MP-02A Oggo – MechaBay | Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO

The MP-02A Oggo was a limited production space assault mobile pod developed by the Principality of Zeon during the late stages of the One Year War.

The “MP” in the model code indicated it was a mobile pod, and the “02A” denoted it was the second mobile pod design with an “A” variant designation. As the One Year War turned against the Principality of Zeon, the military began producing the MP-02A Oggo, a patchwork mobile pod similar in concept to the Earth Federation Forces’ RB-79 Ball.

History

The MP-02A Oggo was developed as a desperate measure by the Principality of Zeon in the final months of the One Year War. Towards the end of One Year War, the Principality of Zeon lost most of their resource bases on Earth and lacked the materials to continue mass-producing mobile suits in the same numbers as earlier in the war. The Oggo represented an attempt to field more mobile weapons using available spare parts and existing infrastructure.

By taking advantage of the integrated project implemented in the production lines of several manufacturing companies, building the Oggo does not interrupt regular procedure and it was formally accepted into mass-production without any debate. The design was inspired by the success of the Earth Federation Forces’ RB-79 Ball, leading Zeon engineers to develop their own mobile pod concept.

Late in the war, multiple Oggos were transferred to the 603rd Technical Evaluation Unit on the Jotunheim and assigned to young pilots fresh out of the academy. The Oggos remained in use on the Jotunheim until the Battle of A Baoa Qu. The units served as training machines for inexperienced pilots while providing additional defensive capability for the evaluation unit.

Design

The MP-02A Oggo was designed as a cost-effective alternative to full mobile suits during Zeon’s resource-constrained final war period. The cost of each Oggo is about half of a MS-06 Zaku II. The primary shape of its design is a cylinder bisected by a standard 3-panel cockpit in the middle of the cylinder, and possessing a monoeye sensor above its cockpit.

The Oggo made heavy use of spare Zaku parts, including its reactor and armaments. This included the generator from the J-Type MS-06 Zaku II, which was no longer considered necessary due to Zeon’s retreating front lines. The cylindrical main body housed the pilot’s cockpit and weapons systems, with the design optimised for ease of manufacture using existing production capabilities.

On each side of the Oggo there is a turret with 360-degree rotation and hardpoints for various standard Zeon mobile suit armaments used by MS-06 Zaku II units. The Oggo’s cylindrical body had rotating turrets that allowed it to use Zaku weapons from multiple directions without having arms. However, the rotating turrets could jam while in use.

The Oggo featured an ultracompact Minovsky fusion reactor rated at 976 kW output, providing sufficient power for its weapons systems and basic mobility. The unit measured 7.8 metres in overall height, 11.6 metres in length, and 14.7 metres in width, making it considerably smaller than contemporary mobile suits.

Armaments

The Oggo’s standard weapons consisted of various MS-06 Zaku II armaments mounted on rotating turrets, supplemented by built-in defensive systems.

120 mm Zaku machine gun

The standard machine gun used by the Zaku II, it has rapid fire capability but it has trouble penetrating tough armor. The machine gun was mounted on one of the Oggo’s rotating turrets, providing the unit with anti-personnel and light anti-mobile suit capability. Its high rate of fire made it effective for suppressing enemy movements and engaging lightly armoured targets.

280 mm Zaku bazooka

The standard bazooka used by the Zaku II, it fired explosive rounds that were quite effective against the armor of Earth Federation battleships. However the bazooka could only be loaded with a single round at a time, thus it had to be used carefully. The bazooka provided the Oggo with its primary anti-mobile suit and anti-ship capability, though its single-shot limitation required careful target selection.

Sturm faust

A simplified, disposable rocket launcher. It is commonly used by Zeon mobile suits in the late stages of the One Year War. As the warhead is not equipped with a guidance device, it is extremely hard to use the Sturm Faust to hit a moving target accurately. However, it is still a highly destructive weapon. Each mount can hold up to two Sturm Fausts. The Oggo carried two sturm fausts as secondary weapons, providing additional firepower against stationary or slow-moving targets.

6-tube rocket pod

The rocket pod provided the Oggo with area suppression capability and additional firepower against multiple targets. Mounted directly on the main body, it could deliver concentrated salvos against enemy formations.

Extendable claws

The Oggo featured two extendable claws mounted on the main body for close-range combat and utility purposes. These mechanical manipulators allowed the unit to engage in melee combat when necessary and provided basic handling capability for objects.

Known pilots

Erwin Cadillac
Freidrich Catell
Franz Bland

Behind the scenes

Kenki Fujioka was the original mechanical designer for both the MS IGLOO and A.O.Z Re-Boot versions of the MP-02A Oggo.

Some fans assumed that Oggo might be based on real life WWII Japanese suicide vehicles such as Oka suicide planes, this is proven wrong, because Oggos are never designed as one. However, as Gattles are apparently used as kamikaze weapons in both Solomon and A Baoa Qu, there’s possibility that Oggos may be deployed as suicide weapons as well, though very unlikely it would happen.

Appearances

Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO

External links

MP-02A Oggo on the Gundam Wiki
MP-02A Oggo on MAHQ