The Gundam was incredibly advanced for its time. Built from lightweight Luna Titanium Alloy, its frame was both lighter than that of Zeon's mass-produced mobile suits and much sturdier, able to shrug off a MS-06 Zaku II's machine gun fire with little to no damage. Its offensive power was above and beyond that of the Zakus. The Gundam would engage in most battles with its beam rifle, making it the first mobile suit to have firepower equivalent to a battleship's beam cannons. In addition, it made use of two beam sabers, blades of extremely hot plasma which could cut through any metal with ease. Those beam sabers could be extended into a spear-like beam javelin, which could be used to stab into an enemy from a longer distance.

The Gundam also used more conventional weaponry; it could launch rockets with a "Hyper Bazooka", the Federation's answer to the bazookas used by Zeon's Zakus; in addition, its head was outfitted with a pair of small vulcan guns, as a way of attacking light-armored aircraft and vehicles without wasting ammo or energy from its more powerful armaments. It also made use of a very unconventional close-range weapon known as the "Gundam Hammer" - a large weapon similar to a flail which could be swung at enemies to deal crushing damage. The Gundam Hammer was eventually upgraded for use in space and outfitted with a number of verniers on the ball, and renamed to be the "Hyper Hammer". Lastly, it wielded a shield which would offer it a defense against enemy attacks that not even its Luna Titanium body could withstand without damage. Gundam pilot, Amuro Ray, would make use of the shield as a decoy in many battles, taking advantage of its size to fool the enemy into thinking he was charging at them, then attacking the enemy through the shield.

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