Cosmic Era technology

This article deals with technology from the Cosmic Era subuniverse of the Gundam fictional universe, as found in the books/anime/manga/etc of Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny, Gundam Seed Astray, ...

Human enchancements

Coordinators

Coordinators are genetically enhanced human beings, which can have a number of enhanced traits including faster learning, and stronger and faster bodies that are virtually immune to diseases.

The First Coordinator

In Cosmic Era 15, the highly respected man named George Glenn announced the shocking news that he was the first Coordinator, being born following a genetic manipulation procedure, resulting in a human "engineered" to be better. He disclosed the entire process to create a Coördinator to the public.

The genetic modifications that create a Coordinator had to be performed in the earliest stages of embryonic development. The Coordinator embryo was then reinserted back into its mother for gestation. These genetic enhancements are then passed on to the Coordinator's children without the need for more enhancements. When Natural parents have their children turned into Coordinators, the children are described as first-generation Coordinators, whose own children will then be second-generation Coordinators, and so forth.

Those who were born naturally – that is, without this procedure – became known as "Naturals".

Coordinators and Naturals

For many years, after George Glenn's revelation, Coordinators remained illegal. When the ban was repealed, in the 30's, the Coordinator boom started and lasted until the 50's. Following the rapid and widespread diffusion of Coordinators, major social unrest followed, throwing the world into chaos. Many Naturals started to oppose the Coordinators out of jealousy for their abilities, stating that they were created unnaturally. Anti-Coordinator pressure groups, such as Blue Cosmos, began labeling Coordinators as unhuman and declaring they had to be wiped out "for a blue and pure world".

As the major political blocs began building the space colonies, known as PLANTs, these gradually became a new home for Coordinators. The Naturals intended to make the Earth their exclusive domain, although it was not uncommon to find Coordinators and Naturals living peacefully together in nations such as the Orb Union.

By the mid-50's, the situation had deteriorated to the point that Blue Cosmos people were in positions of power across the Atlantic Federation, and Coordinators had largely retreated to either neutral nations like the Orb Union or into space in PLANT, where they were more than welcome.

A derogative term among Naturals for Coordinators is "Patchworker", a reference to their "patchwork" DNA.

Issues

As of CE 71, Coordinators are becoming increasingly sterile when without genetic input from Naturals. Though ZAFT scientists are busy working on a solution, there is no known cure as of the present date.

Another potential flaw to Coordinators is that there is a discrepancy between how a Coordinator fetus is intended to develop and how the child really turns out. In many cases unwanted genetic traits would appear in the baby, arguably due to the inability of the mother's womb to pose as an adequate environment to support the genetic modifications.

In the early 50's, a renowned scientist, Professor Ulen Hibiki, proposed the usage of an artificial womb to circumvent the natural womb's shortcomings. Many "prototypes" failed, including Canard Pars, the only known to have survived, before the last and successful Ultimate Coordinator, Hibiki's son Kira Yamato, was born in May 18, CE 55. Kira has grown up completely unaware of his origins until later in the Bloody Valentine War.

True purpose

According to the "GG Unit", an artificial intelligence said to be derived from the memory engrams of George Glenn's brain, Coordinators have strayed from their intended purpose: to "coordinate" the next step of humanity's evolution, as the name indicates. George Glenn never intended for Coordinators to view themselves as a superior race, but in Glenn's eyes, anyone who works for the betterment of mankind is a true Coordinator, regardless of whether his genes have been enhanced or not. Unfortunately, this enlightened view is not shared by many on either side of the Earth/PLANT conflict.

Extended human (Biological CPU)

The Extended human was a secret Atlantic Federation development project, aimed to produce pilots for its mobile suits that would fight with the same efficiency as Coordinators. In his earlier stages, the project was codenamed Biological CPU program.

First Stage Extended humans had some biotechnological modification and were mentally conditioned to eliminate their sense of fear and increase aggression in combat; the subjects were mostly regular pilots who were given regular doses of the performance-enhancing drug Gamma Glipheptin. This drug had a negative effect on the pilots' mental stability and caused them to behave in undesirable ways during battle. It also had very brief duration, and as the effect wore off it left the pilots incapacitated with severe withdrawal symptoms. Their loyalty to the Alliance was guaranteed by their addiction to Gamma Glipheptin. The first-stage test subjects were Clotho Buer, Orga Sabnak and Shani Andras, three convicted criminals who were offered a clean slate in exchange for being inducted into the military as experimental subjects. All three were killed in battle during the closing stages of the Bloody Valentine War. These three are affectionately nicknamed "the Druggies" by fans.

Second Stage Extended humans were physically and psychologically altered with brainwashing, heavy mental conditioning, performance-enhancing drugs and extremely harsh combat training. They were more stable than first-stage extendeds, but required regular re-conditioning, especially when their trigger words were used to force actions from them. They also required regular brain "maintenance" to keep them in a high-performance state, and to erase any memories they might have. Sting Oakley, Stellar Loussier and Auel Neider were second-stage Extended humans.

Extended humans possessed strong enough combat abilities to press even very strong Coordinators such as Kira Yamato or Athrun Zala.

Extended humans could be considered analogous to the Universal Century concept of Artificial or Cyber-Newtypes, who were normal pilots enhanced to have Newtype abilities.

Nuclear technologies

After the Bloody Valentine War all military use of these technologies was banned by the Bloody Valentine War#Treaty of Junius

Neutron Jammer

The N-Jammer or Neutron Jammer is a device which suppresses nuclear fission reactions by blocking the movement of free neutrons (it is probable that nuclear fusion, which does not rely on neutron emission, would be unaffected by an N-Jammer). Its effective range is so great that even a handful of these devices are sufficient to cover the entire Earth, nullifying all nuclear weapons and power plants on the planet's surface. The N-Jammer also has the side effect of disrupting radio waves, severely restricting the range of radar and conventional communications, and for this reason space warships are equipped with these devices as an electronic countermeasure.

The N-Jammer was originally developed in the PLANTs under the supervision of Supreme Council member Orson White. These devices were first employed in the battle for the space station Yggdrasil on February 22, C.E. 70, and on April 1 of that year the ZAFT forces drove countless N-Jammers into Earth's surface as the first phase of their Operation Uroboros campaign. The nations of Earth, which had previously depended on nuclear fission as their primary power source, were plunged into a severe energy crisis as a result.

During the winter of CE 70–71, at least tens of millions of Naturals died on Earth because of lack of energy for heating, due directly to the presence of N-Jammers on Earth. However, the Treaty of Junius outlawed the use of N-Jammers in combat, either in a defensive role or as a weapon.

see also: ニュートロンジャマー

Neutron Jammer Canceller

Neutron Jammer Cancellers or N-Jammer Cancellers are devices used to cancel the effects of N-Jammers.

ZAFT deployed Neutron-Jammers to disallow the Earth Alliance use of nuclear weaponry. ZAFT also invented this device to cancel this effect in order to use nuclear weapons / generators. This would means nearly limitless supply of energy and a complete superiority over other battery powered Mobile Suits that had to be recharged periodically. In the debut episode, Kira takes the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam from a PLANT (a space colony resembling an hourglass) to the JOSH-A base in Alaska.

Because the use of N-Jammers was banned by the Junius Treaty which ended the Bloody Valentine War, N-Jammer Cancellers are now semi-outdated technology; however, because of the still-present N-Jammers which were dropped on Earth during the War as offensive weapons, all nuclear power reactors on Earth are equipped with N-Jammer Cancellers. The Neutron Stampeder weapon appears to be derived from the N-Jammer Canceller. Initial versions of the N-Jammer Canceller have no effect on and offer no protection from the Neutron Stampeder's effect, but ZAFT has since developed a version immune to the Stampeder.

see also ニュートロンジャマーキャンセラー

Neutron Stampeder

An experimental defensive weapon designed by ZAFT to protect against nuclear attack. The device is mounted on a Nazca class destroyer, and is nearly as large as the ship itself. When activated, the Neutron Stampeder emits a massive energy wave, which causes any nuclear weapons it comes in contact with to prematurely detonate. Unfortunately, the emitters fry themselves after firing, so the weapon can only be fired once.

The Neutron Stampeder was first fielded in CE 73, when it thwarted an Earth Alliance attempt to attack the PLANTs with nuclear missiles, causing the Alliance fleet to be wiped out by its own weapons.

Mobile Suit technology

G Project

The G Project was the Earth Alliance's crash program to develop mobile suits that could be piloted by Naturals. First-generation mobile suits were too complex for Naturals to control, and could only be piloted by Coordinators. The G project began in Cosmic Era year 69 under the aegis of Admiral Lewis Halberton to produce G Weapons and reached fruition in 71. The G mobile suits eventually became known collectively as "Gundams," after the acronym for their mobile operating system.

The five mobile suits developed under the G Project were:

• GAT-X102 Duel
• GAT-X103 Buster
• GAT-X105 Strike
• GAT-X207 Blitz
• GAT-X303 Aegis

Several later mobile suits were derived from the G Project, all designated GAT-01 with a suffix to indicate which suit they were developed from. "A" or no suffix designates mobile suits derived from the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam, "D" designates mobile suits derived from the GAT-X102 Duel Gundam, and "E" designates mobile suits derived from the GAT-X103 Buster Gundam.

See Cosmic Era Mobile Units for detailed information about all the produced units.

SEED

The SEED (Superior Evolutionary Element Destined) factor allows for superior synchronization of pilot with G-Weapons by producing a beserker mode.

METEOR

The METEOR (Mobile suit Embedded Tactical EnfORcer) support system is a large, unmanned vehicle created by ZAFT for use by the ZGMF-X09A Justice and ZGMF-X10A Freedom. The METEOR unit is propelled by powerful laser pulse thrusters, counteracting the considerable mass of the nearly 100 meter long vehicles. The METEOR is extremely well-armed, mounting four battleship-grade beam cannons, two huge beam swords, and 77 missile launchers. The support ship Eternal was designed to carry the two METEOR units externally. Only two METEOR units were build during the Bloody Valentine War. One was destroyed by Ex Zaft commander Le Creuset in battle against Freedom, the second one was used by Athrun Zala to pierce the GENESIS armor and presumedly destroyed in the explosion of GENESIS.

ZAFT also created a variant of the METEOR system, the Verne 35A/MPFM Multipurpose Flight Module, which lacks the METEOR's heavy armament but can be used as a booster for a variety of mobile suits and shuttles.

DRAGOON System

The DRAGOON (Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network) system is an weapons system developed using technology bought from the defense conglomerate Actaeon Industries. The DRAGOON uses Mirage Colloid particles to send signals to weapon pods to move them around without the awkward wire guidance used in mobile armors such as the TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero, or the Striker Pack AQM/E-X04 Gunbarrel Striker. The original system was first tested in the YMF-X000A Dreadnought and used by the prototype ZGMF-X13A Providence units, piloted by ZAFT ace Rau Le Creuset. The system proved very effective to range an all-direction attack on the target.

An alternate version of the DRAGOON system was developed by Earth Alliance's Azrael Financial Group and utilized in their prototype TSX-MA717/ZD Pergrande mobile armor. This version required three pilots, and didn't require a pilot with spatial awareness; instead, the computer maneuvered the pods using the X, Y, and Z coordinates from the pilots. These pods mounted a beam cannon and a beam gun, which made it much more powerful than the regular DRAGOON system mobile suits. The Pergrande was destroyed during testing.

After the signing of the Treaty of Junius on March 10, C.E. 72, which outlawed Mirage Colloid technology, the DRAGOON system was also apparently abandoned. Nonetheless, a similar system was used on the experimental XMF-P192P Proto Chaos mobile armor, and later used in the close combat mode of the ZGMF-X24S Chaos.

The DRAGOON system closely resembles the Funnels technology used in other Gundam series.

Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System

The Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System is a technology developed by ZAFT to remotely recharge the batteries of mobile suits. It was developed as a result of the ban of all military applications of the N-Jammer Canceller and nuclear power. With this system, a properly outfitted ship can project a "deuterion beam" into the receiver of a mobile suit, rapidly recharging its battery in mid-battle. The first vessel to be outfitted with this system is the battleship Minerva.

Colloid Particles

Mirage Colloid

Mirage Colloid is a sythetic particle first discovered by the Earth Alliance's Atlantic Federation, which can be used for a variety of military purposes.

The first use discovered was as a stealth device, and this technology was incorporated into the GAT-X207 Blitz. With the Mirage Colloid system activated, the mobile suit was covered by the particles, which bent light and RADAR waves around it, rendering the Blitz invisible to both visual and electronic detection. However, the power requirements were substantial, and Mirage Colloid could not be used simultaneously with Phase Shift armor. This application of Mirage Colloid was later incorporated into the MBF-P01-Re<AMATU> Astray Gold Frame Amatu, which used the severed arm of the Blitz, and was eventually repeated on a much larger scale to conceal ZAFT's huge superweapon GENESIS.

At the end of the Bloody Valentine War, the Treaty of Junius was signed by representatives of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. One of its provision banned the use of Mirage Colloid technology, seemingly putting an end to further development of this highly versatile particle. However, a mere two years later, the top secret Earth Alliance battleship Girty Lue used its illegal Mirage Colloid stealth system to launch a sneak attack on ZAFT's Armory One base and steal three prototype Gundam mobile suits.

Geschmeidig Panzer

The next development of Mirage Colloid was the "Geschmeidig Panzer" energy deflection armor, employed by the GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam and its descendants, the GAT-X255 Forbidden Blue and GAT-706S Deep Forbidden. This system utilized Mirage Colloid particles to bend energy beams away from the mobile suit, providing excellent defensive capabilities. In the amphibious Forbidden Blue and Deep Forbidden units, the "Geschmeidig Panzer" pods were modified to also deflect water, for use as a propulsion system.

Mirage Colloid Virus Spreader

While the initial advances in Mirage Colloid technology were made by the Atlantic Federation, a more novel development came from another source: the Mirage Colloid virus spreader, created by the defense conglomerate Actaeon Industries and utilized in their prototype NMS-X07PO Gel Finieto. This system used Mirage Colloid particles to access the operating systems of nearby mobile suits and infect them with a computer virus, unimpeded by Neutron Jammer interference. However, the Gel Finieto was otherwise unarmed and generally unremarkable, and there was little military interest in the mobile suit.

Offensive Technology

Phonon Maser

The phonon maser was created by ZAFT for use in amphibious mobile suits, to counteract the ineffectiveness of standard beam weapons in underwater environments. Phonon masers concentrate sound waves into highly destructive laser-like beams. The Earth Alliance was later able to duplicate phonon maser technology for use in its own series of amphibious mobile suits.

Cyclops System

The Cyclops System is a powerful microwave weapon devised by the Earth Alliance, which consists of a large array of dish emitters. The Cyclops System's effectiveness is actually increased by Neutron Jammers, which restrict the microwaves to smaller area and increase the intensity of the weapon's effects. Once activated, the Cyclops System rapidly heats the water that makes up about 60% of the human body, as well as the propellant and ammunition supplies of mobile suits. Ultimately the intense radiation heat will destroy even buildings and the array itself. To conceal these weapons, the Earth Alliance builds them beneath their own bases as a self-destruct mechanism. The Cyclops System was used twice during the Bloody Valentine War, once to destroy the Endymion Crater lunar base, which was being overrun by ZAFT forces, and once in a trap at the Earth Alliance military headquarters in Alaska, when Atlantic Federation leaders deliberately sacrificed their unwitting Eurasian Federation comrades to wipe out a huge ZAFT attack force.

Positron Blaster Cannon

Positron blaster cannons are highly powerful weapons used as the main guns of some large warships. They fire beams of positrons, the antimatter equivalent of electrons. When such a beam comes into contact with an object, the positrons and electrons annihilate each other, which in turn causes the target to break apart on a molecular level. A side effect of this process is a burst of highly lethal gamma radiation. Positron blaster cannons include the "Lohengrin" cannons used by the Earth Alliance's Archangel-class assault ships and Orb's Izumo class battleships and the "Tannhäuser" cannon of the ZAFT battleship Minerva. In addition, at least one Earth Alliance fortification on the Arabian Peninsula has been equipped with a "Lohengrin", and the MBF-P03–2 Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second can be equipped with a miniaturized "Lohengrin", which is the size of a large mobile suit bazooka.

Positronic Interference

Positronic interference is a side effect of firing a positron blaster cannon within Earth's atmoshere that can be used to launch a vessel into space without use of a mass driver. If positron blasters are fired while a ship is in flight, they can produce a cone of positrons that literally disintegrate the atmosphere in front of the ship, eliminating air resistance and allowing it to achieve greater velocity without the risk of burning up in the earth's atmosphere.

Gungnir System

The Gungnir System is a powerful electromagnetic pulse system produced by ZAFT to disable electronic systems (including the controls of mobile suits) without harming living creatures. ZAFT's own mobile suits have heavy EMP shielding and are unaffected by the Gungnir System, but the Earth Alliance's early mass produced model GAT-01 Strike Daggers' shielding proved insufficient to protect against it.

GENESIS

GENESIS (Gamma Emission by Nuclear Explosion Stimulate Inducing System) is a huge gamma ray laser build under the orders of Patrick Zala as ZAFT's ultimate weapon. GENESIS uses multiple nuclear devices with Neutron Jammer Cancellers to to produce a massive bust of gamma radiation, which is relfected back by an external alignment mirror and focused by a second mirror into a laser beam. This laser is sufficiently powerful that if it were to hit the Earth, more then half of all life on the planet would be exterminated. The external mirror is reduced to a radioactive scrap in the blast, and must be replaced for another shot to be fired. GENESIS is also protected by multiple layers of Phase Shift Armor and can be concealed by Mirage Colloid.

Defensive Technology

Anti-Beam Coating

Anti-beam coating is a material that can be applied to the surface of objects to make them resistant to beam weaponry. Nearly all mobile suit shields have anti-beam coating applied to the outer face, allowing them to withstand numerous hits by beam rifles and blades, and even provide some protection against a warship's large beam cannons. ZAFT warships also have a thin anti-beam coating, and a few rare bladed weapons are also anti-beam coated.

Anti-Beam Depth Charge

Anti-beam depth charges are cylindrical pods that can be released by some warships, which detonate and release clouds of beam-absorbing particles. These particles disperse relatively quickly, but temporarily reduce the power of beam shots. As the particles have the same effect on beams fired by the ship that deployed them, anti-beam depth charges are typically used to cover a retreat.

Laminated Armor

Laminated armor is an outer armor layer consisting of a single piece, rather than connected plates. It provides protection against beam weaponry by dispersing them across the entire surface of the armor. This provides superior protection against beam weapons, but eventually laminated armor begins to melt from the accumulated heat. Laminated armor is used on the Archangel-class assault ships and the GAT-01A1 105 Dagger and GAT/A-01E2 Buster Dagger mobile suits.

Phase Shift Armor

Phase Shift armor is a technology designed to protect mobile suits from physical attack. Phase Shift, or "PS" armor, consists of an energy field generated through superconducting conduits in the armored surface of a mobile suit. When PS armor powers up, a hissing sound can be heard and the grey surface of the mobile suit's armor is overlaid in color, which is apparently predetermined when the armor is designed and cannot be altered. Once powered up, the PS armor takes minimal energy to maintain unless it is being actively attacked. ZAFT commander Andrew Waltfeld, through his observations of the Strike Gundam, estimated that that particular mobile suit in standard use can take approximately 72 hits with the missiles used by his corps' mobile suit, the TMF/A-802 BuCUE, before draining enough power to force a shutdown of the PS armor. Against the 76.2mm machine gun carried by the ZGMF-1017 GINN, the Strike Gundam's endurance is effectively unlimited.

PS armor was developed by the Earth Alliance and Morgenroete, Inc., and first rolled out in Cosmic Era 71. It remains in use as of CE 73. The first mobile suits to be equipped with PS Armor are the so-called "Gundams", GAT-X102 Duel Gundam, GAT-X103 Buster Gundam, GAT-X105 Strike Gundam, GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam and GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam.

The inverse of the Phase Shift armor concept is the Universal Century's I-field generator, which defends against beam weaponry but has no effect against physical attack.

Limitations

Because PS armor draws energy off of a mobile suit, the suits so equipped must have a means of replenishing that energy, or risk power depletion. During the war, the existence of N-Jammers limited mobile suits and mobile armors to operation on an energy battery (some mobile suits were equipped with various turbine engines to extend their operating time, but almost none had truly unlimited operational ability).

PS armor grants near-invulnerability to projectiles, but it has virtually no effect on beam weapons, so most PS armored mobile suits carry a shield with an ablative anti-beam coating for defense against beams.

Nuclear power could give a PS armored mobile suit theoretically unlimited operating time, however during the Bloody Valentine War the widespread use of N-Jammers made this nearly impossible and afterward, the Treaty of Junius outlawed nuclear-powered mobile suits. Only a few nuclear-powered mobile suits were made in any event, including the YMF-X000A Dreadnought Gundam, ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam, ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, ZGMF-X11A Regenerate Gundam, ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam, and ZGMF-X999A ZAKU Trial Type. Each of these units incorporated an N-Jammer Canceller in their design, negating the effects of the N-Jammers in the field.

Trans Phase armor

During the war, OMNI Enforcer experimented with ways to extend the usefulness of PS Armor, leading to the development of Trans Phase armor (TP), which improved on PS Armor by only activating at the point of impact. However, this left TP armored mobile suits vulnerable to heavy attack from multiple vectors (a sufficiently powerful weapon could also overpower the TP armor), and at the end of the war, TP armor was apparently abandoned, along with the "Extended" pilots of the three TP armored Gundams, GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam, GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam and GAT-X370 Raider Gundam.

ZAFT continues to develop Phase Shift armor after the war (the Earth Alliance seems to have abandoned it for more conventional laminated armor), culminating in the development of Variable Phase Shift (VPS) Armor on the ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam, which alters the strength, and by extension the power consumption, to fit the suit's different configurations.

Lightwave Barrier

A lightwave barrier is an energy field which blocks both physical and energy weapons. This technology was developed by the Eurasian Federation to protect its asteroid fortress Artemis. This barrier became known as the "Umbrella of Artemis". Later, a mobile suit-scale version, known as "Armure Lumiere", was developed for Eurasia's CAT1-X Hyperion Gundam series. This system could be used to form a triangular arm-mounted beam shield or a complete 360-degree barrier, although the latter could be maintained for only 5 minutes. The "Armure Lumiere" also allowed the Hyperion Gundams' specialized beam submachinegun to fire through its barrier. ZAFT later devised a similar system to reinforce the physical shield of the ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam. Lightwave barriers can, however, be pierced by physical blades with anti-beam coating, or by another lightwave shield shaped to have a sufficiently pointed tip.

Positron Reflector

A positron reflector is an energy barrier that uses a field of positrons to deflect beam weapons. In CE 73, the Earth Alliance creates several mobile armors which use this system to create a shield to protect themselves or fixed installations. The first mobile armor with this system is the YMAF-X6BD Zamza-Zah which fights against the Minerva when it flees from Orb. With its deflector it can even withstand the Tannhäuser positron cannon. The second unit, the YMAG-X7F Gerzu-Geh, is used to protect an Earth Alliance "Lohengrin Gate" positron cannon in Gulnahan.

Scale System

A scale system is method of propulsion developed by ZAFT for use in land battleships. Scale systems use the vibrations of thousands of tiny mechanical scales to move over loose soil or sand, and can also function on water. For smaller vehicles such as mobile suits, a scale system can also be used for underwater propulsion, though the relatively fragile scales cannot withstand the high pressures of the ocean depths, requiring the mobile suit to remain close to the surface. As the scale system can propel a vehicle sideways or backwards (or vertically, in underwater use) with equal speed to forward motion, vehicles with a scale system tend to be more agile than those of comprable size that are reliant on conventional thrusters or screw propellers.

See also

• ニュートロンジャマーキャンセラー

External links

• http://www.gundamofficial.com
• http://www.mahq.net