MS-05 Zaku I

(Fanart By: Mark Simmons)

Introduced in UC 0075, the MS-05B Zaku I was the Principality of Zeon's first true mass-production model mobile suit. Although designed as a front line combat unit, the Zaku I was soon replaced by the improved MS-06F Zaku II and would be replaced as the mainstay of Zeon's mobile suit forces. Early during the One Year War of UC 0079, most Zaku Is were relegated to menial construction and supply duties, although a few did continue to serve in combat roles. During the war's opening days, Zaku Is were also used in other combat-related work roles, such gassing of colony populations, attaching booster engines to space colonies to hurtle them towards Earth, and so on. It wasn't until the last months of the war that Zeon, desparate after facing losses in Operation Odessa and Operation Star One, would move the old Zaku Is back to the front lines to reinforce their faltering main forces.

Model number: MS-05B
Code name: Zaku I
Unit type: mass production general purpose mobile suit
Manufacturer: Zeonic Company
Operator(s): Principality of Zeon; civilians
Rollout: May UC 0075
First deployment: July UC 0075
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 17.5 meters
Weight: empty 50.3 metric tons; max gross 65.0 metric tons
Construction: super-high tensile steel on monocoque frame
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 899 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 2 x 19500 kg, 2 x 850 kg
Performance: maximum thruster acceleration 0.63 G; 180-degree turn time 2.9 seconds; maximum ground running speed 65 km/h
Equipment and design features: sensors, range 2900 meters
Fixed armaments: none
Optional hand armaments: 105 mm machinegun, drum-fed, 100 rounds per drum, spare drums can be stored on waist armor racks; 120 mm machinegun, drum-fed, 100 rounds per drum, spare drums can be stored on waist armor racks; 280 mm Zaku bazooka, 4 round magazine, can be stored on rack on rear waist armor; heat hawk, battery powered, can be stored on waist armor racks; G-3 nerve gas grenade launcher