I had forgotten about the Salamis from 0081. From what can be seen it has racks for 8 MS and 3 Balls underneath it, although it also seems to be provding propellant to at least two more Balls and a GM (the later seems badly damaged, so maybe it's only being held in place).
It also found a minor variant of the MS Igloo Salamis:
Salamis MP Carrier Type
Unlike the original model, this one actually keeps its two forward side main guns. In a sense I suppose that this version is the most direct predecessor to the Salamis Kai from Zeta, at least as far as the front half of the ship is concerned. In fact, this makes me wonder why the other version is lacking those main guns in the first place:
For some context, the original or early version is first seen before the Battle of Odessa, pursuing some Papuas until its Ball team runs into the Jotunheim's Zudahs. A second ship of this type is seen in the background after deploying a group of 6 Balls which begin attacking the forces that retreated from Odessa.
The second type equipped with forward side main guns, which we could call the late version, is seen patrolling the moon right after the firing of Solar Ray.
Regarding their physical differences, while both types lack the top main gun, the late version keeps its forward side main guns, but lacks te six-tube missile launchers normally installed right behind those guns. The original version not only lacks both those guns and the missile launchers, but the "plates" where those are normally located on each side of the ship are gray colored instead of light blue.
So, what if the gray plates are actually hatches for a crude hangar for storing additional Balls? Given the time frame in which they are around, before GMs begin deployment and Balls were the closest they had to MS of their own, I do think this could be the case. Also, it would explain why the main guns had to be removed and what the released internal space was used for, and from the looks of it, a ball would be able to fir in through such hatch. Finally, it would also happen to be on the same area where the Salamis Kai from Zeta has the MS hangar located at.
Another detail to mention is that in the animation we always see that the Balls are not strapped right next to each other, but rather they keep an empty rack between them, which indeed means that we never see any of these ships loaded with more than 3 Balls at a time, despite having enough racks for 6 Balls. However, the
MS Igloo profile has in its second 360° view a Salamis with 3 Balls strapped right next to each other on consecutive racks, proving that this is indeed possible.
