RX-93 v Gundam

Model number: RX-93
Code name: v Gundam
Unit type: Newtype use ultrahigh efficiency mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics
Operator: Londo Bell
First deployment: March UC 0093
Accommodation: pilot only, in ejectable panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso
Dimensions: overall height 23.0 meters; head height 22.0 meters
Weight: empty 27.9 metric tons; max gross 63.0 metric tons
Armor materials: Gundarium alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 2,980 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 97,800 kg total (4 x 18,300 kg, 2 x 12,300 kg); vernier thrusters/apogee motors: 26
Equipment and design features: sensors, range 21,300 meters; dummy launchers in hands; birdlime launchers in hands; psychoframe cockpit frame
Fixed armaments: 2 x vulcan gun, mounted in head; large beam saber, power rated at 0.85 MW, stored in recharge rack on backpack, hand-carried in use; beam saber, stored in recharge rack in left forearm, hand-carried in use
Optional fixed armaments: shield, mounted on left forearm, mounts beam cannon (power rated at 7.8 MW) and 4 x small missile
Optional hand armaments: beam rifle, power rated at 3.8 MW, powered by rechargeable energy cap, with attached grenade launcher, 1 round; new hyper bazooka, clip-fed, 4 rounds per clip plus 1 round in chamber, can be stored on backpack storage rack
Remote weapons: 6 x fin funnel, stored on backpack storage rack

In response to the rise of Char Aznable’s second Neo Zeon movement in the early UC 0090s, the Earth Federation Forces created a special task force called Londo Bell to investigate and stop the new rebellion. One of Londo Bell’s mobile suit pilots was famed One Year War ace Amuro Ray, whose Newtype abilities were essential to stopping Char’s forces. Londo Bell commissioned Anaheim Electronics to build a new Gundam-type mobile suit for Amuro’s use, incorporating the latest in psychic communication technology. Anaheim’s result was the RX-93 v Gundam (v being the Greek symbol “nu”). The v Gundam’s basic design was created by Amuro himself, but construction and final modifications were supervised by Anaheim engineer October Saran. Data from Anaheim’s experimental RX-9 Narrative Gundam contributed to the development of the v Gundam. October incorporated the latest piece of psychic communication technology – supposedly leaked to Anaheim by Char’s Neo Zeon – called the psychoframe. Composed of microscopic-sized psycommu receptor chips, October incorporated the new psychoframe technology into the v Gundam’s cockpit frame, not only reducing its total weight but giving the pilot an edge in being able to more easily read an enemy’s thoughts and movements. The initial rollout version of the v Gundam, the “Frst Lot,” was completed prior to the incorporation of psychoframe technology.

However, Char’s forces began to move quickly, and the final rollout date for the v Gundam was moved up. Amuro took possession of the v Gundam and returned to the Londo Bell task force to prepare his new mobile suit for the coming fight with Char. Along with the psychoframe, the v Gundam was also equipped with six fin funnels, a new evolution in Newtype-controlled remote weaponry. Although they were technically bits and not funnels (since the fin funnels had their own onboard reactors for power), they were far more advanced than normal bits or funnels in that, in addition to serving as remote beam weapons, they could also be used in geometric formations to create a beam barrier, offering a target 360 degrees of protection against most weapons fire. By combining these advanced remote weapons with a Newtype pilot’s psychoframe-enhanced abilities, the v Gundam proved to be an unstoppable foe for the common Neo Zeon pilot.

Unfortunately, the psychoframe advantage also had its drawbacks. October warned Amuro that the psychoframe could create powerful unknown phenomenae, and this proved true when Amuro attempted to use the v Gundam to single-handedly stop half of the asteroid base Axis from falling on Earth. When other mobile suit pilots joined in the effort to push the giant rock from its decaying orbit, the concentration of so many minds on a single task caused the v Gundam’s psychoframe cockpit to overload, resulting in the mobile suit’s destruction and Earth’s salvation as Axis was pushed away by the overwhelming psychic force, an event later known as the Axis Shock. Psychoframe development continued after the war, and in UC 0096 the Vist Foundation rolled out the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, a mobile suit that incorporated the psychoframe throughout its entire body.

Pilot: Amuro Ray
First appearance: Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack
Original mechanical designer: Yutaka Izubuchi

Beam rifle

Beam saber mount

Beam sabers

Cockpit seat

Fin funnels

Head

New hyper bazooka

Rear view

Shield