ZGMF-1017 GINN is ZAFT's first mass-production mobile suit, from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002, C.E. 71). PLANT's state-run Heinlein Design Bureau developed it as the successor to the YMF-01B Proto GINN, and it enters service in C.E. 69, two years before the war begins.
What it does in the story
The GINN's combat debut is the first mobile suit action in the setting: ZAFT sends them out when the sponsor nations threaten the PLANT colonies, and they beat those nations' mobile armours while heavily outnumbered. Through the First Alliance-PLANT War the type carries ZAFT against the Earth Alliance's Moebius mobile armours. When the GAT-X Gundams appear with Phase Shift armour the GINN's ballistic weapons stop deciding fights, and the GuAIZ begins to replace it, though GINNs still make up most of ZAFT's suits when the war ends.
What makes it different
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It was built to fight mobile armours.
ZAFT's doctrine assumed the Moebius, so the standard loadout is a 76mm heavy assault machine gun and a heavy blade rather than beam weapons. A single GINN was rated the equal of three to five Moebius mobile armours.
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The head crest is a sensor array.
Besides the mono-eye that serves as the main camera, the crest carries a multi-functional sensor array with a low-light television camera at its base, giving the pilot battlefield information in real time. ZAFT reused the arrangement on many suits built in C.E. 70 and 71.
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Optional weapons hang off the waist and legs.
Hardpoints on the left, right and back of the waist and on the sides of the legs mean extra kit mounts without a backpack. The D-type equipment, where D stands for destruction, covers the Pardus missile pods, the Canus launchers, the Cattus 500mm recoilless rifle and the cartridge-fed Barrus Kai ion cannon.
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Its machine gun was a first for mobile suits.
The MMI-M8A3 76mm was the first automatic firearm developed for a mobile suit, with semi-automatic and full-automatic modes and armour-piercing ammunition as standard. The heavy blade is a physical sword made with the same molecular processing as a Laurasia-class ship's outer armour.
How big is it?
- Overall height: 21.43 m
- 1/144: roughly 14.9 cm
- 1/100: roughly 21.4 cm
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Frequently asked questions
1. Why did the GINN stop winning fights during the war?
Its main weapons are ballistic, and the GAT-X machines arrived with Phase Shift armour that shrugged them off. Beam-armed ZAFT suits became necessary and the GuAIZ took over the front line, though the GINN was still the most common ZAFT suit at the end.
2. Is the GINN the first mobile suit ZAFT ever built?
It is the first one ZAFT put into mass production, not the first airframe. It replaced the YMF-01B Proto GINN and kept much of that design while gaining stronger thrusters, including a pair of large backpack thrusters.
3. What does the D-type equipment on the GINN mean?
D stands for destruction: the heaviest of the GINN's weapon sets, built for anti-fortification work and made up of the Pardus pods, Canus launchers, Cattus recoilless rifle and Barrus Kai ion cannon.
4. Can a GINN operate on Earth?
Yes. It is classed a zero-gravity manoeuvre fighter, but it works in space and under gravity without modification, which is much of why ZAFT fielded it everywhere with one airframe.
Background sources: ZGMF-1017 GINN — Gundam Wiki · ガンダムシリーズの登場機動兵器一覧（ガンダムSEED）— 日本語版 Wikipedia
