Salamis-class

The Salamis-class was a mass production assault space light cruiser developed by the Earth Federation Forces as part of the 70s Military Armament Enhancement Plan. It served as the backbone of the Federation’s space fleets.

History

The Earth Federation Forces launched the 70s Military Armament Enhancement Plan in UC 0070 to incorporate the latest technology into its military space vessels. The plan resulted in the development of the Salamis-class and Magellan-class vessels, which both entered service in September of that year. The construction of these vessels was seen as a show of force against the spacenoids.

Many ships of the class were deployed in the Battle of Loum. However, their highly automated fire control systems proved vulnerable to Minovsky particle interference. As a result, many ships were lost to Zeon’s new mobile suits.

After the defeat at Loum, the Federation decided its mainstay vessels needed mobile weapon carrying capabilities. Since both the Magellan-class and Salamis-class were constructed before mobile suits, converting them into carriers proved difficult. Some stop-gap measures included removing the mega particle cannon on the deck to store up to six RB-79 Ball mobile pods. During the Battle of A Baoa Qu, some vessels used wires to carry up to five RGM-79C GM Type C on their dorsal deck and three more on their ventral hull.

After the One Year War, plans were made to retrofit the ships to improve their capabilities. A successor was developed and deployed by UC 0083. Despite newer refit designs, some original Salamis-class ships remained in regular service as late as UC 0153.

Design

The Salamis-class incorporated many new technologies based on Minovsky physics. Its propulsion system used a thermonuclear rocket instead of plasma propulsion and chemical fuel rockets. Its main weapons were mega particle cannons, which were more energy efficient than laser cannons and produced less waste heat.

The cruiser had good mobility and cruise distance despite being over 200 meters long, allowing it to perform various missions like reconnaissance and patrol. However, Minovsky particle jamming reduced its effectiveness after mobile suits were introduced.

Armaments

The Salamis-class’s standard weapons were mega particle cannons for ship-to-ship combat, machine guns for anti-air defence, and missile launchers for bombardment.

Mega particle cannons

While not as powerful as those of the Magellan-class, these beam cannons were effective anti-ship weapons but less useful against mobile suits. The Salamis-class had six cannons - two mounted on each side, one behind the bridge, and one on the front.

2-barrel machine guns

These weapons formed the anti-air defense system. Four turrets protected the bridge while two were mounted at the front on struts. All guns could rotate 180 degrees and elevate up to 90 degrees.

6-tube missile launcher

A 6-tube missile launcher was mounted on each side behind the forward mega particle cannons.

Large missile launcher

Sixteen large missile launchers were mounted in the bow, with eight on each side aligned in forward-facing slots. These could be loaded with nuclear warheads for anti-ship and anti-fortress attacks.

Launch and recovery systems

The Salamis-class could carry 5-6 mobile suits but had no dedicated launch catapults. In later configurations, mobile suits were attached to the exterior using wire harnesses.

A re-entry capsule beneath the bow allowed atmospheric entry and could serve as an escape craft. The vessel could also be fitted with supplemental rocket boosters for launches from Earth.

Ships and captains

• Reed (Salamis)
• Henken Bekkener (Tsushima)
• Steve Oharan (Burgundy)

Behind the scenes

Okawara Kunio was the original mechanical designer for Mobile Suit Gundam. Katoki Hajime later redesigned it for the MS IGLOO series with slightly different proportions.

Variants

• Salamis Kai-class
• Ball Carrier Type
• GM Carrier Type

Appearances

• Mobile Suit Gundam
• Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: The Hidden One Year War
• Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

External links

• Salamis-class on the Gundam Wiki
• Salamis-class on MAHQ