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In the anime series Gundam Seed, ZAFT created a series of advanced mobile suits based on technology reverse-engineered from the captured Earth Alliance G Project suits. Like their EA predecessors, the ZAFT Gundams were armed with advanced beam weaponry and protected by Phase Shift armor. However, a additional technology was incorporated as well: the Neutron Jammer Canceller, which counterred the effects of the ubiquitous N-Jammers and allowed these suits to be powered by nuclear reactors. This gave them almost limitless combat endurance, even with Phase Shift armor activated.
One of these suits was the YMF-X000A Dreadnought Gundam, which appeared only in the manga side story Gundam SEED Astray . The Dreadnought Gundam was seperate from the main ZGMF-X series, and served as a testbed for the DRAGOON (Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network) system of the ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam. Unlike the other nuclear-powered Gundams, which were entirely new suits, the Dreadnought Gundam was actually built from a heavily modified ZGMF-600 GuAIZ frame. It was equipped with the ubiquitous beam rifle and CIWS guns, and a combined shield/beam saber, but the primary armament was a pair of "Sharktype" beam cannon/scissor anchors mounted on the hips. While these weapons were tethered to the suit by wires, the were completely DRAGOON controlled; the wires were simply to recover the weapons in the event of a malfunction in the still-experimental system.
The Dreadnought Gundam was stolen by the Junk Guild , and piloted by former TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero pilot and failed Aru Da Flaga clone Prayer Reverie . Shortly after the war's end, it was upgraded by Lowe Gear with a new backpack mounting four large DRAGOON weapon pods, similar to those of the Providence Gundam. The configuration of the backpack caused Lowe to nickname the Dreadnought Gundam "X Astray". The final use of the Dreadnought Gundam was against Prayer's rival Canard Pars and his CAT1-X1/3 Hyperion Gundam Unit 1. In the end, the Hyperion Gundam was destroyed, but Prayer protected Canard from the explosion and died shortly thereafter due to flaws in the cloning process.
The Dreadnought Gundam was then rebuilt by Lowe as the YMF-X000A/H Dreadnought H (the "H" standing for "Hyperion", as elements of the Hyperion Gundam were incorporated into the design), and piloted by Canard. The DRAGOON system was removed, and its backpack was replaced with a pair of weapon pods, each mounting a combined beam cannon/long beam sword, an "Igelstellung II" vulcan, and a grenade launcher. In combat, the Dreadnought H could assume Buster Mode, in which the pods mounted over the shoulders for use as beam cannons, and Sword Mode, in which they mounted under the arms as beam swords. In Sword Mode, the vulcans and grenade launchers could also fire over the shoulders. In addition, the Sharktype beam cannons were converted into "Armure Lumiere" mono-phase lightwave shield generators, and mounted on the forearms when in use.
Manufacturer: Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty
Users: Junk Guild
Unit type: prototype attack use mobile suit
Head height: unknown
Weight: unknown
Special equipment: Phase Shift armor, Neutron Jammer Canceller, DRAGOON (Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network) system
Powerplant: Ultracompact nuclear fission reactor
Armament: high-energy beam rifle x1, armed shield with beam saber x1, MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS x4, Type-XM1 Sharktype conductive beam cannon/scissor anchor x2, large DRAGOON pod (9 beam gun nozzles) x4
Pilot: Prayer Reverie