EDO-04GS Sazabi class gunship

Class: Sazabi
Ships of the line: n/a
Unit Type: Fire support gunship
Manufacturer: Winner Corporation (base shuttle), EDO (Sazabi conversion)
Operator: Earth Defense Organization
First deployment: AC 217
Length: 12 meters
Height: 4 meters
Wingspan: 15 meters
Equipment and design features: Auxillery fuel tanks, mounted under wings, High-Energy Output system
Propulsion: 1 x HEO engine; 2 x standard chemical auxillery engines mounted on wings
Fixed Armaments: 4 x double-barrel point defense laser turret; 2 x chaff dispenser, mounted on tail fin; 300 x guided missile, stored in launch tubes on fuselage panels
Optional Armaments: 100 x heat-seeking missile, stored in 50-tube launch racks under wings
Mobile Suits: n/a
Launch catapaults: n/a

As part of the Earth Defense Organization's attempt to very rapidly remilitarize, all civilian HEO Shuttlecraft in the Earth Sphere were seized and modified to carry weapons rather than passengers and cargo. While boasting a very impressive 300 guided missiles in the three panels that had been cut into the ship's fuselage, the newly-christened Sazabi served somewhat poorly in its role. Armor plating had been fitted to the shuttle, but it was sadly a case of far too little- between the thin armor and the highly vulnerable external fuel tanks, it didn't take much for a single mobile suit to take the gunboat down. Despite these shortcomings however, the ship did perform fairly well as a long-distance fire support craft, and it was often accompanied by a patrol of at least three mobile suits to account for its shortcomings. While largely a stopgap measure until the Earth Defense Organization could roll out several of its new Terra and Trinity warships, the Sazabi would remain in service throughout the war.