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The MA-08 Big Zam is a mobile armor introduced in the Mobile Suit Gundam anime. Developed by the Principality of Zeon, it was commandered by Dozle Zabi during the Battle of Solomon.

Technology & Combat Characteristics[]

A mobile armor designed for maximized offensive power, the Big Zam was considered the largest and most powerful tactical weapon during the One Year War.[1] It was armed with a wide array of weapons, including a large mega particle cannon in the front of its torso, capable of sinking a Magellan-class battleship with a single shot. Across its torso was an array of anti-air mega particle cannons, which were used to prevent mobile suits from approaching. The claws on its legs could be fired as missiles. For protection, it was equipped with a barrier that nullified beam weapons.[2]

In order to power all of its beam weapons at the same time, the Big Zam was equipped with four large fusion reactors, each with a power output of 35,000 kilowatt. Due to issues with cooling, it was only able to operate at full combat capability for less than 20 minutes. Its cockpit block, located in the upper torso, housed three pilot seats: a pilot, a radar operator, and a gunner; though it could be operated by a single pilot with the assistance of computers.[2]

Armaments[]

  • Large Mega Particle Gun
The primary weapon of the Big Zam is a large mega particle gun that sits prominently in the center of the mobile armor's body. This mega particle gun draws a vast amount of energy from the four fusion reactors, allowing it to fire a mega particle beam that can destroy multiple battleships in a single shot. It is the most powerful weapon used by any mobile weapon or battleship, second only to the superweapons employed by both sides.
  • Anti-Aircraft Mega Particle Gun
The main secondary weapons of the Big Zam are twenty-eight anti-aircraft mega particle guns that line the middle of the Big Zam's torso, completely encircling it with the exception of a break for the large mega particle gun. The positioning of the anti-aircraft guns, and their higher firing rate, provides the Big Zam with 360-degree defense against smaller, more maneuverable mobile weapons, such as mobile suits, which can avoid the large mega particle gun's beam. However, their positioning is also a weakness because if a mobile suit can get directly above, below, or simply close enough to the armor, it will be out of the anti-aircraft mega particle guns' targeting range.
  • Air-to-Air Missile
To protect the Big Zam's undercarriage, a blind spot not covered by the mega particle guns, the Big Zam is equipped with three air-to-air missiles disguised as claws on each legs. These massive air-to-air missiles are almost the size of a mobile suit and are not explosive in nature. Instead, they are designed to crush enemy machines through sheer size and mass.
  • 105mm Vulcan Gun
A tertiary weapon fitted in the Big Zam's main body are a pair of shell-firing 105mm vulcan guns, placed to cover a blind spot not protected by the mega particle guns. Though larger than most vulcan guns, the Big Zam's 105mm vulcan guns, the first to be used in a Zeon mobile weapon, can still only deliver light damage to the armor of a mobile suit and are better suited for shooting down lightly armored targets such as missiles.

Special Equipment[]

  • I-Field Barrier Generator
When Minovsky particles are released into the air or into open space, the positive and negative particles spontaneously align themselves into a three-dimensional cubic lattice. Due to the repulsive and electrostatic forces between the Minovsky particles, this lattice functions as a kind of a force field, which is referred to as an I-field. This field has difficulty permeating conductive materials like metal, water, and plasma, and it exerts a repulsive force against mega particles. An I-field is used to to deflect enemy mega particle beams. Due to its high power requirements, the I-field generator originally could only be installed in large mobile weapons. When the generator is activated, the I-field forms an invisible barrier around the mobile weapon, protecting it from incoming beam attacks. However, this barrier has no effect against solid objects like missiles and projectiles, and beam weapons can still be used at point blank range within the barrier's boundary.

History[]

Developed at A Baoa Qu, the Big Zam was originally intended to be used for the attack on Jaburo. It was expected that after mass production, a company of Big Zams would be dropped onto Jaburo and instantly capture the Earth Federation headquarters. Only one unit rolled out.[3] This unit was later assigned to Solomon by Gihren Zabi as the Earth Federation Forces prepared to attack the space fortress.

The Big Zam was first deployed as Solomon's last line of defense during the Battle of Solomon on December 24, U.C. 0079. Dozle Zabi and two co-pilots attacked the Federation space force that was attempting to land on the base, wiping out numerous RGM-79 GM and RB-79 Ball units before taking flight to attack the Federation fleet. The attacks went smoothly and several battleships were sunk before the Big Zam was confronted by the Federation's most powerful mobile suit, the RX-78-2 Gundam piloted by emerging Newtype Amuro Ray. Making his attack run docked with the G-Fighter piloted by Sleggar Law, Amuro was able to attack the Big Zam from within the I-Field's defensive perimeter, dealing heavy damage to the undercarriage. He then finished the mobile armor off with the Gundam's beam saber, destroying the unit and effectively ending Zeon resistance at Solomon.

Variants[]

In the manga Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Rebellion, the wreckage of the Big Zam was noted to be recovered by the Earth Federation Forces and repaired. Renamed "RMA-081 Big Zam", the mobile armor has additional I-Field generators in the upper hull, four added vulcan guns, and the mono-eye sensor was replaced with a visor-type sensor. The Earth Federation Forces planned to reveal this machine at the finale of the naval review at Solomon (now called "Confeito") in U.C.0083, believing that it would cause the Zeon remnants to despair once they have seen that a former symbol of Solomon now belongs to the Federation.

Gallery[]

Lineart[]

Anime[]

Mobile Suit Gundam[]

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn[]

Illustrations & Artwork[]

Manga[]

Games[]

Gunpla[]

Action Figures[]

Gashapon[]

Notes and Trivia[]

  • Big Zam appears in Gundam: The Battle Master, its sequel and later US adaptation in Gundam Battle Assault as an unlockable VS mode unit as well as the first boss in the game. Its appearance is significantly altered and features additional missile launchers on its underside. Its large mega particle cannon features two panels that open up when it prepares to fire. While its toe claws are still intact, they go unused as air-to-air missiles.
  • Big Zam appears as both a boss unit and unlockable VS unit in Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs Zeon and Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam, with its Federation colors (mostly blue) being a reference to its 2P color in Battle Assault.
    • Curiously, the Big Zam cannot sortie in any stage taking place in zero gravity space despite that it spent most of its time doing so in the anime. Even after the release of Encounters in Space which rectified this problem, the error still exists in Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam, which was released two years after. However, a large number of these units can be seen in outer space in Haman's best ending in UC mode.
  • There appears to be some inconsistency as to the depiction of its rear thrusters. In official illustrations as well as some games, the thrusters are located in small slots on the top half but in other games, it's given a series of larger and much visible thrusters, some of them being located in its middle section.

References[]

  1. (2006-07-26) 〈復刻版〉機動戦士ガンダムモビルスーツバリエーション (2) ジオン軍MS・MA編 (in Japanese). 講談社編 [Kodansha], p. 50. ISBN 9784063721768. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 (1989-02-01) 機動戦士ガンダム MS大図鑑【PART.1 一年戦争編】 [Mobile Suit Gundam MS Encyclopedia 【PART.1 One Year War】] ENTERTAINMENT BIBLE. 1 (in Japanese). Bandai, p. 86. ISBN 9784891890063. 
  3. (2006-07-26) 〈復刻版〉機動戦士ガンダムモビルスーツバリエーション (2) ジオン軍MS・MA編 (in Japanese). 講談社編 [Kodansha], p. 142. ISBN 9784063721768. 

External links[]


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