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The RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1, nicknamed Alex, was a Newtype-use mobile suit created by the Earth Federation Forces. It was introduced in the OVA Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket.

Technology & Combat Characteristics[]

By the time of the One Year War, the Principality of Zeon's lead Newtype researcher, Dr. Flanagan, had been conducting his research for more than ten years. In contrast, the Earth Federation Forces only began their Newtype research in August, U.C. 0079. This was because the EFF did not see the military value of Newtypes due to the small number of examples and low replicability.[1]

However, concepts similar to Newtype-use unit were still included as part of the RX Project. Based on existing research to improve mobile suit responsiveness, as well as reports from the Newtype pilot Amuro Ray and operating data from the RX-78-2 Gundam, the EFF began the development of a Newtype-use mobile suit with the goal of improved durability and responsiveness.[1] For this purpose, the fourth RX-78 series unit was redesigned as a custom unit for Amuro Ray and received the new model number of RX-78NT-1.[1][2]

The Gundam NT-1's development was carried out by the Augusta Base, originally a facility that researched issues relating to soldiers' mental health, it was chosen because some of its researchers published essays proving the Newtype concept. For additional protection, it was equipped with a set of optional Chobam armor, earning it the nickname "Alex", which was derived from the model number prefix "RX" and the acronym "Armor Layered EXamination", the project name of its armor.[1]

To ensure the extra weight from the Chobam armor does not hinder its mobility, the NT-1 was designed with expanded propellant capacity in mind. Inspired by the Zeon concept of using the leg itself as a large vernier unit, it was fitted with propellant tank/sub-thruster hybrid units on its legs. It was also fitted with a large number of additional thrusters, both to improve its mobility and to compensate for the added weight of its armor.[1]

Thanks to its magnet coating and the use of a high-speed, large-capacity learning computer more advanced than the one used by the RX-78-2, the NT-1's responsiveness was more than three times that of existing mobile suits.[1][2] In addition, it was also equipped with a panoramic cockpit and linear seat, two features that would eventually become standard on mobile suits, under the belief that they would enable a Newtype pilot to better make use of their expanded awareness.[1]

Finally, based on analysis of combat data from the RX-78-2 Gundam, it was pointed out that the loss or damage of hand-carried weapons may impact the mobile suit's combat ability, so the NT-1 was equipped with a pair of concealed 90mm Gatling Guns in its forearms.[1]

Armaments[]

  • 60mm Vulcan Gun
A pair of shell-firing armament built into the head. Low offensive power, only used to restrict enemy movement, and lay down a wall of suppressive fire due to their rapid-fire capability.
  • 90mm Gatling Gun
Stored in armor covers on both forearms. It has the power to penetrate the armor of MS as seen with the MS-18E Kämpfer. The gun barrel is usually hidden and pops up during use, but the weapon's vibration and limited number of bullets caused issues. The adoption of this armament was made possible by the fact that the joint parts have been made smaller by improving field motor technology, allowing it to be mounted in the freed-up space. Although quite effective in combat, it is not adopted by subsequent mass production mobile suits due to cost and maintenance issues.[1]
  • Blash·XB-B-09 Beam Saber
The beam saber is a small device held in the mobile suit's hands when deployed and is powered by a rechargeable energy capacitor. It emits high-energy Minovsky particles to form a blade-shaped I-field (via manipulation of electromagnetic fields), and then fills this I-field shell with superheated Minovsky particle plasma to produce an effective cutting blade. Two sabers are stored on the backpack. Both the beam sabers and the backpack connectors were made by Blash. As a result, these beam sabers have a different design compared to those of the RX-78-2 and RX-78-3, and they are stored closer to the backpack's center instead of being stored on the backpack's outer edges like the other two mobile suits.
  • BOWA·Norfolk XBR-L Type-3 Beam Rifle
The primary ranged weapon of the Gundam Alex, it uses parts produced by different companies.[1] The Gundam Alex's beam rifle has a higher output and convergence rate than the one used by the RX-78-2 Gundam, leading to better penetration power.[1] It has been suggested that the magazine-shaped parts at the bottom of the rifle is an exchangeable E-pack.[3]
  • Hyper Bazooka
A general purpose fire support rocket launcher platform for mobile suits. With considerable destructive power owing to the high explosive yield in each warhead, the weapon was primarily used to destroy less maneuverable targets such as warships, satellites, land battleships, bunkers, and buildings. A custom type with scope was developed for the Gundam Alex.
  • RX·C-Sh-05 UBC/S-0003 Shield
A defensive armament, the Gundam Alex's shield has the same structure as its Chobam Armor and also has an anti-beam coating to withstand several beam shots like other shields.[1] It is said that some of the later Earth Federation Forces' mobile suits, such as the GP series, uses shields with similar makeup.

Special Equipment & Features[]

  • Panoramic Monitor
A new type of cockpit display, typically used in conjunction with a linear floating seat. The multiple panels of the panoramic monitor make up a single 360-degree display, which covers the entire inner surface of the spherical cockpit. The image displayed on the monitor is a computer simulation constructed from the cameras distributed around the mobile suit's exterior. The viewpoint is that of the mobile suit's head, and the image is carefully edited to remove the mobile suit itself.
  • Linear Floating Seat
A new type of pilot seat which becomes standard after the One Year War and is commonly known as 'linear seat'. In this arrangement, the seat is suspended in the center of the cockpit, supported by a linear arm which electromagnetically counters G-forces and impact shocks in order to protect the pilot. When used in conjunction with the 360-degree panoramic monitor, the linear seat also gives the pilot a larger field of view and eliminates blind spots.
  • Learning Computer
The Alex was equipped with the NICN system, a high-speed, large-capacity AI with better performance than the ICN system installed in the RX-78-2 Gundam.
  • Magnet Coating
A special membrane treatment applied to mobile suit's joints to improve their response speed. The mobile suits developed by the Earth Federation Forces use special actuators called field motors, whose efficiency is increased by the magnet coating process. The treatment also reduces friction resistance in the joints. With this, the reaction time of the MS is greatly increased, but also made the "Alex" extremely hard to control, especially for an Oldtype. While the Gundam "Alex" did not reach its intended pilot Amuro Ray, this technology was eventually applied to the original RX-78-2 Gundam.
  • Chobam Armor
Designed for the Gundam Alex, the Chobam ( Ceramics Hybrid Outer-shelled Blow up Act-on Materials) armor is a series of optional armor plates attached to the machine's main body.[1] It is one of the composite armor developed as part of the Full-Armor System and Weapon System (FSWS) project for the RX-78 series.[1] Materials used in its construction include a thin layer of Luna Titanium Alloy. Though the Chobam Armor granted the Alex superior defensive capabilities (it easily withstand a direct hit from the Kampfer's shotgun and protected the Gundam Alex from the explosion of the chain mine), it weighs down the suit and is unarmed. To reduce the drop in maneuverability and mobility caused by the added weight, the armor plates on the rear skit have built-in thrusters and certain sections of the armor have movable flaps to ensure some of Alex's thrusters remain usable. This armor was later used in the RGC-83 GM Cannon II. When equipped, the Alex's model number and name changes to RX-78NT-1FA Gundam NT-1・FA.

History[]

Development of the Alex began in August, U.C. 0079,[4] making it the fourth RX-78 series mobile suit to begin development during the One Year War.[2] It was later redesigned as a Newtype-use custom unit for Ensign Amuro Ray of the 13th Autonomous Corps, thus receiving the "NT-1" designation.[2] Its development was carried out by Augusta Base in North America.[1] At some point during its development process, it exchanged data with the RX-78-3 G-3 Gundam.[5]

0080 Alex shuttle

The Alex being loaded onto the shuttle

On December 9, U.C. 0079,[6] the Alex was planned to be launched from the Federation's Arctic Base in a shuttle disguised as a civilian craft.[7] However, Zeon learned of the launch beforehand, and Mobile Assault Force Colonel Killing ordered the Zeon special forces unit Cyclops Team to attack the base. Though the Cyclops Team devastated the base and its defense force, they failed to stop the shuttle carrying the Alex from launching.[8]

0080 NT-1 crate

The Alex's container

The shuttle arrived at the Ribo colony in Side 6 on December 12.[6] The Alex was unloaded and moved into the UN Medical Center, which secretly housed a Federation research facility, for final testing.[9] During the unloading, local boy Alfred Izuruha snuck into the shuttle dock and shot a video of the shuttle and one of its containers.[8]

Having apparently learned of the arrival of the Alex somehow, Zeon sent a mobile suit team to attack the colony on December 13.[6] The Federation Forces stationed in the colony responded by deploying their own mobile suits, causing a battle to erupt within the colony. During the battle, a MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai piloted by Zeon rookie pilot Bernard Wiseman crashed in the colony. At the crash site, Bernard encountered and befriended Alfred and took his footage of the shuttle and the container before being recovered by another Zaku II Kai.[8][10]

At Granada, Colonel Killing played the footage to the Cyclops Team and team leader Hardie Steiner confirmed that it was the same shuttle they were after. Killing ordered the team to infiltrate the colony and capture or destroy the Gundam. He then assigned Bernard to the team despite his rookie status, claiming that he was an excellent pilot.[10]

0080 Alex sim

Christina during a simulated battle in the Alex

0080 Alex test

The Alex during testing

At the UN Medical Center, test pilot Christina Mackenzie conducted numerous combat simulations using the Alex. However, she complained that the Alex's reaction was too fast and questioned if anyone could handle a mobile suit this sensitive in combat.[11]

0080 Alex finished

The Alex after testing concluded, as seen by Alfred

While on a routine observation mission with Bernard, Alfred accidentally discovered that a guard at the UN Medical Center was the same person as a worker he saw at the spaceport, leading him to conclude that the UN Medical Center was where the Gundam was held. Together, the two infiltrated the building and Alfred took pictures of the Alex.[11]

On December 19, the Cyclops Team began the final phase of their operation. Steiner, Gabriel Ramirez Garcia and Bernard would infiltrate the base disguised as Federation soldiers, make their way to the Gundam, and either capture or destroy it. At 1800, Mikhail Kaminsky would cause a distraction by flying across the streets in the MS-18E Kämpfer. Finally, Gabriel planted an explosive on a sealed cargo hatch on the colony surface in advance, which would detonate at 1830, allowing the team to escape the colony through the hole.[9][12]

Initially, the operation went as planned. However, just as the infiltrating team was about to reach the Gundam, a guard saw through their disguises, causing a firefight to break out. Steiner was mortally wounded by a bullet during the fight. As the Kämpfer closed in on the UN Medical Center, destroying Federation and Riah forces alike on the way, Federation officer Stuart ordered Christina to board the Gundam and engage the Zeon mobile suit, despite her objection to fighting in the colony.[12]

0080 Alex vs Kampfer

The Alex engaging the Kämpfer

After Garcia sacrificed himself in a failed attempt to destroy the Gundam using magnetic mines, Christina boarded the Gundam just as the Kämpfer reached it, dodging a shotgun blast and surviving another with no visible damage thanks to its Chobam armor. The Alex fired its head-mounted Vulcan guns at the Kämpfer, which evaded them.[12]

The Alex drew its beam saber and charged at the Kämpfer, which withdrew a chain mine from a prepared truck nearby and threw it at the Gundam. The chain mine attached to the Alex and exploded, engulfing it in a massive explosion, but only its Chobam armor and half of its antenna was destroyed. Shocked by the Gundam's resilience, Mikhail hesitated momentarily before drawing the Kämpfer's beam saber and charging. However, the Alex discarded its beam saber and fired at the Kämpfer with its left arm-mounted Gatling gun, shredding its cockpit and killing Mikhail.[12]

Having learned from Steiner that the colony would be destroyed by a nuclear attack if Operation Rubicon fails, Bernard ultimately decided to launch another attack on the Gundam. After repairing his crashed Zaku with the help of Alfred, he sortied in the Zaku. By this point, the Alex only had its beam sabers and less than five hundred rounds in its right arm-mounted Gatling gun left.[13]

0080 Gatling destroyed

The Alex's right arm Gatling gun is destroyed

Bernard drew the Gundam to a forest that he booby trapped in advance. After using some Christmas balloons to distract the Alex, the Zaku closed in and destroyed the Alex's right arm-mounted Gatling gun with his heat hawk, but a stray round hit the Zaku in the cockpit and grazed Bernard in the head. He then struck the Alex's cockpit, wounding Christina, before tackling it and driving it into a trip mine.[13]

0080 Alex decapitated

The Alex being decapitated

The Zaku lost its left arm in the explosion, but the Alex was almost undamaged. Finally, the Alex drew its beam saber as the two mobile suits clashed for the final time. The Alex was decapitated by the heat hawk, while the Zaku was stabbed in the cockpit, instantly killing Bernard.[13]

Due to the damage it sustained, the Alex did not make it to its intended pilot and was sent to Luna II for repairs. However, since the war ended soon after, it was never repaired and remained at Luna II until U.C. 0084, when it was returned to Augusta Base, which had now become the Augusta Lab. While there, it was repaired and upgraded using parts provided by the Titans. Presumably, the Augusta Lab used it for the testing of Cyber Newtypes.[14]

Following the closure of the Augusta Lab at the end of the Gryps Conflict, its assets, including the repaired and upgraded Alex, were transferred to the Strategic & Tactical Research Institute (which would later become the Strategic Naval Research Institute).[14] However, during the transfer, it was intercepted by Birnam, the private military arm of Buch Junk Inc., and renamed RX-78AN-01 Gundam AN-01 "Tristan".

Variants[]

NT-1 Proto

The RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 Proto

Also known as "Prototype NT-1". This unit was identical to the unit sent to Side 6 other than a paint job based on the RGM-79 GM, which was in the process of production and deployment at the time. It was used for data collection at Augusta Base, and was completed right before the end of the war, after the Side 6 unit's completion. After the war, it served as a testbed for the development of mobile suits.[15]

Gallery[]

Lineart[]

Anime[]

Illustrations & Artwork[]

Games[]

Gunpla[]

Action Figures[]

Gashapon[]

Notes & Trivia[]

  • The Alex's Chobam armor is a reference to the real-life Chobham armor, a type of British tank armor.
  • Most of the Alex's equipment is not seen in the OVA series. The Beam Rifle, Hyper Bazooka and Shield are only seen in supplementary materials.
  • In the animated intro of Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo, the "U.N.T. Spacy" marking on the Alex's right shoulder was corrected to "EFSF".
    • Both types of markings were included as optional decals in the Master Grade Gundam NT-1 2.0 model.
  • An illustration of an NT-1 color variant named "RX-78NT1 Proto" appears in Model Graphix vol. 61, released in 1989. It has a red and white color scheme and a "3" marking on its front skirt armor. The artwork was drawn by 0080 mechanical designer Mika Akitaka, who also published a hyper bazooka design for the NT-1 in the same issue.[16] Following the release of its Robot Damashii figure, the NT-1 Proto was given a backstory one the Robot Damashii website.
  • The original 1/144 Gundam NT-1 Gunpla manual stated that the Alex was a redesigned version of the fourth Gundam developed by the Federation Forces, implying that the Alex was originally Gundam Unit 4. However, the M-MSV design series released later in 1990 introduced the RX-78-4 Gundam Unit 4 "G04", which was unrelated to the NT-1. The original Alex MG model manual implied that there may be multiple Gundam Unit 4 due to parallel development.
  • While a number of video games that feature both Amuro Ray and the NT-1 Alex allow the player to have the former pilot the latter, some have details and/or scenarios unique to such a configuration, referencing the original plan to have him pilot the Gundam.
    • In the video game Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, when Amuro Ray pilots the Gundam Alex, he will say "This Alex isn't just for show!" This is likely a reference to Char's Counterattack when Amuro tells Char Aznable not to underestimate the RX-93 ν Gundam.
    • In the video game SD G-Generation DS, on special mode, if the player has unlocked the first extra session, instead of NT-1 Alex getting destroyed along with Bernie and Mackenzie, Gato and Char would intervene, saving the Cyclops team. Through this event, the NT-1 Alex would be piloted by Amuro during the battle at A Baoa Qu.
    • In Mobile Suit: Gundam Pilot's Locus, the Alex is one of the units of the Federation but is held down by Christina's poor piloting skills. If piloted by Amuro, however, the Alex quickly becomes one of the strongest units in the game.
    • In the Extreme Vs. series, Christina refers to Amuro as the Alex's designated pilot when paired together. Zeong Char's win quote against the Alex has him wonder and dread what could have happened had Amuro been the pilot instead.
    • In the manga, Mobile Suit Gundam Pulitzer -Amuro Ray Beyond the Aurora-, former Augusta Lab engineer, Mosk Han confirms to Kikka Kobayashi that he intended to send the Alex before the Battle of A Baoa Qu in exchange for the Gundam and the data that Amuro had accumulated, but had failed due to so.
  • In its appearance in the Extreme Vs. series initially being at the series' floor cost at 1000, and later 1500, the same cost as the Zaku II Kai. The Alex may also call on a pair of GM Sniper IIs for support. Additionally, it can swap in and out of its Chobham armor in order to trade the armor's defense for more mobility.

References[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 MG 1/100 RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 (1999) instruction manual
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 NG0080 1/144 RX-78NT1 Gundam NT-1 (1989) instruction manual
  3. 'Gundam MS Historica vol. 4' Book
  4. Entertainment Bible 1 - Mobile Suit Gundam MS Encyclopedia - Part 1: One Year War (1989), p. 67
  5. Master Grade RX-78-3 Gundam Ver. 2.0 (2009) instruction manual
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Gundam Officials (2001), p.633-636
  7. Gundam Officials (2001), p.59-64
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket Episode 1, How Many Miles to the Battlefield?
  9. 9.0 9.1 Gundam Officials (2001), p.765-773
  10. 10.0 10.1 Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket Episode 2, Reflections in a Brown Eye
  11. 11.0 11.1 Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket Episode 3, And at the End of the Rainbow?
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket Episode 4, Over the River and Through the Woods
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket Episode 6, War in the Pocket
  14. 14.0 14.1 Mobile Suit Gundam Twilight Axis (Manga) Vol.1 (2018)
  15. Robot Spirits ver. A.N.I.M.E. Data File
  16. 【10/23締切】「ガンダムNT-1プロト ver. A.N.I.M.E.」製品サンプル紹介&明貴美加氏スペシャルコメント!

External links[]


Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 Mechanics
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Earth Federation Forces
Mobile Weapon
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RGM-79D GM Cold Districts Type | RGM-79G GM Command | RGM-79GS GM Command Space Type | RGM-79SP GM Sniper II | RX-77D Guncannon Mass Production Type | RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1

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Principality of Zeon
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MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai | MS-09R-2 Rick Dom II | MS-14JG Gelgoog Jäger | MS-18E Kämpfer | MSM-03C Hygogg | MSM-07E Z'Gok-E

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Jukon-class
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Riah Republic
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RH-35E Riah 35 Draken-E

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