ZGMF-X56S/γ Blast Impulse Gundam

ZGMF-X56S/γ Blast Impulse Gundam is the Impulse Gundam carrying the γ Blast Silhouette in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004, C.E. 73). The pack turns ZAFT's general-purpose Second Stage suit into a bombardment machine, the counterpart of the Earth Alliance's Launcher Striker. Shinn Asuka flies it first and Lunamaria Hawke later.

What it does in the story

Its first sortie is in the Debris Belt, when the Minerva chases the Girty Lue after the Armory One raid. At Crete Shinn uses it to break up Earth Alliance and Orb formations until the Abyss Gundam destroys the pack, and he answers with a beam javelin through the Abyss's cockpit. Lunamaria later destroys the Requiem control room with a Blast Impulse.

What makes it different

• The cannons and missile bays cannot fire together. The GMF39 quadruple launchers sit on the back of the Kerberos cannons, so the two assemblies swing over the shoulders in turn. Each tube fires AGM141 Firefly missiles.
• It hovers rather than flies. The Blast Silhouette's extra thrusters hold the suit off the ground over water and flat terrain, which a bombardment machine needs to keep its cannons trained. It is not a flight pack.
• The javelins live inside the cannons. The two MA-M80 Defiant beam javelins travel inside the Kerberos barrels and come out for close work, where they can be used as blades or thrown.
• The armour changes colour with the pack. Under the Blast Silhouette the Variable Phase Shift armour runs black, green, white and blue instead of the Impulse's usual scheme, because the pack reprograms the settings.

How big is it?

• Overall height: 19.21 m with the Blast Silhouette fitted, at a full weight of 84.68 t, per Bandai's published spec
• 1/144: roughly 13.5 cm
• 1/100: roughly 19 cm

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Frequently asked questions

Background sources: ZGMF-X56S/γ Blast Impulse Gundam — Gundam Wiki · ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam — Gundam Wiki