In the Gundam (Universal Century) fictional universe, the Principality of ZeonMusai-class light cruiser is the first warship designed to carry mobile suits. It carried a "Komusai" landing capsule that could (and often did) carry additional mobile suits. There were several models of the Musai produced during the war:
Musai Flight I: This Musai variant carried five MS-05 Zaku I or MS-06 Zaku II mobile suits and supported them with a battery of three beam gun turrets. This is the version seen most frequently during the One Year War. Earth Federation soldiers referred to this style of carrying as "three in the back and two under the hood." Using the Komusai pod bays to carry operational mobile suits (rather than for their initial purpose of carrying the mobile suits to the surface of the Earth) brought the mobile suit carrying capacity of the Musai up almost to the same standard as the much larger EFSF Pegasus-class mobile suit carrier. The Flight I Musai had three mobile suit catapults mounted on the upper port, upper starboard and lower faces of its hexagonal mobile suit hangar; a standard air group for a Musai Flight I was two or four MS-06F Zaku IIs with one MS-06S commander's mobile suit. Char Aznable commanded a modified Musai I with a helmet-shaped command bridge (the Falmel).
Musai Flight II: This Musai variant carried three of the far larger and bulkier MS-09R Rick Dom mobile suits and supported them with a cut-down battery of two beam gun turrets (one was removed to provide weight compensation for the heavier suits). All Flight I Musais were refit into Flight II ships by early October. The Flight II ships had two catapults instead of the Flight I's three.
Musai Flight III: Also called the late production type Musai-class cruiser. The Musai Flight III was a considerable upgrade that combined Flight I firepower with Flight IIA mobile suit complement and acceleration - and as an additional bonus, the Flight III Musai's widened hull and improved launch facilities could handle four of the much larger Rick Doms, as compared to the Flight II's two. Only a few Flight III Musais were built before operational setbacks forced Zeon to switch to the less capable but less expensive and easier to construct Flight IIA. Most of the Flight III ships fled with the Delaz Fleet at the end of the One Year War and returned (and were destroyed) during Operation Stardust. The Peer Gynt is an example of the Flight III Musai class.
Musai Flight IIA: Also called the final production type Musai-class cruiser, the Flight IIA Musai had upgraded engines. This rare version was the subtype in production during November and December, as resource restrictions forced Zeon to eliminate its ambitious plan of replacing all Flight I and II Musais with the drastically upgraded Flight III ships. The Flight IIA had two catapults; some carried groups of four Zaku IIs while others carried two of the heavier Rick Dom or MS-14 Gelgoog. The Valkyrie and the Siegfried are examples of Flight IIA Musai-class cruisers.
The Musais of all variants acquitted themselves well in the One Year War, and examples continued to fly in the postwar Republic of Zeon fleet until Zeon rejoined the Earth Federation in 0099. All remaining ships were mothballed in UC 0100 and sold and scrapped after that, the last ship leaving for the breakers by 0120.
The original Musai-Class Light Cruiser variant carried five MS-05 Zaku Is or MS-06 Zaku IIs mobile suits and supported them with a battery of three mega particle cannon turrets.
Towards the end of the One Year War, however, the Musai had to be reorganized, and the Zeon enginers remodeled the three-turret based cruisers into a two-turret model.
By U.C. 0087, most of the original Musai-Class Light Cruisers had been upgraded into the Musai Kai-Class Light Cruisers, used by the Titans and the mobile asteroid Axis.
However, only a few Musai Late Production Types were built before operational setbacks forced the Zeon naval forces to switch to the less capable but less expensive and easier to construct refit of the first Musai-Class design.
Examples of the Musai continued to fly in the postwar Republic of Zeon fleet until Zeon rejoined the Earth Federation in U.C. Afterwards, all remaining ships were mothballed in U.C. 0100 and were sold and scrapped after that, with the last ship leaving for the breakers by U.C. See also
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