Dabude-class
Commander-use land battleship produced by the Principality of Zeon.
The Dabude-class was a commander-use land battleship produced by the Principality of Zeon during the One Year War.
History
The Principality of Zeon developed the Dabude-class land battleship based on a Russian command post chassis design, aiming to reduce production strain on their homeland facilities. The vessel served as both a mobile command post and artillery platform during the One Year War.
Multiple Dabude-class vessels were deployed to the European Front, with one serving as M’Quve’s flagship during Operation Odessa. During the Battle of Hill 144 on 8-9 November UC 0079, two Dabude-class vessels inflicted heavy casualties on the Federation’s 44th Independent Composite Brigade before being destroyed by RTX-440 Ground Assault Type Guntanks.
A Dabude-class also served as a missile control center at the North American California Base, but was destroyed by the RX-79BD-1 Blue Destiny Unit 1 before it could launch its nuclear payload.
Design
The Dabude-class emphasized ballistic weapons over beam technology, featuring two sets of massive caterpillar treads for propulsion. Its bridge was positioned high above the ship to provide better visibility in Minovsky particle conditions.
The vessel’s mobility was inferior to Federation land battleships like the Big Tray-class and Heavy Fork-class which used thermonuclear jet engine-powered hovercrafts. This design choice was likely made to expedite development by using proven technology.
The ship featured a large external deck capable of supporting the landing and takeoff of Commu reconnaissance planes. While lacking dedicated mobile suit storage, the deck could accommodate two mobile suits.
A variant used during Operation Odessa featured three pairs of smaller caterpillar treads, six twin machine gun turrets (three per side), and outriggers instead of dampers.
Armaments
The Dabude-class’s primary weapons were twin large cannons for artillery bombardment and twin machine guns for defense.
Twin large cannon
The ship’s main armament consisted of two twin-barreled cannons mounted on either side. Due to their massive caliber, the ship required stabilization when firing to prevent chassis damage. The turrets could rotate 180 degrees and elevate upward but could not depress below horizontal.
Twin machine gun
For close-range defense, the vessel mounted either two or six twin machine gun turrets depending on the variant. These weapons could fire standard high-caliber rounds against mobile suits and vehicles, or explosive flak rounds against aircraft. The guns were positioned on the vessel’s “neck” to protect the bridge.
Missile launcher
The ship’s hangar concealed at least one missile launcher capable of firing nuclear weapons. The total missile capacity remains unknown.
Ships and captains
- *Bomburr captained by Gados Magua
- Unnamed ship captained by M’Quve
Behind the scenes
Okawara Kunio was the original mechanical designer for Mobile Suit Gundam, while Aramaki Shinji designed the version seen in MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front.
Appearances
Anime
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front
Games
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs Zeta Gundam
- Gihren’s Greed: Menace of Axis V
External links
- Dabude-class on the Gundam Wiki
- Dabude-class on MAHQ