ZGMF-600 GuAIZ

The GuAIZ is ZAFT's second generation mass production mobile suit, an advanced deriative of the GINN using technology acquired from the four GAT-X series mobile suits ZAFT stole earlier in CE 71. It was unarguably superior to its predecessor, as well as both the M1 Astray and Strike Dagger; during an engagement at the Mendel Colony, ZAFT ace Rau Le Creuset was even able to cripple the Strike Gundam using his GuAIZ.

The GuAIZ's armaments comprised a heavy beam rifle, a pair of head-mounted 76mm cannon and a composite shield incorporating two beam claws; it also had a pair of extensional arrestors mounted on its backpack. The GuAIZ also retained the GINN's heavy armour, although its engines were upgraded to improve its agility.

Unfortunately for ZAFT, the GuAIZ was too little, too late. They were unable to produce meaningful numbers of them before the end of the First Bloody Valentine War, and by then the Earth Alliance had ceased Strike Dagger production in favour of the more capable 105 Dagger, which the GuAIZ was inferior to. More worrying to ZAFT was the fact that the GuAIZ, for all its technical brilliance and firepower, was essentially a dead end: it represented the limit of what could be done with the basic GINN frame, and the Earth Alliance and Orb's designs had far more growth potential in them.

Initially, ZAFT intended to replace the GuAIZ with nuclear-powered ZAKU mobile suits; however, the Treaty of Junius, which formally ended the Bloody Valentine War, banned the use of N-Jammer cancellers, and problems dogged converting the ZAKU to battery power, so the GuAIZ soldiered on long after it should have been replaced.

To get more use out of its GuAIZs, ZAFT modified them to ZGMF-601 GuAIZ Rs; this variant added two 'Pollux IX' railguns, mounted on its hips, as well as removing the extensional arrestors and modifying the shield. It was also possessed of lesser manouvrability than the standard GuAIZ, due to the deletion of several manouvring thrusters, making it - in theory - easier to use. However, even these limited modifications couldn't be employed across the entire GuAIZ force; some remained in the base configuration even as the Second Bloody Valentine War drew to a close.

The GuAIZ fought in the Second Bloody Valentine War, where its inferiority to the newer EA mobile suits became lethally apparent: in every battle they fought in, ZAFT's GuAIZ squadrons took heavy casualties. Despite that, they soldiered on faithfully up to the final battle over the Messiah.

Record 1395 - vehicle/ship class - Last update 28 Mar 2007, 23:15:56

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