Why would I join the army if I can’t drive a Gundam!

Chapter 298 Bidding Results
"No, no, no! We absolutely cannot accept this configuration!"

Before Macarius could even speak, Char had already begun to express his opinion.

"Don't even mention that the old 120mm gun uses brand new ammunition and surpasses the Zaku. Simply changing the type of ammunition is not enough to make up for the gun's problems. Low muzzle velocity and poor accuracy. I'd rather take the MMP80 machine gun!"

"Indeed, I agree with the captain's opinion!"

After briefly testing the Zaku's weapons, the other pilots echoed this sentiment.

"You all think so?"

"That's right!"

Seeing the pilot nod, Makarius was also very pleased.

"Then, everyone submit a 10,000-word analysis report!"

"what?"

"Oh, what? Giving feedback after a test drive is perfectly normal. Once you've written your feedback, hand it over to Captain Cuvatoro. He'll be responsible for compiling it. Show me the completed report!"

"That explains why you were standing so far away, waiting for us when this machine was delivered."

"Why not?"

Makarius tilted his head. He was well aware of the problem with the Gozagu, but if he were to submit a report opposing the procurement, he would have to submit a clear report explaining the problem with the device, why it couldn't be put into service because of this problem, and what problems would arise if it were forced into service. Because of the expertise of the Federation Army's high command, the report had to be easy to understand, detailed yet concise, and it had to be in both handwritten and electronic form. The former would be kept in the archives while the latter would be submitted for review.

As for writing reports, Makarius would naturally avoid it if possible, and only write them honestly if he couldn't avoid it. But now, it's even more convenient. He just needs to copy what Char has already prepared and then hand it in!

“Ms. Nina, if we want the Gozaku to serve, Anaheim must solve the problems with the power reactor and the arm power pipe!”

"I will submit a report!"

Nina hadn't expected Makarius to be so open-minded. Despite being a competitor, he didn't make things difficult for her, and the questions he raised were reasonable and well-founded, so much so that Nina couldn't find any fault with them.

"Furthermore, I suggest that instead of investing a lot of energy in modifying the High Zaku, we should think about how to develop the next mobile suit. The High Zaku has a brilliant concept, but the steps taken are a bit too small!"

"You mean the Federation isn't considering purchasing large quantities of Kozaku?"

"If I were the commander-in-chief of the Federation Army, I would at most distribute this thing to the lunar city garrison. The moon is certainly suitable for this thing to bounce around on. If you expect us to purchase it on a large scale, then why did Anaheim launch the GM-2 life extension program in the first place!"

"So, how do you think we should design our next model?"

"The defense of a Gundam, the main gun firepower of a battleship, the cost of a core fighter jet—if I could combine all of these, I wouldn't need my retirement pension for the rest of my life; I'd use it all to buy this!"

Nina was speechless; she had thought the other person could actually offer some professional advice.

"However, if you really want to know, I can say something: even a one-eyed machine should be made to look cool. Although appearance doesn't directly improve combat power, it is related to combat power! Your Zeon employees are good in every way, except they have no imagination!"

Seeing Nina roll her eyes, Makarius thought for a moment, then seriously brought it up.

Nina nodded, indicating that she had clearly remembered the advice. As for more details, Makarius couldn't say anything more, especially about technical matters, since Anaheim was no friend!
After receiving test feedback from the Combat Technology Center, Anaheim Electronics immediately began modifying the High Zaku. Technologies that had previously been compromised to reduce costs were now allowed to be used more freely. Large shoulder armor was added, and some armor was replaced with the more robust Gundanium Gamma alloy. Compared to the prototype High Zaku, the new model, with its arm cooling pipes removed, backpack enlarged, and additional power unit added, made its debut.

Thanks to the Anaheim engineering team's nearly month-long, tireless efforts, all the original pain points regarding the High Zaku mobile suit were eliminated, and in its place came a brand new mobile suit named the Riot Control High Zaku.

Actually, Anaheim initially didn't intend to follow the Naval Strategic Research Institute's lead and planned to call this thing the Special Gow Zaku. However, because of the Riot Control GM that came first, and because the name also indicated the Federation's next phase of work focus, the Special Gow Zaku was transformed into the Riot Control Gow Zaku. This can be seen as Anaheim stating its position to the Federation, and also representing Anaheim's internal Zeon designers choosing to make a strategic separation.

Knowing the reason, Makarius was both amused and exasperated. However, if it was riot control, then so be it. If it was a good name, then let's use it freely. From now on, let's just name all the mechs riot control!

The performance parameters of the Riot Control High Zaku are much stronger than the original High Zaku. Aside from the multiple conventional beam weapons available for free selection, Anaheim's technical team seems to have enhanced its fire control and optical components specifically for comparison with the Riot Control GM, allowing the mobile suit to use the BR-87A large beam rifle for sniping.

Furthermore, because Char criticized the 120mm machine gun, Anaheim replaced the riot control Gozaku with a brand-new 155mm assault cannon. This weapon was developed by Anaheim in the previous stage and can fire a variety of ammunition as well as cannon-launched missiles. It was originally intended to compete with the long-barreled 90mm assault rifle used by Federation mobile suits, but it was not as versatile as the former, so Anaheim abandoned it. But now, it has been brought back.

Char was speechless at this point, after all, the 155mm assault gun basically outclassed the 120mm machine gun in every aspect. Of course, it couldn't outclass the 120mm machine gun in terms of ammunition capacity, since the 155mm ammunition was much larger than the 120mm ammunition.

As for other Federation weapons, Anaheim Electronics units manufactured using the standardized specifications of the Naval Strategic Research Institute can also be used. This is essentially a Federation mandate, ensuring that the Federation maintains control over the standardization of specifications, rather than having Anaheim design them. This was naturally facilitated by Macarius's encouragement. After all, if Anaheim set the standard, we would see remnant units readily using Federation weapons, and Macarius didn't want to see his weapons used by the enemy again—that would be an insult to his soldiers.

Similarly, if Anaheim Electronics wanted to support the remnants of the Communist Party after adopting this standard, it would have to redesign the weapon control specifications. Otherwise, their secret sale of weapons to the remnants would be exposed. After all, the Naval Strategic Research Institute would not aid the enemy, so it would be obvious who would. This would indirectly increase the other party's costs!

After passing the Combat Technology Center's tests, the Riot Control High Zaku also received the Federation Army's procurement approval. According to the Combat Technology Center's recommendation, this model of machine will also be assigned to the Federation Army's special forces and the military police forces of various colonies. Giving it to the former would naturally be a blow to the party's heart, while giving it to the latter would be to ensure regional stability.

After all, the military police could easily solve the problem of discipline within the Federation Army with just stun batons (referring to the military police hitting the soldiers' buttocks hard with stun batons). The main reason for equipping the mobile suits was to address the security issues of the colony satellites, as they also bore this responsibility. When the police forces of the colony satellites were unable to handle the problems, these military police would have to be deployed in their blue-black painted mobile suits!
While the mobile suit testing was being completed at the Combat Technology Center, the Federation Forces Space Fleet's tender testing also began simultaneously. After several weeks of testing under various extreme conditions, both the Falkwellton and Anaheim ships encountered problems to varying degrees. However, in the end, the Falkwellton came out on top because the biggest problem with the Anaheim tender ship was that it failed to optimize the overall design of the old ship, resulting in it being inferior to the Falkwellton in terms of speed and turning.

In particular, the battleships improved from the Trafalgar class, due to the additional hull, were too heavy on the original frame of the warship, to the point that they even deformed when turning at high speeds.

Anaheim was unable to complete the overall optimization and reinforcement in a short period of time, so it had no choice but to withdraw. In the end, Falkwellington unsurprisingly won the contract.

After confirming that the LaCailam and Cramp-class cruisers perfectly met the Union Army's needs, Falkwellington ultimately secured an order for the first batch of fifty ships, including forty Cramp-class cruisers and ten LaCailam-class battleships.

These ships will replace the older ships belonging to the Orbital Fleet and Luna II Fleet. Some of these ships have been in service for nearly twenty years. They were fortunate enough to survive the entire war, witness the historical changes of the Federation Army, and see the rise and fall of the tyrant. Now it is time for them to retire and hand over the flag to the new ships!

The remaining ones will continue this rotation for the next decade or so, until finally, all the Salamis-class and Magellan-class destroyers are replaced.

Of course, the old ships that were replaced were not all taken away for dismantling at once. Instead, those ships that were still in relatively good condition were mothballed to prevent a repeat of the situation that occurred at the beginning of the One Year War.

If another large-scale war breaks out in the Federation in the future, these old ships may have to go to the battlefield again!
"I never expected that we'd have to rely on these old guys now!"

As he watched the Musai-class cruisers, painted in light brown instead of their original dark green, fly past the window, Vice Admiral Mark Bay, whose hair was already turning gray, couldn't help but sigh.

“Building ships takes much longer than building mobile suits. Even if we get extra support from our allies on Mars, we can’t conjure up that many new ships for you all at once!”

Beside the desk behind Mark Bay, a young woman with bright pink hair, dressed in all black, was working on documents without looking up, and spoke as she spoke.

"However, these Musa-class ships have changed a lot since the One Year War, haven't they?"

"Change. During the One Year War, our army had many different types of Musai-class ships: pre-war models, war-enhanced models, and final production models. But you are absolutely right, Regent Hamman. These ships are quite different from the final production models!"

"Don't think I can't understand what you mean, Lord Mark Bay. You also gave your approval to strengthen the armed guard!"

The woman finally raised her head. Although she tried her best to put on a dignified look, her age made her expression somewhat arrogant.

"Just kidding, Your Excellency!"

Mabek looked at the young woman in front of him, and although he was very polite, he didn't take her seriously at all.

This is actually normal. After all, he is a dignified lieutenant general in the Zeon army who has experienced countless ups and downs. Now he is being ridden on by a pink-haired girl. No one would be convinced.

The reason why Mark Be was treated so arrogantly can be traced back to a funeral at the end of 83. Just over three years after arriving in Aksis, His Excellency Maharaja Khan, the former regent who was deeply loved by the people of Aksis, passed away.

Although this veteran was not an outstanding commander, after arriving in Axis, he devoted himself to restoring the entire asteroid to normal life. Under his example, Axis quickly united and began a vigorous construction project.

But while everything was on track and Axis was even in a state of steady improvement, the Regent's own health was deteriorating. After all, he was old and overworked, and finally, at the end of 0083, he passed away.

This was nothing short of a catastrophe for Axis, plunging the entire colony into grief.

The regent was especially distressed by his daughter, Hammankahn, a young girl who was not yet eighteen. After all, there were still a few days until the New Year, but the regent could not even make it through those few days.

After the regent's death, Axis held a grand funeral for him to commemorate his contributions.

But after the funeral, a strange atmosphere began to emerge amidst the grief, as Axis needed a new leader.

Both the Kycilia faction and the Gihren faction had their own leaders, but in the end, it was Hamankahn who became the new regent of Axis.

This truly surprised everyone, but it was also quite normal, because neither the Kycilia faction nor the Zabi faction could tolerate the other's leader. Therefore, Hammankahn became the only candidate acceptable to both sides.

Not to mention, Hamman Khan is also the guardian of Minerva Zabi. However, even with Minerva's support, her position as regent is not secure enough!

(End of this chapter)