YMS-07A Prototype Gouf

Model number: YMS-07A
Code name: Prototype Gouf
Unit type: prototype ground combat mobile suit
Manufacturer: Zeonic Company
Operator: Principality of Zeon
First deployment: January UC 0079
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 18.2 meters
Weight: empty 58.2 metric tons; max gross weight unknown
Armor materials: super hard steel alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, power output rating unknown
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: total output unknown
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments: none
Optional fixed armaments: shield, mounted on left forearm
Optional hand armaments: Zaku machine gun, drum-fed; heat hawk

As the Principality of Zeon invaded and conquered many corners of Earth during the One Year War, Zeonic Company engineered were hard at work on a new ground combat mobile suit to supplement and replace the aging MS-06J Zaku II. The first prototype of this new model was the YMS-07A Prototype Gouf, which was essentially a redesigned Zaku with more efficient use of equipment and space, making it lighter and more maneuverable than the Zaku. Zeonic engineers tested the mobility and armaments of the Prototype Gouf by creating two additional test units, the YMS-07A-0 (mobility) and YMS-07B-0 (tactical). In its prototype form, the YMS-07A carried mostly the same armaments as the Zaku II, including a Zaku machine gun and heat hawk. The heat hawk was stored in a new shield designed exclusively for the Gouf. The Gouf was intended to mount fixed weapons – specifically a 5-barreled 75mm machine gun hand and a tentacle heat rod – but these weapons weren’t ready at this early stage of production and didn’t appear until the second production unit, the MS-07B. A second prototype unit, the YMS-07B, incorporated additional thrusters in the legs, giving the Prototype Gouf the ability to make jet-assisted jumps.

First appearance: MSV
Original mechanical designer: Kunio Okawara

Rear view