Technology & Combat Characteristics
An amphibious mobile suit developed by the Earth Federation Forces during the One Year War to oppose the Principality of Zeon's amphibious mobile suits, the RAG-79 Aqua GM was based on the RGM-79 GM and incorporated data from the RGM-79U GM Sloep. The Aqua GM has hydrojet units equipped in its backpack, shoulders and legs for underwater propulsion, with nozzles for the hydrojet units also present on the soles of the feet. The output of these hydrojet units were superior to Zeon's MSM-07 Z'Gok, but lower than that of the MSM-03 Gogg's. The Aqua GM was also fitted with weaponry more suited for underwater combat, such as torpedo pods, missile launchers, special beam picks, etc. due to regular beam weaponry's reduced effectiveness in water. Its head was also reinforced to better withstand the underwater pressure.
Unfortunately, the Aqua GM's rushed development led to it being an unbalanced and unwieldy machine. Furthermore, the use of the general-purpose GM as the base unit meant that the Aqua GM was unable to fully adapt to the very unique underwater environment. As a result, the Aqua GM's combat performance failed to match that of Zeon's amphibious mobile suits. Because of this, the Federations Forces decided to develop a more capable amphibious mobile suit in the form of the RAG-79-G1 Gundam Marine Type based on the GM Aqua. Nevertheless, the Aqua GM is still useful for coastal defense and destruction of enemy naval vessels. With the end of the war, the importance of amphibious mobile suit declined and no successor to the Aqua GM was ever developed, causing the machine to remain in service in U.C.0096, even as it is clearly obsolete.
History
An unknown number of Aqua GMs were produced and participated in the One Year War. Due to a decline in the importance of amphibious mobile suit after the war, the Aqua GM remained in service for decades.
In U.C. 0096, several Aqua GMs deployed by the Juneau-class submarine Bonefish were attacked and destroyed by two AMS-129M Zee Zulus and the mobile armor, AMA-X7 Shamblo. Several more Aqua GMs were deployed in and around the coastal areas of the Earth Federation Forces's Torrington Base, and were easily destroyed when the base was attacked by a number of old amphibious mobile suits piloted by Zeon remnants alongside the Zee Zulus and Shamblo.
In the manga, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn: The Noble Shroud, two Aqua GMs and a RAG-79-G1 Gundam Marine Type fought with and were defeated by the Zee Zulus while the Shamblo and other Zeon remnants' mobile suits assaulted Dakar.