Zeon and captured MS

[Charismatic Enigma]

Now, it's known that the Earth Federation used captured Zeon mobile suits during the early part and after the OYW, but did Zeon ever get the chance to capture units like a Guncannon, Guntank, or maybe even a GM?

[Destroy Gundam]

I'm not sure about the Guncannon and Guntank, but it wouldn't shock me if Zeon captured the odd GM or two over the course of the war and afterwards.

[Dendrobium Stamen]

There's an image in MS ERA of a captured GM in Zeon service, to be found here. This, along with the caption, would suggest any enemy MS which Zeon could integrate into their ranks, was, in order to bolster their mobile suit forces as the Federation started to crank out masses of GMs.

[Charismatic Enigma]

It looks interesting.

[jam!]

I remember that image from MS Era.

Thinking about it, those captured units were probably given to only the commanders of MS squadrons or pilots with a good record because I'm sure that the Zeon would've had hell servicing and maintaining a Federal MS especially since they kept changing their MS development plan.

The Federation on the other hand only used captured Zeon MS en masse before they had their own and after the OYW and with the capital and resources at the Federation's disposal, I doubt they had much difficulty maintaining Zakus especially since the RX-78 series and RGM series were based off of data initially collected from Zakus captured very early in the war.

[Oruma]

If an enemy unit is captured, it is most likely to be sent to the R&D departments to be taken apart for study. That is especially true if it is a newer model----a GM during Odessa, might be such a one. It is unusual to be fielded immediately, really, unless the technology is unimpressive (e.g. if EFF captures their eighteenth Zaku after Jaburo) or if resources are so lacking (e.g. defense of Odessa demands all available units).

Captured MS units are best for use as infiltration units, as seen in Gundam Evolve. Seriously, with all the custom colors around, it is that easy for an ally to confuse you for the enemy during the heat of the battle----taking an enemy MS to use as your own is that risky.

[razgriz]

turnabout is fair play, whoever said that

they could use that captured gm in a similar capacity to which those EF guys used captured zakus in ms igloo. worked out pretty well until they got hidolfr'd but yes its risky but when your desparate you use whatever usable weapon you can get your hands on. or at least try to find a weakness in it like when the us captured a perfect condition japanese zero and dissected it to formulate better tactics against it in WWII

[Duraham]

not to mention the GM is capable of using beam weapons, while on the Zeon side they only had the Gelgoog. so assuming you really wanted to use beam weaponry, all you had was the GM, and Gelgoogs aren't out yet.

[Gadget]

turnabout is fair play, whoever said that

they could use that captured gm in a similar capacity to which those EF guys used captured zakus in ms igloo. worked out pretty well until they got hidolfr'd but yes its risky but when your desparate you use whatever usable weapon you can get your hands on. or at least try to find a weakness in it like when the us captured a perfect condition japanese zero and dissected it to formulate better tactics against it in WWII

And the IFF must have suck big time

What happen to battle field security? OK, lets say the IFF does not work in a Minovsky battle enviroment. What happen to the old fashion pass word, code word ect? In fat, Gato proves that a fake EF uniform could get you pass the guards.

[Saikuba]

And the IFF must have suck big time

What happen to battle field security? OK, lets say the IFF does not work in a Minovsky battle enviroment. What happen to the old fashion pass word, code word ect? In fat, Gato proves that a fake EF uniform could get you pass the guards.

Well there is the argument against locking things in that it could possibly slow down rapid deployment, especially since these things are usually stored in a highly secure area anyway. Unfortunately in Gundam mobile suits often do not have the tightest external security (though to be fair for the Gato incident, at the time most Federation soldiers probably did not see any serious potential threats on the horizon... it's not like it was in the middle of the One Year War (where putting on a Federation uniform only gets you on White Base)).

Another argument that can be made is that if your mobile suit is captured the enemy is most likely going to want to take it apart, in which case locks are only going to slow them down. Having a MS stolen and used agianst you; especially of your most non "elite" types; doesn't seem to be especially common as using an enemy mobile suit is a pain in general (don't know the full characteristics of the suit, maintenance of pretty much everything on it is difficult if not impossible, the possibility of friendly fire is high and so on).

I really do have to agree that the only times that taking a mobile suit and using it seem worthwhile are for infiltration purposes or when you absolutely need another unit right now. Otherwise it's probably better to study the thing if it has new technology or scrap it for parts/materials if it doesn't.

[Phantomexe87]

not to mention the GM is capable of using beam weapons, while on the Zeon side they only had the Gelgoog. so assuming you really wanted to use beam weaponry, all you had was the GM, and Gelgoogs aren't out yet.

That's not necessarily true, you also had Guncannons, Gundams, and several experimental Zeon mobile suits, like the MS-11. There were also a few heavily modified ones, like the Zaku Sniper.

[Duraham]

not to mention the GM is capable of using beam weapons, while on the Zeon side they only had the Gelgoog. so assuming you really wanted to use beam weaponry, all you had was the GM, and Gelgoogs aren't out yet.

That's not necessarily true, you also had Guncannons, Gundams, and several experimental Zeon mobile suits, like the MS-11. There were also a few heavily modified ones, like the Zaku Sniper.

yes, but the point i was trying to get across was that if you are Zeon, you basically had no MS capable of using beam weaponry, minus the gelgoog which took a very long time to hit the battlefields, and the zaku sniper, which is a very new addition to the OYW MS. furthermore, the zaku sniper's beam weapon is a sniping rifle, not something as combat-proven as the gundam's beam rifle or even the GM's beam spraygun