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MS-18 Zaku III Mobile Suit (MS-18B, -18C, -18S)

I. Dimensions

II. Type

• Design: Axis Industries
• Builders: Axis Industries
• One man, all weather, standard production mobile suit.

III. Service Use

• MS-18B: Served with the Tirolian Republican Guard from 2055 until replaced by the MS-18C.
• MS-18C: Served with the Tirolian Republican Guard from 2057 until replaced by the MS-18C.
• MS-18S: Served with the Tirolian Republican Guard from 2059 until replaced by the MS-25 Geara Doga.

IV. Propulsion

Engines:

Note: all plasma-shock expansion engines draw their plasma from a single fusion pile.

(MS-18B)

• 2 x Polar K'nart OID-136 plasma-shock expansion engines on the back, total thrust 278.3 kN each.
• 6 x Polar K'nart OID-137 plasma-shock expansion engines on the legs (4) and feet (2), total thrust 189.1 kN each.
• Assorted small reaction thrusters and gyroscopes for all-environment maneuvers, attitude adjustment, and stability.

(MS-18C)

• 3 x Ilran OID-135 plasma-shock expansion engines on the back, total thrust 301.8 kN each.
• 6 x Polar K'nart OID-137 plasma-shock expansion engines on the legs (4) and feet (2), total thrust 189.1 kN each.
• Assorted small reaction thrusters and gyroscopes for all-environment maneuvers, attitude adjustment, and stability.

(MS-18S)

• 2 x Ilran OID-145 plasma-shock expansion engines on the back, total thrust 301.8 kN each.
• 3 x Polar K'nart OID-137 plasma-shock expansion engines on the legs (2) and back (1), total thrust 189.1 kN each.
• 3 x Polar K'nart OID-136 plasma-shock expansion engines on the front (2), and back (1) total thrust 278.3 kN each.
• Assorted small reaction thrusters and gyroscopes for all-environment maneuvers, attitude adjustment, and stability.

Powerplant:

• 2 x Ci'larno ASI-3 fusion generator. Maximum output, 3000 kW each.

Fuel Capacity:

(MS-18B, -18C)

• 281.4 liters of D2O reactant for fusion engines.

(MS-18S)

• 300.9 liters of D2O reactant for fusion engines.

V. Performance

VI. Electronics

• TMRGR-6(*) head mounted phased array with spherical coverage, for various scan/track, and battlefield surveillance options.
• TMRIFF-2 IFF friend or foe interrogator

Optical tracking:

• TMRCS-4 Multi-band digital camera system, for medium range all attitude infra-red imaging, optical and ultra-violet band detection and tracking.
• TMRLD-4 Multi-frequency laser ranger and designator.

Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS):

• TMRRW-3 Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
• TMRIR-3 Infra-red Warning Receiver (IRWR)
• TMRAJ-3 Active sensor jammer
• TMRECM-3  internal countermeasures system
• TMRDD-3 Chaff/flare dispenser
• Multiple VHF and UHF antennas

(*) Terran designation. The Tirolian designers considered the sensors part of the design and did not assign separate designations for these systems.

VII. Armament

Cannons

• 2 x Zanscare RA-3 45mm tachyon cannons: See below.

(MS-18B)

• 1 x Ortek'nar RA-4 155mm tachyon cannon: This is a more powerful and longer range version of the beam rifle used by most mobile suits.  The cannon was added to give the design and extra added punch when assaulting heavy armored targets.  The cannon is mounted in the 'mouth' of the suit and can fire a 350 MJ burst every five seconds at a range of up to 100 km.  The cannon carries a small cyclotron which stores twenty bursts and can only be recharged by a field recharger or at home base.

(MS-18S)

• 2 x Ortek'nar 30mm vulcan cannon mounted on the head of the mecha, each firing at 2000 rounds per minute, and each cannon has a 1000 round belt feed. Ammunition is a mix of Tungsten-coated depleted Uranium Armor Piercing Spin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APSSDS), High Explosive Armor Piercing (HEAP) and tracer rounds.

Hand Held Weapons

• 1 x Zanscare TA-4 single-barreled 120mm tachyon rifle: This hand-held tachyon rifle is the main weapon for the MS-18 Zaku III, and is easily as powerful as the point defense cannons mounted on many warships. The rifle can fire 60 rounds per minute in full automatic mode at approximately one shot per second.  The tachyon rifle is capable of firing 220 MJ pulses per barrel in each mode, with its own dedicated cell and capacitor banks in the 'clip' with one spare clip mounted on the armored 'skirt'.  The rifle comes with a secondary handle similar to those seen on the old Zaku II rifle.  This handle is designed to improve accuracy and stability while firing.
• or 1 x Zanscare TA-7 single-barreled 120mm tachyon rifle: This hand-held tachyon rifle is the main weapon for the MS-18 Zaku III, and is easily as powerful as the point defense cannons mounted on many warships. The rifle can fire 60 rounds per minute in full automatic mode at approximately one shot per second.  The tachyon rifle is capable of firing 300 MJ pulses per barrel in each mode, with its own dedicated cell and capacitor banks in the 'clip' with one spare clip mounted on the armored 'skirt'.

Melee Weapon

• 2 x Zanscare .85 MW tachyon beam saber/cannon: A unique weapon which serves a dual function as both beam cannon and beam saber.  The beam saber only contains enough energy and tachyons for about 60 seconds of continuous use. When not in use, the beam sabers are stored in the forearm of the mecha, where they are recharged by the reactor. The beam cannon is therefore hooked into the reactor as well and can draw its energy from there giving it infinite ammunition.  The cannon is rather weak however and only fires a 50 MJ burst every three seconds at a range of up to 5 km.  The Zaku III carries two of these mounted on the waist.

VIII. Armor

The armor on the MS-18 is a low-mass lunarium titanium composite plating developed by the TMR as a cheaper alternative to Gundarium known as Gundarium Alpha. Aside from the superb protection provided against projectiles, missiles, and other kinetic weapons, this armor is also fairly resistant to plasma globes (annihilation discs), lasers, and to a lesser extent, particle guns too, owing to the fact that the armor can flake off and evaporate in layers under fire from such high-energy weapons, taking much of the weapon's energy and converting it into the latent heat of sublimation in the armor. The armor stops all small arms fire, and has good resistance to all weapons commonly mounted on combat mecha. This new armor is also much lighter than most armors weighing a full two thirds less than the traditional armor's mounted on mecha, but unlike its Terran counterpart, this version is much easier to manufacture and therefore much cheaper costing as much as regular armor.

The Zaku III provides full protection from nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards, using an overpressure cockpit environment activated by radiation and hazardous chemical sensors, or manually when biological warfare conditions are anticipated. The internal consumables supplies can provide atmosphere for three days maximum.

IX. Development

Layout adapted from Robotech Reference Guide

Content by Jeffrey R. Spillner and Ron Ferrara
Copyright © 1998-2001 Jeffrey R. Spillner and Ron Ferrara

Page Last Updated on November 26, 2001 @ 11:00 GMT