MA-08 Big Zam

MA-08 Big Zam

The MA-08 Big Zam was a prototype anti-warship and anti-fortress mobile armour developed by the Principality of Zeon.

History

At the beginning of the war, Zeon had a renewed interest in the mobile armour concept and the MIP-X1 design was improved to eventually become the MA-05 Bigro. The mobile armour concept was continuously improved upon and Zeon eventually developed the MA-08 Big Zam.

The Big Zam was deployed in combat during the Battle of Solomon on 24 December UC 0079. It was a desperate measure by Zeon to halt the Earth Federation’s advance on the asteriod base Solomon. Commander Dozle Zabi of Zeon’s Space Attack Force helmed the mobile armour. It shot down 20 mobile suits and nine capital ships before it was destroyed in its battle with the RX-78-2 Gundam.

The mobile armour was optimised for mass production but One Year War ended, along with the need for the MA-09 Mass Production Type Big Zam to be produced.

Design

The MA-06 Big Zam was one of the largest and most powerful mobile armour produced by Zeon during the One Year War. The Big Zam was almost as big as a battleship to house its engine, four power plants and an I-field generator. It was designed with offensive and defensive capabilities, while sacrificing speed and mobility.

It was heavily armed with a large mega particle gun and 28 mega particle guns. The I-field generator protected it from beam weapons, and its thick hull could stand up to a battering by projectile weapons.

The Big Zam’s major weakness was its operating duration of only 20 minutes. The high-powered generators and the I-field generator create excessive heat and the mobile armour had to be shut down after 20 minutes to cool down.

The I-field barrier did not protect against conventional projectile weapons or non-beam melee weaponry. Dozle Zabi found out belatedly when Amuro Ray attacked the Big Zam with the beam sabre of the RX-78-2 Gundam.

MA-08 Big Zam cockpit

MA-08 Big Zam cockpit

Armaments

The Big Zam’s main weapon was a large mega particle gun with. It also had smaller mega-particle guns and air-to-air missiles.

Mega particle gun

A large mega-particle gun was mounted on the Big Zam’s body. The cannon had the fire-power to destroy several battleships in a single shot.

Anti-aircraft mega particle guns

The Big Zam had 28 mega particle guns mounted on its main body. These were less powerful than the main mega particle gun and they provide 360 degrees of firing capability.

Air-to-air missiles

The three hooks on each of its pair of claws were actually air-to-air missiles used to pick out medium to close range enemies. The six missiles were almost as big as a mobile suit. They were not explosive, using their sheer mass to crush enemy vehicles instead.

Vulcan guns

A pair of 105 mm vulcan guns were mounted on the main body of the Big Zam to provide firing cover at a blind spot that was not covered by the mega particle guns. These were the first vulcan guns to be equipped on a Zeon mobile weapon. They were mainly used to distract the enemy or destroy missiles as they lacked the firing power to penetrate mobile suit armour.

Known pilots

Behind the scenes

Kunio Okawara was the original mechanical designer.

Appearances