Mobile Weapons - Mobile Pods

Mobile Pods

The mobile pod is the predecessor of the mobile suit. They are simpler machines, consisting of a main body frame, usually spherical, with manipulator arms and a number of thrusters along the body.

In the Universal Century timeline, mobile pods were civilian craft used to construct the space colonies, long before the mobile suit concept was developed. Later, when the Earth Federation came under attack by Zeon's first mobile suits, many civilian SP-W03 Space Pods were retrofitted into the RB-79 Ball type units. It is designed as a mid-range support unit for both space ships and mobile suits. During the Earth Federation Space Force's offensive at the end of the One Year War, the Ball was used as a fighter unit before EFSF's mass production of their own mobile suit finished and form a group of 6 to counter Zeon mobile suits. Later, it is used as a middle to long range support unit in conjunction with the EFSF's mobile suit, the RGM-79 GM. Despite being generally unsuited to anti-mobile suit combat, the standard Ball saw service in 0083, when it was used in the defense of the Earth Federation's Solar System II during Operation Stardust. In UC 0133, Ball-type units equipped with three cannons, later called the Type 133(133式/133 Shiki), were seen supporting mass-production Gundam F91s.

Towards the end of the One Year War, due to lack of resources and construction sites and time, Zeon forces built their own mobile pod MP-02A Oggo. The unit cost is about half of a MS-06F Zaku and is cylindrical in shape. This unit was first fielded by the 603 test team.