Model number: OZ-07AMS
Code name: Aries
Unit type: mass production air attack mobile suit
Manufacturer(s): Earth Sphere Alliance
Operator(s): numerous
First deployment: UC 208
Retired: UC 226
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 16.9 meters
Armor materials: titanium alloy
Powerplant: ultracompact fusion reactor, power output rated at 905 kW
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; 4 x hardpoint, can store additional weapons
Fixed armaments: none
Optional hand armaments: 120mm chain rifle, magazine-fed, 60 rounds per magazine, can be stored on wing hardpoint and used as fixed armament; 4-tube missile launcher, 2 round magazine per tube, can be stored on wing hardpoint and used as fixed armament

Technical and Historical Notes

At the founding of the Earth Sphere Alliance, a coalition of most of the economically powerful states of Europe and North America, mobile suit technology was only recently being rediscovered after the catastrophic events of the Interregnum. The Alliance's basic Leo mobile suit was employed with much success in unifying more rebellious areas, but after the founding of the Human Reform League and their own deployment of the primitive yet highly effective Tieren, the Alliance quickly began developing new mobile suits to counter this threat. Both sharing the same base model number, the Tragos was developed for land battles, and the Aries for aerial combat.

The Aries is designed specifically for air attack purposes, and its exterior appearance has more in common with a fighter aircraft than a mobile suit. Its thin legs are used more as landing gear than for walking purposes, while a quartet of massive jet engines sprout conspicuously from its torso and thighs. In flight, the Aries assumes a more streamlined, compact profile, and it is an exceptionally fast mobile suit in a straight dash - its turning characteristics are more limited by the pilot's endurance than mechanical capability, and Alliance operators typically wore G-suits to allow for tighter maneuvering. In order to reduce weight as much as possible, relatively thin armor protection and a less-powerful reactor were installed, which precluded the use of beam weaponry.

Primarily intended to destroy other flying targets or enemy forces on the ground, the Aries' primary weapon is a multi-barreled missile launcher, capable of firing well-designed infrared-seeking missiles. For attacks at shorter distances, an electrically-powered 120mm "chain rifle" may be armed instead, which boasts greater power and accuracy than the Leo's 105mm machine gun, albeit at the cost of a reduced rate of fire. Similarly to a modern fighter, the Aries' wings mount several hardpoints which can be used to store additional missile launchers and rifles - the attached weapons can also be fired from those positions as well, which allows a single Aries to bring a rather copious amount of firepower to bear very quickly.

Initially designed essetially as a "Tieren Buster", the Aries came to be used more heavily as a support and fast attack unit for ground-based forces. Aries were slowly withdrawn from major combat operations after the much more advanced Taurus was developed, eventually being relegated to reserve and scouting forces by UC 217. After the catastrophic failure of the Alliance's Skyline Network in UC 220, which effectively annihilated its entire mobile doll forces, Aries were among the older units called back into action for the desperate fighting against a resurgent Guild. The flyer was once again returned to a purely scouting role once the Alliance began to adopt the radically different GN-X as its main combat unit, and retired for good in the late 220s. In spite of its lack of beam weaponry, the Aries' high speed and mobility have made it attractive to second-hand operators, and the mobile suit can still be found in the hands of a variety of militias and other outfits across the world.

Lineart

120mm chain rifle
Cockpit
Flight configuration
Hardpoints
Missile launcher
Rear view