78GP02A Gundam GP02A Physalis, along with Anaheim systems engineer Nina Purpleton and her staff of technicians, were brought aboard the assault carrier Albion to be delivered to Earth for testing under full gravity. Arriving at Torrington Base in Australia for the field trials, the GP01 was put into actual combat sooner than expected: the GP02A, armed with a nuclear warhead, was hijacked by Zeon remnants led by Anavel Gato. Novice EFF pilot Kou Uraki commandeered the GP01 in a failed attempt to recover the stolen GP02A. However, Uraki’s undeveloped piloting abilities allowed him to push the GP01 beyond its expected performance levels, and Uraki was permanently assigned as the GP01’s pilot while the Albion pursued the stolen GP02A across Earth and into space. Unfortunately, the GP01 was not properly calibrated for space, and was soon critically damaged during a space battle against Zeon’s Cima Garahau. Shortly afterward, the GP01 returned to Anaheim’s lunar factory for rebuilding and upgrading into the RX-78GP01Fb Full Burnern.

Pilot: Kou Uraki
First appearance: Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Original mechanical designer: Shoji Kawamori

Beam rifle

Beam saber

Cockpit

Cockpit hatch

Head

Rear view

Shield