XM-05 Berga Giros – MechaBay | Mobile Suit Gundam F91

The XM-05 Berga Giros was a commander’s combat mobile suit produced by the Crossbone Vanguard as an upgraded version of the XM-04 Berga Dalas. The “XM” in the model code indicated it was an experimental mobile suit, whilst the “05” denoted it as the fifth design in the Crossbone Vanguard’s experimental mobile suit development programme.

History

Introduced in UC 0123, the XM-05 Berga Giros was the successor to the XM-04 Berga Dalas as the next commander-use mobile suit for the Crossbone Vanguard. Though there were a few commanders who preferred the older Berga Dalas, the Berga Giros was the standard mobile suit of choice for Crossbone Vanguard commanders during the invasion of the Frontier IV colony where they proved highly effective against the Earth Federation Forces’s older mobile suits.

During the Crossbone Vanguard’s invasion of the Frontier colonies, the Berga Giros saw extensive combat service under several notable pilots. Zabine Chareux, assistant to Crossbone Vanguard figurehead Berah Ronah, was the leader of the elite Black Vanguard Squadron, and led his troops in a customized black Berga-Giros while escorting Berah Ronah’s XM-07 Vigna-Ghina. When Zabine was assigned as Berah Ronah’s mobile suit instructor, he accompanied her practice flights in his Berga Giros.

An example of the Berga Giros’s effectiveness was a pilot with the callsign “White Socks” using a Berga Giros to defeat several RGM-89J Jegan Normal Types, before he was shot down by a Clop-class’ counterattack. Later, during the Crossbone Vanguard’s attempt to invade Frontier I, Zabine’s Berga Giros battled with his former protégé Annamarie Bourget and her XM-06 Dahgi Iris which led to severe damage of his unit.

Design

Designed and produced in UC 0123, the XM-05 Berga Giros is an upgraded version of the XM-04 Berga Dalas. Notably, the output of the reactor has been increased to 4790kW, which is 540kW greater than even the Federation’s advanced F91 Gundam F91. This substantial power increase enabled enhanced performance across all operational parameters.

The backpack, which is based on the model used on the Berga Dalas, has been redesigned with a greater number of shelf nozzles allowing for greater speed and maneuverability. Improvements are made to its sensor systems, additional shelf nozzles were added to its backpack for more speed and maneuverability, and two additional machine guns were mounted on its shot lancer.

The mobile suit featured the standard panoramic monitor cockpit configuration used throughout the Crossbone Vanguard fleet, providing excellent visibility for command operations. The Berga Giros incorporated the characteristic beam flag emitter mounted on its backpack, which served as a battlefield standard to designate command units.

Armaments

The XM-05 Berga Giros’s standard weapons were its shot lancer with mounted heavy machine guns for versatile combat, and twin beam sabers for melee combat.

Shot lancer with mounted 4-barrel heavy machine gun

A distinctive close combat weapon developed by the Crossbone Vanguard, the Shot Lancer is designed for combat in and around space colonies, where beam weapons would run the risk of triggering catastrophic reactor explosions in enemy mobile suits. Instead, the shot lancer uses electromagnetic acceleration to drive its tip through the enemy’s armor, and the spearhead itself can also be launched like a missile. The Berga Giros’ Shot Lancer can mount on the right arm, leaving the hand free to operate another weapon.

To increase the shot lancer’s combat effectiveness, the weapon mounts four heavy machine guns. This represented an improvement over the XM-04 Berga Dalas, which only mounted two machine guns on its shot lancer.

Beam saber

The Berga Giros carried two beam sabers, though their storage location is unknown. These standard melee weapons generated plasma blades contained by I-fields and could cut through most armour materials not treated with anti-beam coating.

Beam shield

A protective device that uses beam technology for defensive purposes that is mounted on the Berga Giros’ left forearm. Unlike an I-field generator, which is effective only against beam attacks, the beam shield blocks both beam and projectile weapons. It generates a plane of energy similar to the blade of a beam saber. This plane is divided into multiple sections, which can be turned on or off as needed to conserve energy.

Shelf nozzle

The Berga Giros mounted eight shelf nozzles on its backpack, representing an increase from the six found on the XM-04 Berga Dalas. These flexible thrusters provided enhanced manoeuvrability and allowed for rapid direction changes during combat operations.

Beam flag emitter

The Beam Flag Emitter is a technology that uses similar principals as a beam saber to generate a large beam shaped into a specific symbol. It is used to act as a battlefield standard, often designating which units were commanders and providing visual identification for formation purposes.

Known pilots

Zabine Chareux
Stein Bunyil (aka Shun Tachibana)

Variants

XM-05 Berga Giros Strengthen
XM-05B Berga Barus

Behind the scenes

The XM-05 Berga Giros was designed by Okawara Kunio and first appeared in Mobile Suit Gundam F91 in 1991. The mobile suit represented the culmination of the Berga series development, combining the lessons learned from the XM-04 Berga Dalas with enhanced performance and firepower for command operations.

External links

XM-05 Berga-Giros on MAHQ
XM-05 Berga Giros on The Gundam Wiki