RX-75-4 Guntank – MechaBay | Mobile Suit Gundam

The RX-75-4 Guntank was a prototype artillery mobile suit developed by the Earth Federation Forces as part of Project V, alongside the RX-77-2 Guncannon and RX-78-2 Gundam.

The “R” in the type code meant it was a Federation model¹ and the “X” designated it as an experimental mobile suit. The “75” in the model number denoted that it was developed in UC 0075. While some publications used the block number of “4” to indicate particular design, it was often referred to without this suffix.

History

When the first rumours of the Principality of Zeon’s mobile suits reached the Federation, development began on the RX-75-4 Guntank. Only one Guntank unit survived the Zeon attack on Side 7. This last prototype made its way to the Pegasus-class assault carrier White Base.

Initially designed for a crew of two, with a gunner in the canopy-style cockpit on the head and a driver in another cockpit in the torso, the Guntank was later modified to be controlled by a single pilot in the canopy-style cockpit after the death of pilot Ryu Jose.

During its service aboard the White Base, the Guntank fought alongside the RX-77-2 Guncannon and the RX-78-2 Gundam. When the White Base left Earth’s atmosphere, Hayato Kobayashi launched in the Guntank to intercept an attack by Dimitri in the MA-04X Zakrello mobile armor. Though outmatched by the Zakrello’s superior speed and power, the near-suicidal plan bought Amuro Ray enough time to deploy in the Gundam and defeat Dimitri.

The Guntank was decommissioned at Jaburo, with its pilot Hayato Kobayashi reassigned to a second Guncannon unit for the remainder of the war.

Design

Like all Project V mobile suits, the Guntank used the Core Block System that incorporated the FF-X7 Core Fighter. This allowed the torso section to separate and function as an escape craft for the pilot if needed.

The Guntank featured a hybrid reactor combining nuclear power and gas turbines, though its output was insufficient for beam weapons. Its caterpillar treads in place of legs made it more similar to a tank than a mobile suit. A major design flaw was its inability to turn its torso, requiring the entire unit to reposition to aim its weapons. This limitation, combined with its ground combat focus, resulted in poor space maneuverability.

Armaments

The Guntank’s standard weapons were twin 180 mm cannons for ranged attacks, and 4-tube missile launchers for defence.

180 mm low-recoil cannon

A pair of 180 mm cannons were mounted on the shoulders of the Guntank. With a firing range of 260 km exceeding visual range, these cannons were used for long-range artillery and sniping.

4-tube 40 mm Bop missile launcher

Two 4-tube 40 mm Bop missile launchers were mounted in the Guntank’s arms. With a range of 20 km, they rapid-fired small anti-aircraft missiles. As the Guntank lacked close-range weapons, these missile launchers served as its primary defensive armament.

Known pilots

Ryu Jose
Hayato Kobayashi
Kai Shiden
Amuro Ray
Larry Radley

Behind the scenes

Okawara Kunio was the original mechanical designer.

The Guntank’s fate differed between the TV series and compilation films. In the original series, it served until its destruction at A Baoa Qu, while in the films it was decommissioned at Jaburo. The film version is considered canonical as it better aligned with director Tomino Yoshiyuki’s vision of moving away from super robot elements toward a more realistic portrayal of mecha.

Appearances

Anime

Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin

Games

Mobile Suit Gundam: Lost War Chronicles
Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo
Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs Zeon DX
Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny
Mobile Suit Gundam: Cross Dimension 0079

External links

RX-75-4 Guntank on the Gundam Wiki
RX-75-4 Guntank on MAHQ

Federation in Japanese is renpou, hence the use of “R”. ↩