RB-79C Ball Type C
Ball Kai variant used by the Earth Federation.
The RB-79C Ball Type C was a variant of the RB-79 Ball deployed by the Earth Federation. It was also known as the Ball Ver Ka., meaning improved version.
The “C” variant code denoted it as the third variation of the RB-79.
Most of the Ball units were disassembled after the One Year War, but some are kept in service defending military bases. The Type C was the standard that all surviving Ball units were converted to after the war.
History
See also: History of RB-79 Ball
At the start of the One Year War with the Principality of Zeon, the Earth Federation was at a disadvantage due to their lack of mobile suits to challenge the Zeon mobile suits. Although the Federation later developed the successful prototype RX-78-2 Gundam, it was too costly to be mass produced.
Their first mass-production mobile suit, the RGM-79 GM, was not moving off the assembly line fast enough to meet the demands of the front lines. Thus, the Federation refitted around 1,200 civilian-use SP-W03 Space Pods to be deployed in combat as the RB-79 Ball.
The Federation developed a prototype mobile suit, the RX-78-2 Gundam, but it was too costly to be mass produced. Their first mass-production mobile suit, the RGM-79 GM, was not produced fast enough to be deployed at all battle fronts. Thus, the Federation refitted around 1,200 civilian-use SP-W03 Space Pods to be deployed in combat.
Despite its shortcomings in combat, the Ball was cheap to produce and the Federation could amass them in large numbers. This led to the tactics of attaching Ball squadrons to the fast Salamis-class cruisers for hit-and-run attacks on Zeon supply lines.
The Ball Type C, also known as the Ball Ver Ka, was a variant of the standard Ball made to handle larger objects.
After the War ended, most of the Ball units were disassembled after the One Year War, but some are kept in service defending military bases.
During Operation Stardust in late UC 0083, many Balls Type C were used to guard the Solar System II and its fleet of ships. The Balls also assisted in the adjustment of the weapon’s mirrors.
Design
See also: Design of RB-79 Ball
The RB-79C Ball Type C was identical to the RB-79 Ball except for the extra set of manipulator arms for handling of larger objects.
This was folded under the main arms when not in use, and extended to allow the Ball to grip objects larger than its main arms.
It had a standard cockpit located in the center of the Ball.
Armament
Like the RB-79 Ball, the Ball Type C was equipped with a 180 mm recoilless cannon mounted on its top. The cannon provided limited power and was only effective against light armor. Due to the fixed angle of the cannon, it was only effective against targets in front of the Ball.
Variants
- RB-79 Ball
- RB-79F Ball Type F
- RB-79K Ball Type K
- RB-79M Ball Type M
- RB-79N Fisheye
- RB-133 Type 133 Ball
Behind the scenes
Katoki Hajime is the original mechanical designer.
Gunpla
Bandai released the 1/100 MG RB-79 Ball Ver Ka in 2004.
In 2013, Bandai released a limited edition Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory set with a 1/144 HGUC RGM-79C GM Type C and a RB-79C Ball Type-C.
Appearances
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Non-canon appearance
- Gundam Sentinel 0079
External links
- RB-79C Ball Type C on Gundam Wiki
- RB-79C Ball Type C on MAHQ