From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The MA-08 Big Zam is a fictional weapon developed by the Principality of Zeon in the Mobile Suit Gundam television series.

As the One Year War dragged on between Zeon and the Earth Federation, the Zeon strategy began to shift from the deployment of mobile suit squadrons to the development of a new type of unit called a Mobile Armour. Mobile armours could approach battleship size and could thus house certain systems, such as the psycommu system and I-Field, that were impossible to fit on mobile suits due to size, weight, and power issues. Zeon's plan during the closing phases of the war was to overwhelm the Federation with mobile armors.

The MA-08 Big Zam was developed at Space Fortress Solomon and sent to Space Attack Force Commander Dozle Zabi when Zeon learned of the impending attack of the Federation Space Force on Solomon. The massive, oblong body was supported by two legs and dwarfed mobile suits in size, as it stood 60 meters in height and weighed close to 2000 tons when fully loaded. Its forward-mounted mega-particle cannon could destroy several spaceships with a single shot, and the body housed 28 smaller particle guns that could lay down 360 degrees of anti-air fire. Because of its gigantic size and poor maneuverability, the bipedal monster required an I-field generator installed on its underbelly to protect it from hostile beam weaponeries, and it relied on its sheer bulk to survive projectile attacks. All of this equipment required four large powerplants to operate, and as a result, Big Zam overheated quickly. Its large fuel consumption rate also limited its operation time to no more than 20 minutes.

Big Zam was first deployed as Solomon's last line of defense during the Battle of Solomon on December 24, UC 0079. Dozle and two co-pilots attacked the Earth Federation Space Force that was attempting to land on the base, wiping out numerous RGM-79 GM and RB-79 Ball units before taking flight to attack the Federation fleet. The attacks went smoothly and several battleships were sunk (including the fleet's flagship Titan, killing Federation commander Admiral Tianem) before Big Zam was confronted by the Federation's most powerful mobile suit, the RX-78-2 Gundam piloted by emerging Newtype Amuro Ray. Making his attack run docked with the G-Fighter piloted by Sleggar Law, Amuro was able to attack the Big Zam from within the I-Field's defensive perimeter, dealing heavy damage to the undercarriage. He then finished Big Zam with Gundam's beam saber, destroying the unit and effectively ending Zeon resistance at Solomon.

There are also a MA-09 Mass Production Type Big Zam which first appear in SD Gundam G Generation game. This mass production type is much smaller than its ancestor and armed with only smaller mega particle cannon and missile launcher. It also lack the I-Field barrier and use weaker anti-beam coating for protection. However, the smaller size also make it much more suitable to operate on Earth.

Unit type: prototype anti-warship/anti-fortress mobile armor
Overall height: 59.6 m
Base weight: 1021.2 t
Full weight. 1936 t
Generator output: 140000 kW (35000 kW x4)
Thrusters: 580000 kg total
Acceleration: 0.30 G
Sensor radius: 134000 m
Armament: large mega particle gun x1, anti-air mega particle gun x28, air-to-air missile x6, 105 mm vulcan gun x2, I-field barrier generator x2
Pilot(s): Dozle Zabi

Mass Production Type Big Zam

Unit type: trial mass production anti-fortress mobile armor
Overall height: unknown
Base weight: unknown
Full weight. unknown
Generator output: unknown
Thrusters: unknown
Acceleration: unknown
Sensor radius: unknown
Armament: large mega particle gun x1, 2-tube large missile launcher x2