Duchy of Zeon Mobile Suit
YMS-09 Prototype Dom

Since the start of the Earth invasion, Zeon's engineers had sought to address the limited ground mobility of the mobile suit. The Zeonic Company tried and failed to create a flight-capable version of the Gouf, but it was the rival Zimmad Company that was to solve the problem with its revolutionary Dom. Thanks to the thermonuclear jet engines in its legs, this land combat mobile suit could hover at speeds of up to 240 kilometers per hour. And, despite its heavily armor, the Dom's hovercraft capabilities made it exceptionally agile and manueverable.

Two prototype YMS-09 units were constructed by Zimmad engineers at Side 3, and were shortly afterwards transferred to Zeon's California Base. Here, under the supervision of test pilot Colonel Frederick Cranberry, they underwent extensive tests and were eventually deemed suitable for mass production.

Illustration by Mark Simmons

Specifications

Model number / YMS-09

Standard armament /
  360mm bazooka x 1
  heat saber x 1

Duchy of Zeon Mobile Suit
YMS-09D Dom Tropical Test Type

Once testing of the Prototype Dom had been completed, the engineers of Zeon's California Base found a new use for one of the spare test units. They retooled the second Prototype Dom for use in tropical and desert environments, attaching a coolant tank to its backpack and a short-range communications antenna to its head. A number of standard Doms were subsequently converted to this D type, but only a dozen or so made it to the North African front lines before the end of the war.

One of the few combat units to receive D-type Doms was Major Roy Greenwood's Karakal force. The Karakal force was allocated four of these converted Doms, one of which was Greenwood's personal unit, nicknamed "Thunder Cat."

Illustration by Mark Simmons

Specifications

Model number / YMS-09D

Standard armament /
  360mm bazooka x 1
  heat saber x 1