Phase Shift Armor
Phase Shift Armor is a technology designed to protect mobile suits from kinetic energy weapons (as opposed to beam weaponry).
Phase Shift, or "PS" armor, is an armor system that uses electricity to reduce the damage from all forms of kinetic energy attacks although in most practicalities, PS armor makes a mobile suit virtually immune to solid body impact attacks as well. When PS armor powers up, a hissing sound can be heard and the grey surface of the mobile suit's armor is overlaid in color, which appears to be alterable by entering different values in the Armor Voltage section of the OS. Once powered up, the PS armor requires a steady flow of energy to maintain although power consumption spikes momentarily whenever the mobile suit is hit. ZAFT commander Andrew Waltfeld, after watching the Strike fight, estimated that the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam in standard use can take approximately 76 hits from the missiles of a TMF/A-802 BuCUE, before the energy usage drains the battery. This example illustrates that even solid ballistic weapons can eventually overpower Phase Shift Armor. Most beam weapons are able to overpower PS Armor faster than ballistic weapons. However, should a power failure occur, caused by either prolonged use or the use of high energy beam weapons, which will further drain the mobile suit's battery, the PS armor will power down, leaving the mobile suit vulnerable to even the simplest physical attack.
Phase Shift armor is also able to protect the unit from great heat and thus making the unit possible for atmospheric re-entry, but it will be dangerous to the pilot due the intense heat when doing an atmospheric re-entry.
Phase Shift armor (PS) was developed by the Earth Alliance, and first rolled out in Cosmic Era 71. It remains in use as of CE 73. The first mobile suits to be equipped with PS Armor are the so-called "Gundams", GAT-X102 Duel Gundam, GAT-X103 Buster Gundam, GAT-X105 Strike Gundam, GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam and GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam. Later, both ZAFT and the Orb Union's Morgenroete, Inc. were able to study and duplicate the armor design.
The inverse of the Phase Shift armor concept is the Universal Century's I-field generator, which defends against beam weaponry but has no effect against physical attack. Phase Shift itself was once claimed by the mechanical designer to be referenced from a British Army research program for ERA (Electric reactive armor).
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