This is a list of fictional superweapons from the Universal Century

Universal Century

is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C. is often used instead in recent production like MS Igloo and Master Grade model instructions and official pages is the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. The official English name U.C....

 (UC) timeline of the Gundam

Gundam

The is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....

anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 metaseries.

Nuclear weaponry

Nuclear weaponry was used periodically throughout the UC era, notably during the One Year War. Subsequent use of nuclear weaponry, although banned by the Antarctic Treaty, appears throughout the Universal Century.

• The One Year War: The Principality of Zeon uses nuclear weaponry against Colony Sides 1, 2 and 4 in an effort to deny the Earth Federation
  Earth Federation
  The is a fictional organization in the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam anime series. The name also made a reappearance outside of the Gundam series in following media.* Godzilla vs...
  
   the use of their armed service branches. The result is Sides 1 and 4 sustain heavy damage, while Side 2 practically becomes a Shoal Zone.

• The Battle of Loum: The Principality of Zeon utilizes nuclear equipped Mobile Suits against the Earth Federation Space Force's 1st combined fleet. Heavy casualties are sustained by both sides.

• Operation Odessa: Zeon Colonel M'Quve launches a nuclear warhead at advancing Federation forces. The warhead is disarmed before it detonates.

• Operation Rubicon: A small Zeon fleet is loaded with nuclear weaponry and dispatched to Side 6's Libot Colony in anticipation of using the nuclear warhead; however, the task force is intercepted by Federation patrols before it can use the device.

• Operation Stardust: A MK-82 nuclear device is captured by the Delaz Fleet and subsequently detonated in the middle of the Earth Federal Space Force's fleet during a naval review. Two-thirds of the participating vessels are damaged or destroyed.

• Attack On Jaburo: The Titans use a nuclear bomb in an attempt to destroy the AEUG assault force attacking Jaburo. Although the AEUG troops escape, the blast destroys both Jaburo and the Federation Forces stationed there.

• Char's Counterattack: Londo Bell forces utilize 15 nuclear warheads in an effort to destroy the mining colony Axis to prevent its collision with Earth.

Chemical weaponry

Chemical weaponry was used during three separate conflicts in the Universal Century. Since space colonies are completely enclosed, the results of chemical weaponry are often very disturbing.

• One Week Battle: The Principality of Zeon use G3 nerve gas
  Nerve agent
  Nerve agents are a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to organs...
  
   against Sides 1, 2, and 4.

• 30 Bunch Incident: The Titans shut off circulation to Side 1's 30 Bunch, massacring the entire colony's population. Although a total press blackout
  Media blackout
  Media blackout refers to the censorship of news related to a certain topic, particularly in mass media, for any reason. A media blackout may be voluntary, or may in some countries be enforced by the government or state. The latter case is controversial in peacetime, as some regard it as a human...
  
   is put in place to cover up the incident, the truth eventually emerges. The incident causes the Anti Earth Union Group to take up arms against the Titans.

• Gryps Conflict: G3 nerve gas is used in two incidents during the war. The first is stopped by Katz Kobayashi
  Katz Kobayashi
  Katz Hawin Kobayashi is a fictional character from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam and its sequel Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. In the first series, he was one of three children on board the White Base. Seven years later in Zeta Gundam, he joined the AEUG in their fight against the Titans...
  
   when he manages to destroy the canister before its released into a colony in Side 2. The second, however, was stopped too late, and the entire colony was killed instantly upon its release.

Space weaponry

Although the Antarctic Treaty prohibited the use of nuclear, biological or chemical weaponry, this did not stop the Principality or the Federation trying to develop new superweapons for use against one another.

Colony drop

One of the most devastating tactics used against the Earth Federation was the colony drop. Universal Century colonies are roughly 20 miles (32.2 km) long and 4 miles (6.4 km) wide, making them the largest ballistic weapons ever built. Colony drops result in massive climate changes, land loss, and heavy casualties among those living in harm's way.

• Operation British: The Zeon secure a defunct colony in an effort to destroy the Federation's subterranean Jaburo
  Jaburo
  In the fictional Mobile Suit Gundam metaverse, Jaburo is the headquarters of the Earth Federal Forces during the One Year War and the years after. It is a massive underground complex in the heart of Brazil, which according to Tomino, is roughly the size that Tokyo was in 1979, when the first Gundam...
  
   base. The EFSF intervenes, and the colony's course is altered, causing it to fall on Sydney
  Sydney
  Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
  
  , Australia
  Australia
  Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
  
  .

• Operation Stardust: The Delaz Fleet captures two colony sides, setting one of them on a collision course with the moon; however the colony is swung around the moon and eventually falls on the earth in the Midwest part of the North American continent.

• Operation Apollo: The Titans attempt to drop a colony on Von Braun
  Von Braun (crater)
  von Braun, named after the rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun, is a lunar crater located near the northwestern limb of the Moon. It lies along the western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum, to the northeast of the crater Lavoisier. The northeastern rim of this crater is on the edge of the Sinus Roris,...
  
   on the moon, but fail after AEUG forces intervene.

• First Neo Zeon movement: Haman Karn's forces drop a colony onto Dublin, Ireland
  Ireland
  Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
  
  .

• Second Neo Zeon movement: Char Aznable
  Char Aznable
  , born is a fictional character from the Gundam franchise. He is originally one of the main antagonists in Mobile Suit Gundam and later becomes one of the protagonists of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. In his final appearance in Char's Counterattack, he assumes leadership of the Neo Zeon movement,...
  
  's forces drop the mining asteroid 5th Luna onto Lhasa
  Lhasa
  Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...
  
  , Tibet
  Tibet
  Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
  
  . An attempt by the group to drop the mining asteroid Axis fails after Londo Bell forces intervene.

Colony(or similar items with large size) dropping tactics were widely used in other Gundam Series, such tactics appeared in Gundam W, Gundam X

After War Gundam X

After War Gundam X, known in Japan as , is an anime television series from Japan. It is a part of the Gundam franchise that started in 1979, but takes place in an alternate universe called After War Era. The series has 39 episodes, aired in Japan from April 5, 1996 to December 28, 1996 across TV...

, and also in SEED Destiny

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

is an anime television series, acting as a sequel of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED by Sunrise. It retains most of the staff from Gundam SEED, including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. Set two years after the original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, the plot follows the new character Shinn Asuka, a soldier from ZAFT,...

. In Gundam X, over 90% of the earth's population was wiped out after a successful massive colony drop operation.

Solar System/Solar System II

Based on the weapon devised by ancient inventor Archimedes

Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...

, the Solar System, also called Solar Flare System, is a superweapon developed by the Earth Federation which uses a system of mirrors to focus sunlight onto an object in order to heat it to the point of fracture. The Federation used this weapon twice, once during the One Year War and again during the Delaz Fleet crisis.

• The Battle of Solomon: The Earth Federation deploys its 1st Solar System array at Solomon which decimates the base's Primary Gate and all ships and mobile suits docked there. During the battle, Dozle Zabi
  Dozle Zabi
  In the fictional Mobile Suit Gundam series, is the second oldest son of Degwin Sodo Zabi and the Principality of Zeon's Space Attack Force Commander...
  
   attempted to destroy the system but was killed by Amuro Ray. The weapon consists of four million individually adjustable mirrors that are controlled by computer-coordination.

• Operation Stardust: The Federation's 3rd Orbital Fleet deploys the Solar System II in an effort to destroy Island Iffish before it impacts Earth. Anavel Gato intervenes, destroying the Solar System II control ship, and as a result the Solar System II fails to prevent the colony drop. Thanks to improved materials and more sophisticated control software, it consists of only 408,000 mirrors resembling the shape of a plus sign
  Plus and minus signs
  The plus and minus signs are mathematical symbols used to represent the notions of positive and negative as well as the operations of addition and subtraction. Their use has been extended to many other meanings, more or less analogous...
  
  , while retaining the destructive power of the first Solar System.

Solar Ray Cannon

Following the loss of Odessa and Solomon, the Zeon military was on the defensive. After witnessing the effectiveness of the Earth Federation's Solar System during the Battle of Solomon and fearing the Federation's next move would be a full-scale assault on the home colonies, Zeon's Supreme Commander Gihren Zabi

Gihren Zabi

is a fictional character, and antagonist from the universe of the Gundam anime series. He was voiced by the veteran seiyu, Banjo Ginga in the original Japanese version. In the English dubbed series and movie adaptations the character was voiced by Hiro Kanagawa and Doug Stone respectively.American...

 ordered the construction of a massive solar powered beam projector known as the Solar Ray System. The project originally started in the Mahal colony in September 0079, exploiting the same loophole in the Antarctic Treaty as the Federation's Solar System. Supervised by Colonel Asakura, who also developed Zeon's lethal G3 nerve gas, solar batteries from other colonies were collected and a projection array was built within the colony walls. Although intended for use against the Federation this weapon was only used once against Degwin Sodo Zabi

Degwin Sodo Zabi

is a fictional character in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam universe. He was the absolute dictator of the Principality of Zeon and came to power in UC 0068 after the suspicious death of Zeon Zum Deikun.- Rise to Power :...

 while his fleet and General Revil

General Revil

In the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime, General Revil is one of the Earth Federation's leading Space Force commanders...

's fleet were meeting to negotiate a peace. The premature firing of the Solar Ray Cannon by Gihren Zabi caused the Colony Laser to burn out, which contributed to the Principality of Zeon's loss during the Battle of A Baoa Qu by depriving Gihren and Kycilla Zabi of the ability to strike at the Federation from a distance.

Gryps Colony Laser

Essentially a superior improvement of the Solar Ray Cannon. To punish rebellious colonies without resorting to conventional invasion or the use of chemical weapons, Section 2 of the Gryps Colony was converted into a massive laser cannon. Unlike the Solar Ray Cannon, which burned out after firing, the Gryps Colony Laser can fire indefinitely, although its primary flaws were the time-consuming process of recharging between shots and the fact that it was ponderously slow and huge (but resilient) target. Power is supplied by an array of solar panels, whilst a thermonuclear pulse thruster provides a limited degree of mobility. It was first used by the Titans to destroy Colony 18 of Side 2, and later captured by the AEUG and used to eradicate the remnants of the Titans. The Colony Laser was destroyed following the conclusion of "Operation Maelstrom" and the end of the Gryps Conflict.