For some context, the MS-06F2 is a varaint of the standard MS-06F which was introduced around the middle of the war. These units are said to have been built from scratch at Granada, despite their close resembalnce to the standard F-type. They were said to have lighter weight, reinforced armor on the cockpit and longer oeprational time. In this thread I also pointed out that the total thrust of the F2-Type was similar to that of a S-type:
MS-06F: 43,000 kg
MS-06S: 56,000 kg
MS-06F2: 53,400 kg
My own guess on the matter is that MS-06F2 was developed with the objective a new mass produced unit with the performance of the S-type.
The MS-06FZ was developed close to the end of the war as part of the United Maintenance Plan (UMP), along with the MS-09R2 and MS-14Jg, and supposedly, also the MSM-03C and MSM-07E. This in turn meant that it used standarized components shared by these machines. Oddly enough, only the MS-06FZ is claimed to be an upgrade to existing F-type Zakus, rather than a new machine. It's most noticeable upgrades are the increased armor and total thrust. Much like the similar thrust total between the F2-type and the S-type, the FZ-type a total thrust similar to the R-1A-type, which could be considered a hint at the FZ-type being an attempt to amss produce a machine with the performance of the Ms-06R-1A:
MS-06R-1A: 76,800 kg
MS-06FZ: 79,500 kg
However, unlike the F2-type, the FZ-type is said to have its operational time reduced by half, which is a very significant problem in the context it was deployed. This is something I mentioned inthe other thread:
At that point in the war it doesn't make sense to design a machine with low operational time for ill-trained rookie pilots that lack the experience to efficiently use their propellant.Gelgoog Jager wrote:I still don't understand why the MS-06FZ was not given external propellant tanks too: In you translation from Gundam Century it is stated how the propellant capacity of the MS-06F had already become a problem for rookie pilots, and how despite its reduced propellant capacity compared to the Dom, the Rick Dom it had a longer operational time:
MS-R09 Rick Dom
After losing countless Zakus in the One Week Battle and the Battle of Loum, along with many skilled pilots, the Zeon forces then dropped large numbers of Zakus as part of the Earth landing operations. The fighting strength of their space forces was greatly decreased as a result. In particular, their pilots were now of far lower quality, and often ended up rapidly expending the Zaku's rocket fuel and losing their ability to fight. Space Attack Force commander Dozle Zabi requested that the Dom be adapted for use in space, and it was decided to develop this machine under the name MS-R09 Rick Dom.
To begin with, since the hybrid nuclear thermal jet/rocket engines were to be used as pure rockets, their combustion chambers were expanded by removing air compressors and other systems. As a result, they could produce 490 tons of thrust, about four times that of the jet type. But this increase in thrust meant reduced energy conversion efficiency, so its propellant consumption rate was about one-half to one-third that of a chemical type (6). And with the addition of space cooling systems, navigation systems, and magnets, its propellant tank space was also decreased.
Although the overall performance of the Rick Dom's nuclear thermal propulsion system was reduced as a result of these changes, it was still capable of sustaining an acceleration of six Gs for almost 40 seconds. This was about three times the performance of a Zaku and, as per the original objective, it made it possible for inexperienced pilots to continue fighting even if they used their propellant wastefully.
http://www.ultimatemark.com/gundam/arch ... ntury.html
If the propellant issue was already a significant problem for rookies using the standard F-type, why was it not addressed with external propellant tanks for the even more fuel-consuming FZ-type, which if IIRC, it's said that it was a machine meant for rookie pilots, so that they can get used to the shared cockpits and controls of UMP units and eventually move up to pilot the Rick Dom II and Gelgoog Jager.
I want to ask is if anyone can think of a logical way to explain this development progression in a logical way.
I have came up with some ideas, but none seem to convincing:
-That the FZ-type are actually upgraded from F2-types. Since IRL the FZ-type was created before the F2-type Zaku, maybe we coudl jsut consider a retcon. If the FZ was absed on the F-type, we could consider that its oeprational tiem would be half of the longer operational time of the F2.
-The FZ-type was intended to use external propellant tanks jsut like the Ms-09R2 and the MS-14Jg, but for some reason these were not available or not implemented in the end.
-The FZ-type was meant for use on Earth or colonies, in which cases it wouldn't need as much propellant msot space units.
Any thoughts on the matter?