Pegasus-Class Assault Landing Craft

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Pegasus class Assault Landing Craft
Ship Type Assault Landing Craft
Class: Pegasus
(White Base shown)
Launched: Universal Century 0079
Class Fate: Discontinued in favor of Ra Cailum class battleship
General Characteristics
The general characteristics of this class vary on a ship to ship basis; as such it is not possible to give statistics for the class as a whole. Specific characteristics for the Pegasus-class ships can be found on each ships' respective page.

In the fictional universe of Mobile Suit Gundam, the Pegasus-Class Assault Landing Craft was the first ship of the Earth Federation to be designed around a capacity to carry mobile suits (MS). These Assault Carriers are functionally equivalent to an aircraft carrier, as their primary function is to launch and recover mobile suits.

Since Pegasus-class ships carry their own MS with them at all times they are somewhat less dependent on their main guns and anti-aircraft guns for protection and they enjoy more freedom on the battlefield, as they do not have operate in close consort with other ships for mutual protection against enemy mobile suits. All Pegasus-class ships are also equipped with a Minovsky Craft System which enable ships in this class to enter and exit the earth's atmosphere; additionally, the craft system allows for these Assault Carriers to float by creating a barrier between the carrier and the ground.

Unlike the other Federation ship classes of the time, the Pegasus-class is not so much a single class as a concept; rapidly advancing technology swiftly changed both the internal arrangement and external appearance of the Pegasus-class ships. Only the first three units (Pegasus SCV-69, White Base SCV-70, and White Base Jr. SCV-71) were completed to the original plans. After White Base Jr., technology was advancing so quickly that each subsequent Pegasus-class cruiser looked significantly different, though each had the same general arrangement of a central hull with two large aft thruster blocks, two wings, and two forward mobile suit launching "legs." The overall design looked like a sphinx or a winged horse, giving the class its name.

After the One Year War, every ship was redesignated as Mobile Suit Carrier (MSC) whether it had survived the war or not.

Contents

[edit] Ships of the Pegasus class

Albion, a Flight III Assault Carrier, resupplies at Torrington Base in Australia
Albion, a Flight III Assault Carrier, resupplies at Torrington Base in Australia

To a practiced eye, no two ships of the Pegasus class are alike. The advancing technology of the war resulted in drastic changes that severely affected the external appearance of the ships. However, four distinct flights appeared:

  • Flight I: The base Pegasus design, repeated on White Base and White Base Jr.,
  • Flight II: A modified Flight I design, seen on Thoroughbred and Blanc Rival, mostly similar but flatter in shape,
  • Flight III: New external design, included two additional catapults, a new laser propulsion system and generally improved armament, not completed until postwar
  • Flight IV: Actually completed before Flight III, an improved Flight II design.

[edit] List of ships of the Pegasus-class

[edit] Derivatives

Because of their practicality, several future class incorporated similar design features and/or similar concepts in their construction:

  • Argama-class cruiser (Grypps Conflict)
  • Nahel Argama-class battleship (First Neo-Zeon War)

[edit] Alternate Universe Counterparts

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Universal Century ship classes
Earth Federation/AEUG ship classes:
Salamis - Magellan - Pegasus - Public - Columbus - Birmingham - Irish - Argama - Nahel Argama - Alexandria - Dogosse Giar - Jupitris - La Vie en Rose - Clop - Ra Cailum

Principality of Zeon/Neo Zeon ship classes:
Musai - Zanzibar - Gwazine - Chivvay - Tivvay - Dolos - Papua - Pazock - Gwa-Dann - Gwanvan - Endra - Sadalahn - Musaka - Rewloola
In other languages