Technology & Combat Characteristics
The Ball Type K was one of the earliest types produced, and was superior to the later mass-production type RB-79 Ball in all aspects, including armor and propellant capacity. It was a prototype of the civilian maintenance modification for full-scale mass production, and therefore retained working equipment such as lights and winches. The winch could be used for a variety of purposes by replacing the anchor, but it was omitted in later mass production models. In the cockpit, a fire control system, various radars, a communication system, and a large monitor were added, and the seats and other parts were also replaced with military equipment.
History
The total production of the Ball Type K was less than 100, and it was deployed to convoys and orbital security forces. In the hands of Federation pilot Shiro Amada, it recorded possibly its greatest achievement by reaching a stalemate with the MS-06RD-4 Zaku High Mobility Test Type in satellite orbit. Amada achieved this by first sneaking up on the Zaku using a large piece of debris as camouflage. When the pilot of the Zaku noticed, Amada used the rocket propelled winch to snag the enemy mobile suit and then proceeded to swing around the machine to entangle the Zaku in the grappling line and bring the Ball's cannons within a point blank shooting range of the Zaku's head. When the Zaku pilot tried to bring out her machine's heat hawk to destroy the Ball, Amada was able to temporarily hold it off with the Ball's manipulator arm, but it proved too weak to resist the mobile suit's arm for long, but by then Shiro had destroyed the Zaku's head. Both machines were heavily damaged, forcing the two pilots to escape before they exploded.