RX-78GP02A Gundam GP02A

RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis" is the second of four machines built under Anaheim Electronics' Gundam Development Project, and it appears in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991, U.C. 0083). Delaz Fleet ace Anavel Gato steals it from Torrington Base in Australia, where the Federation had shipped it for testing. Anaheim's second research division was staffed largely by former Zeon engineers, and Zeon thinking runs through the frame.

What it does in the story

Gato takes the Physalis off Torrington with a nuclear missile already loaded and fights Kou Uraki's GP01 on the way out. The Delaz Fleet then makes it the centrepiece of the Naval Review attack, where the shot disables or destroys two thirds of the assembled Federation fleet. Gato flies it until the last exchange with the rebuilt GP01 Full Burnern.

What makes it different

• The shield is part of the weapon system. The atomic bazooka's range is short enough that the suit has to survive its own blast, so the shield carries a heavy cooling unit. It also stows the bazooka barrel when the weapon is idle, which is why it is so large.
• The cockpit was built for a nuclear blast. Instead of a Core Block System it uses a spherical cockpit block wrapped in composite armour and cushioning, filled with neutron moderators and ejected by explosive bolts in an emergency.
• A heavy assault suit that still hovers. High-output generators and a pair of Flexible Thruster Binders on the shoulders lift the machine enough to hover under gravity, so the bulk costs it nothing in mobility.
• The warhead dictated the design. Minovsky interference makes guided nuclear weapons useless, so the Project settled on a tactical warhead fired from a bazooka. The Mk-82 is classed as tactical yet yields like a strategic one.

How big is it?

• Overall height: 19.5 m, with a head height of 18.5 m and a base weight of 54.5 t, according to Bandai's official spec
• 1/144: roughly 13.5 cm
• 1/100: roughly 19.5 cm

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Frequently asked questions

Background sources: RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis" — Gundam Wiki · 宇宙世紀の登場機動兵器一覧（ハーモニー・オブ・ガンダム）— 日本語版 Wikipedia