RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 Alex

Model number(s): RX-78NT-1; RX-78NT-1FA
Code name: Gundam NT-1 Alex
Unit type: prototype Newtype use mobile suit
Manufacturer: Earth Federation Forces
Operator: Earth Federation Forces
Rollout: December UC 0079
First deployment: December UC 0079
Accommodation: pilot only, in panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 18.0 meters
Weight: empty 40.0 metric tons (standard), 50.0 metric tons (Chobham armor); max gross 72.5 metric tons (standard), 95.0 metric tons (Chobham armor)
Armor materials: Luna Titanium alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1,420 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: standard: 13,2000 kg total (2 x 35,000 kg, 2 x 7,000 kg, 6 x 8,000 kg), Chobham armor: 174,000 kg total (2 x 35,000 kg, 8 x 7,000 kg, 6 x 8,000 kg); vernier thrusters/apogee motors: 19 (standard), 13 (Chobham armor)
Performance: 180-degree turn time: 0.8 seconds; maximum ground running speed 192 km/h
Equipment and design features: sensors, range 5,900 meters; magnetic coated joints; optional ejectable external Chobham armor
Fixed armaments: 2 x 60mm vulcan gun, mounted in head; 2 x 90mm Gatling gun, mounted in forearms; 2 x beam saber, stored in recharge racks in backpack, hand-carried in use
Optional fixed armaments: shield, mounted on either forearm
Optional hand armaments: beam rifle, powered by rechargeable energy cap; hyper bazooka

Late during the One Year War, the Earth Federation Forces realized that they had a major problem with their prototype RX-78-2 Gundam close combat mobile suit: its pilot. Gundam pilot Amuro Ray was an emerging Newtype, and his abilities to predict enemy movements and respond with lightning-fast reflexes were simply pushing the Gundam beyond its design limits. To correct this problem, the EFF set out to develop a new Gundam prototype (code-named Alex) capable of taking advantage of a Newtype’s quick-reacting abilities. The RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 Alex was a big step above its already-well-performing (but hopelessly overworked) RX-78-2 predecessor. In addition to the standard head vulcan guns, beam sabers and a beam rifle, the Gundam Alex mounted a 90mm Gatling gun in each forearm, giving the mobile suit heavy close-range firepower to back up its beam rifle. The Gundam Alex also replaced the costly and complicated Core Block System of the original Gundam with an experimental new type of cockpit. Incorporating a 360-degree panoramic monitor screen around the pilot, all of the Gundam Alex’s controls were incorporated into panels mounted on the pilot’s linear seat. This configuration gave the pilot an almost unlimited field of vision, thus allowing for easier target acquisition and faster response time. Another feature adding to the Gundam Alex’s maneuverability was the magnetic coating applied to the suit’s joints and motors, reducing friction and wear to almost nothing and making the Gundam Alex extremely responsive to pilot input. The Gundam Alex also mounted protective Chobham armor pieces, and an alternate plan mounted different armor and weapons as the FA-78NT-1 Full Armor Alex.

Word of this top-secret project reached the Principality of Zeon, which initiated Operation Rubicon and dispatched its Cyclops team special forces unit to stop the EFF from completing and deploying the new Gundam. A surprise attack by the Cyclops team failed to stop the EFF from shipping the incomplete Gundam Alex parts from its Arctic base to Side 6’s Libot Colony, where it was soon completed and began test trials with pilot Christina Mackenzie. The Cyclops team discovered the Gundam Alex’s new location and were dispatched to capture or destroy it before it could be fielded. On December 24, UC 0079, Cyclops team pilot Bernard Wiseman used an MS-06FZ Zaku II FZ to severely damage the Gundam Alex (at the cost of his own life) in an attempt to save Side 6 from being nuked by Zeon in a last act of desperation. At that point, the war was coming to an end, and the Gundam Alex development project was soon dropped. Long after the One Year War, the Buffo Concern acquired the damaged Gundam Alex by unknown means and heavily refurbished it with new parts into the RX-78AN-01 Gundam AN-01 Tristan, which it secretly deployed to the Axis asteroid in UC 0096.

Pilot: Christina Mackenzie
First appearance: Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Original mechanical designer: Yutaka Izubuchi

90mm Gatling gun

Beam rifle

Beam saber

Cockpit

Head

Rear view

Shield