ZAU-001 Raven

The ZAU-001 Raven was the first human-made battlesuit ever fielded. Designed by Yamato Heavy Industries for use by the United States military in its conflicts in the Middle East, the Raven would redefine warfare.

Design The craft was often referred to as the “walking jet” as it somewhat resembled a stealth bomber (possibly why it was called the Raven) with a pair of legs attached. While the craft resembled a jet, it was incapable of flight, the airplane design was implemented to allow it to gradually descend from Aerial Carriers onto the battlefield. The cockpit was actually placed in the centre of the torso, though a ‘dummy’ cockpit, which resembled the usual type of cockpit, was placed on the front to confused enemies

Combat A pair of pivoting 30mm gatling guns were placed on the underside of the craft’s wings, and a variety of different missiles could be loaded into inernal bays and launched from the top of the main fuselage. They were normally deployed in small teams to hot zones as anti-infantry and vehicle units. While their armour was about as durable as a battle tank’s, the Raven was equipped with a powerful set of thrusters, which allowed it to evade shells, RPGs, and IED’s like no other ground-based military vehicle.

Recent Years The Raven is now merely a museum piece as the machine is vastly outdated compared to modern weapons of war. “Nightmare Raven” was a surprisingly popular video game during the early 2300’s, which involved highly customizable Ravens. It is possible that the MNR-631 Raven is named after the original ZAU Raven, as the 631 is capable of turning into a jet-like flight mode. Trivia
 * The ZAU-001 Raven is the invented predossor to the ZAU-002 Raven II which was intended to be one of the first mecha for Rebellion: Second Wave.
 * The Raven resembles an armless version of Veritechs/Valkeries in GERWALK/Gaurdian mode.
 * Its unit type as Heavy Battlefield Survival Suit was likely shortened to become the term Battlesuit.
 * The Raven was the only fielded battlesuit not to use Nuclear or Fusion core until Project Apollo.