MVF-M11C Murasame

Encyclopedia : M : MV : MVF : MVF-M11C Murasame

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This article is about a fictional weapon from the Cosmic Era timeline of the anime Gundam metaseries.

The MVF-M11C Murasame is a transformable mobile suit designed by the Orb Union as a successor to their earlier Astray series. While the Astrays had a "flight pack" derived from the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam's AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker for limited aerial maneuverability, the Murasame instead is capable of transforming into an airplane-like mobile armor mode for sustained aerial patrols and combat. MVF appears to stand for Main Variable Figure (or Fighter).

In mobile suit mode, the Murasame is armed with the standard beam rifle, beam saber, and head-mounted CIWS guns, similar to those of its predecessors. In mobile armor mode, its shield becomes the aircraft's nose, and the beam rifle, mounted on the right side, can still be fired. It also mounts a centerline beam gun, four more CIWS on the forward-swept wings, and four small missile launchers on its underside that fire Type 66 "Hayate" missiles . Four anti-ship missiles can also be mounted on wing hardpoints for added firepower.

One Murasame is carried aboard the assault ship Archangel, piloted by former ZAFT ace Andrew Waltfeld and painted in his red and gold "Desert Tiger" colors. This unit is later piloted by Ledonir Kisaka to defend Orb against a ZAFT invasion. At least twenty-five others are carried by the aircraft carrier Takemikazuchi, including at least one reconnaissance model with a large radome in the place of the standard beam gun. After the sinking of the Takemikazuchi, at least six Murasames are among the Orb forces which board and join the crew of the battleship Archangel. Those Murasames, under the direction of ORB-01 Akatsuki pilot Cagalli Yula Athha, later launch in opposition to ZAFT's invasion of Orb, rallying defense forces which were previously in disarray to victory. Many Murasames also participate in the final battle of the war, a simultaneous assault against the lunar superweapon Requiem and ZAFT's space fortress Messiah. During the course of Gundam Seed Destiny, it can be deduced that this mobile suit is superior to both ZAFT's and the Earth Alliance's mass-produced mobile suits( aka. Zaku and Windam). Andrew Walfeld and a trio of elite Orb Murasame pilots demonstrated that Murasames are a serious force to contend with if used skillfully. The Orb trio managed to shoot down Sting Oakley's ZGMF-X24S Chaos (the first time in any gundam series that a gundam has been shot down by mass-produced units) and destroyed numerous ZAFT mobile suits during the assault against Requiem and Messiah.

A later variation, the MVF-M12A Ootsukigata, uses the same basic frame and armament, but adds a long-range beam cannon with a dedicated targeting sensor to the armament. This allows it to serve in an artillery support role, while still retaining the close and mid-range capabilities of the Murasame. At least three Ootsukigatas were present in the final battle against Messiah, where one of them engaged a ZGMF-X3000Q Providence ZAKU. The Ootsukigata is classified as a transformable mobile armor, with the Mobile Suit mode being secondary. Also, it loses the missile pods on the underside of the Mobile Armor mode in favor of an additional cooling system. The Ootsukigata were based on the Moon, in Copernicus city, from the Izumo-class ships Susanoo and Tsukuyomi. Ootsukigata pilot Takito Haya Oshidari fought against ZAFT's ZGMF-X3000Q Providence ZAKU, piloted by his fiancée Rinna Sera Yasaka at the Battle of Messiah in C.E. 74. Both pilots survived, and were reunited after the war's end.

Specifications

MVF-M11C Murasame

Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc.
User: Orb Union, Terminal
Unit type: general purpose mass production transformable mobile suit
Overall height: 17.82 meters
Weight: 46.88 metric tons
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery
Armament: M2M5D 12.5mm head-mounted CIWS x2, M2M5D 12.5mm wing-mounted CIWS x4, Type 70J Kai beam saber x1, Type 72 high-energy beam gun x1, Type 66A anti-air missile launcher x4, Type 72 Kai "Ikazuchi" beam rifle x1, shield x1
Optional armament: anti-ship missile x4
Pilot(s): Andrew Waltfeld, Baba, Ikeya, Amagi, Gou, Nishizawa, Ledonir Kisaka

MVF-M11C Murasame Reconnaissance Type

Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc.
User: Orb Union
Unit type: reconnaissance transformable mobile suit
Overall height: 17.82 meters
Weight: unknown
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery
Design features: radome
Armament: M2M5D 12.5mm head-mounted CIWS x2, M2M5D 12.5mm wing-mounted CIWS x4, Type 70J Kai beam saber x1, Type 66A "Hayate" air-to-air missile launcher x4, Type 72 Kai "Ikazuchi" beam rifle x1, shield x1
Optional armament: anti-ship missile x4

MVF-M12A Ootsukigata

Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc.
User: Orb Union
Unit type: mass production transformable artillery mobile armor
Head height: 17.82 meters
Weight: unknown
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery
Design features: dedicated targeting sensor, cooling system.
Armament: M2M5D 12.5mm head-mounted CIWS x2, M2M5D 12.5mm wing-mounted CIWS x4, Type 70J Kai beam saber x1, Type 72 high-energy beam gun x1, high-energy long-range beam cannon x1, Type 72 Kai "Ikazuchi" beam rifle x1, shield x1
Pilot: Takito Haya Oshidari

• "Kai" is the Japanese Kanji character "改". In English, it means "modified".

Trivia

• Murasame is named for a sword from the Japanese 19th century novel Nansō Satomi Hakkenden ([南総里見八犬伝]), by Kyokutei Bakin.

• The suit bears a certain resemblance to the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam, keeping in line with various other suits in Gundam SEED Destiny. These include the ORB-01 Akatsuki, which is based on the Hyaku Shiki, and the ZAKU and GOUF Ignited, which are based on their Universal Century counterparts. Despite that, it is noted that Murasames are more closely related to the Zeta Plus series of mobile suits than the Zeta Gundam itself (the Zeta Plus series are limited mass-produced versions of the Zeta Gundam, with several different variants) , due to several design hints that is shared between them. The space booster on the Murasame's back is one of the design features shared with the Z Plus C1. The fact that the later Ootsukigata variant is meant to operate primarily in mobile armour mode serves to strengthen this belief, as several Zeta Plus variants are created primarily to operate in mobile armour mode, with the option of transforming into a mobile suit.