Technology & Combat Characteristics
The FA-78-1 Full Armor Gundam was the RX-78-2 Gundam equipped with a set of optional armor, weapons, and auxiliary propulsion systems designed as part of the FSWS Plan, an enhancement plan for the RX-78 Gundam series. The plan was intended to improve the performance of RX-78 type units for use by Newtype pilots. The FA-78-1 equipment was planned to be equipped by the Gundam after it had undergone Magnet Coating treatment. This equipment was fully modular and could be easily equipped or removed. The optional armor that was a part of the equipment was applied to frequently damaged areas: chest, shoulders, waist, arms, and legs. Overall, it had a balance of anti-mobile suit and anti-ship capabilities.
Many equipment plans were considered for the Full Armor Gundam, which were ultimately narrowed down to three. The first plan, considered the most practical one, was the previously described loadout. The second plan included leg-mounted rocket engines with thrust rivaling the FF-X7-Bst Core Booster, which could be detached during an emergency, and a fixed beam saber mounted on either arm. The third plan, which was described as being the furthest from a mobile suit, had its lower body almost completely covered by a booster, and was equipped with four fixed beam cannons. However, it was said that none of these plans were completed.
The Full Armor Gundam adopted a different basic paint scheme from the RX-78-2. The mobile suit itself was painted in a dark gray color known as "FA Gray", while the added weapon systems and the head were painted in a dark green color known as "FA Green". This color scheme was intended to lower visibility during visual range combat. To differentiate this mobile suit from the FA-78-1B Full Armor Gundam (Type B), it was also referred to as the "Full Armor Gundam (Type A)".
History
The FSWS Plan, initiated in the late stage of the One Year War, was designed to enhance the RX-78 series' performance for Newtype pilots, with the ultimate goal of creating a set of optional weapon systems for every RX-78 unit, to serve as the mobile suits of an all-Newtype team. The first unit of this plan was the FA-78-1 Full Armor Gundam. By one account, when the RX-78-2 Gundam was destroyed during the Battle of A Baoa Qu, the FSWS Plan was halted. By another account, due to the expected loss of mobility caused by the added equipment, the FA-78-1 was redesigned into the FA-78-2 Heavy Gundam. By a third account, a prototype was created and even underwent operational testing. Though there were many rumors of its appearance, as well as simulation footage created for data collection purposes, nothing that could conclusively prove its existence, including parts and production lines, has been found.
One source claimed that a top-secret experimental unit that consisted of eight FA-78-1, based on a North Pole-class battlecarrier/assault landing ship, was formed near the end of the war and began training in Luna II space in December, U.C. 0079. This unit was intended to annihilate the Principality of Zeon defenses surrounding the lunar base Granada, but due to its classified nature, most of its data records were erased. Due to the lack of publicly available records, it was unclear if the unit ever saw combat, though there was an eyewitness account claiming that a large, gray Federation machine with a Gundam-type head was seen engaging a mobile suit resembling the Zeong in Granada airspace.
In the alternate history war fiction, Spirits of Zeon – Dual Stars of Carnage, Zeon ace pilots Kurt Roswell and Robin Bradshaw fought a Full Armor Gundam piloted by Takashi Kitamoto during the Battle of Solomon. This unit was based on a RX-78-1 Prototype Gundam.
Other accounts of the Full Armor Gundam also existed. In one account, during the Battle of A Baoa Qu, Johnny Ridden, piloting the MS-06R-2 Zaku II High Mobility Type "Full Bullet Zaku", destroyed a Full Armor Gundam. Federation ace pilot Heinz Baer was also said to have piloted the Full Armor Gundam during the One Year War. On January 1, U.C. 0080, during the Federation's African mop-up operation, Zeon's Brauer Corps encountered and destroyed a Full Armor Gundam.