RGC-603 Guncannon Hellfire

The RGC-603 Guncannon Hellfire is a mobile suit from Mobile Suit Gundam Alpha. As its name suggests, it is a missile artillery version of the RGC-601 Guncannon Trooper.

Appearance
Looks like a RX-77D Guncannon Mass Production Type from Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, but redesigned to fit the futuristic setting of GC as well as possessing the original Guncannon's spray missile pods. Colors vary, but the standard type are the Federation's trademark gunmetal grey with navy blue highlights.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The third rendition of the Earth Federation's Guncannon line, the Guncannon Hellfire was, as its name would suggest, designed as a long-range bombardment unit for attacking multiple targets behind the front lines. Rather than be equipped with the standard pair of beam cannons, the Hellfire was instead armed with a pair of cylinder missile launcher pods, each of which could hold several missiles at a time. Subsequently, these missile pods can be equipped with a variety of munitions types, including nuclear missiles for tactical strikes. In addition, the Hellfire retains the standard beam vulcans, beam rifle and beam shield of the line. While it still fared poorly against more mobility oriented mobile suits such as the ZMS-006 Zaku, the Hellfire proved itself quite effective as a long-range strike unit, and as such it was heavily produced by the Earth Federation in large quantities.

Armaments

 * MR92 Missile Launcher
 * The Guncannon Hellfire 's primary weapons. Mounted over the suit's shoulders, these missile launchers carry a large number of munitions not unlike the rocket pods utilized by Ancient Earth attack helicopters. While these missiles possess the penetration power of beam weapons, they can be fired rapidly over a wide area, allowing the Hellfire, in a true iteration of its name, to spray its targets with an overwhelming number of missiles. That being said, the weapons' primary weakness is their limited ammunition, as Hellfires can easily spend the entirety of their missiles in but a few minutes of combat. Can be retracted into the Hellfire's backpack when not in use.


 * M239 Beam Vulcan
 * Standard weapons for Federation mobile suits. Vulcans are miniature rapid-fire beam guns stored on the sides of the Guncannon's head. Having the greatest rate of fire of all the Guncannons weapons, they are primarily used to ward off advancing enemies, shoot down missiles or hit other fast moving targets. They are also useful as anti-spacecraft and anti-personnel weapons. The vulcans however have a difficult time piercing heavier armor (though they are capable of destroying mobile suits when fired at close range) and thus are not often used against larger, more heavily armored foes. Still, the vulcans are useful in preserving energy for the Guncannons more powerful weapons.


 * MSD89 Beam Shield
 * The Guncannon Hellfire is equipped with a beam shield generator on its left arm. As its name suggests, the beam shield generates a miniaturized energy field over an area of the Guncannons left arm, allowing it block and deflect enemy attacks quite effectively. With its emphasis on durability, a Guncannons beam shield is more powerful than most other mobile suits of its generation, though it still offers only limited protection against enemies of superior mobility.


 * M490BR Beam Rifle
 * A revolutionary weapon for its time, the beam rifle is the primary handheld weapon of the Guncannon. A further scaled down version of the beam cannon, the beam rifle exchanges overt firepower for rate of fire and ease of usage, granting the Guncannon an ideal weapon to utilize against smaller, faster targets, namely other mobile suits and other small craft. Such is the power of this weapon that it can destroy an enemy mobile suit in a single shot, even with a glancing blow. That being said, its primary weakness is that it can only fire single or limited numbered bursts at once, which enemy units may evade or deflect with their beam shields.

History
As one of the more successful variations of the Guncannon, the Hellfire would be heavily produced upon, such that thousands would be deployed throughout the Earth Federation Star Force upon the advent of the First Galactic War. Among its pilots, the Hellfire was well loved and appreciated, being little removed from a standard Trooper yet possessing even greater reach and multi-targeting capabilities due to its missile launchers. That being said however, the Hellfire performed just as poorly against the Zaku and other Outer Power mobile suits as the rest of its type during the so-called "Zaku Scourge", though a number of more capable pilots would be able to capitalize on the Hellfire's strengths, thereby maintaining its effectiveness. One of these more noteworthy pilots was Lieutenant Karen Joshua of the 105th Mobile Suit Squadron "Shrikes", who would retain her Hellfire throughout the early years of the war.