MS-06K Zaku Cannon

The MS-06K Zaku Cannon was the first Zeon mobile suit to be designed specifically to deal with the now very real threat of Federation mobile suits. Originally designated MS-06J-12 Zaku Anti-Air type, the design team at the captured California Base hastily reworked the machine into an Anti-MS artillery suit when word spread about the frighteningly powerful Federation mobile suits known as "Gundam", "Guncannon" and"Guntank". Because all three Federation mobile suits had long-range weaponry of incredible power, the designers incorporated a large, 180mm cannon in the backpack of the Zaku Cannon, which would swing into position over the right shoulder. To allow the Zaku Cannon to track its targets from any angle, the developers rebuilt the head so that the mono-eye track had a full 360 degrees of rotation. Extra thrusters were added to the lower legs to increase mobility with the added weight of the cannon, and dual smoke discharger tubes were installed to give the Zaku Cannon a protective smokescreen that would blind enemy mobile suits.

Several prototype Zaku Cannons were built during the One-Year-War, and though the development project was cancelled due to recoil problems in the cannon design, many Zaku Cannons survived the seven years that followed, and ended up in service of the Earth Federation during the Gryps War.