Designation: Gosu (A, B) (Royal Command Battloid, Invid Battloid)

I. Dimensions:

Height:	9.5 m
Depth:	3.8 m
Breadth :	4.4 m
Weight:	24.2 metric tons

II. Type:

• Single seat all-weather all-purpose combat mecha.

III. Service History:

• The Gosu-A was first observed in 2043, and this was likely very shortly after in entered service ever since the numbers of Gosu mecha have been steadily increasing.
• The Gamo remains in service with the Terrestrial Invid. It can only be piloted by humanoid pilots, and it is unknown whether the Regess has Gosu mecha in service, be it with humaniform pilots or with cockpits refitted for Opteraform Invid.
• The Gosu-B was first observed in 2047. Many Gosu-A have since been refitted to -B standards.

IV. Propulsion:

• 2 x IE-5 plasma-shock expansion engines in engine blisters on the back of the mecha. The maximum thrust of these engines is in excess of 230 kN.
• Attitude control: several internal gyroscopes for attitude control.
• Powerplant: one protoculture cell energizer.
• Fuel capacity: 16 standard cannisters of protoculture.

V. Performance:

• Maximum level speed : 1162 kph (Terra-type atmosphere)
• Minimum speed : 0 kph (hover)
• Maximum running speed : 112 kph
• Delta-v in space : inknown, estimated to be in excess of 4 kps.
• Protoculture endurance : approximately 110 hours operational use.

VI. Electronics:

• One IMIB-1VS visual/LLLTV/IIR sensor cluster in the center of the front plate. The spectral resolution of this sensor is of the same standard as with human designs.
• One IMIB-1RS variable frequency multi-mode phased array spherical radar system with main antennas in the arms and forward edges of the main body, and secondary antennas in the legs and rear. The radar system is advanced even by contemporary Terran standards and offers a full set of ranging, search, track, mapping and observation modes, including a high-resolution ISAR option. The installation can also function in a passive ESM mode.
• One IMIB-1PS Protoculture sensor, providing detection and tracking of active protoculture-powered mecha. For detection of a high-power Veritech fighter, good resolution extends out to 3.75 km, fair resolution out to 7.5 km, and poor resolution out to 21 km. A typical Destroid is detectable at slightly more than half these distances, a Cyclone at four percent of these distances, and a Gallant rifle at about one percent of these distances.
• Audio receiver/speaker system with built-in translator.
• Gosu-B only One active optical Jehudi-type optical low-observability system.

VII. Armament:

• 1 x IHB-1 Plasma pulse/beam cannon. This weapon is a combination of beam and pulse cannon, and can switch between firing modes instantly. One pulse ('annihilation disc') can contain up to 9MJ of thermal energy, and the capacitators can contain enough plasma to allow for 40 seconds of continuous fire, replenishing at 20 seconds worth of fire per minute.
  The cannon seems to have a burst setting that allows for several smaller pulses to be fired in one salvo; one such burst contains 14 MJ of thermal energy.
  The beam setting can fire plasma beams of varying intensity and cross-section, to a maximum of 12 MJ per second.
• 1 x IHB-2 laser cannon in a pop-up mount in the head behind the main IMIB-1VS sensor cluster. This secondary weapon can 3.5 MJ of laser energy in one pulse, and fires at a rate of 50 shots per minute, and has capacitators sufficient for 8 rapid-fire shots.
• 2 x IHBM-1 missile battery in the aft of the thruster packs. Hidden behind two moveable oval bay doors are three rows of seven (21 per thruster) 290mm Mixer missiles of an undisclosed maximum range, though they have been known to hit targets up to 8km distant, including high-speed airborne craft.
• 2 x IHBM-2 point-blank missile battery in the top of the thruster packs. The upper part of each pack can separate and expose four rows of eight (32 per thruster) short range dog-fighting 180mm Misfit missiles. These missiles have been observed to hit their targets out to 4 km, and probably have visual and infra-red homing. So far, their only use in battle has been against Destroids, and Veritechs in Battloid and slow-moving Guardians modes, suggesting an inability to engage fast-moving airborne craft.

  Gosu-B only:

• Six 180mm Mummer anti-radiation, long range, hypervelocity missiles mounted on the arm opposite the IHB-1 cannon.

VIII. Armor:

The armor of the Gosu is composed of a composite of metals, ceramics, and organics unique to Invid manufacture. Research continues into the composition of this material, though results from X-ray crystallography, NMR, and mass spectroscopy studies remain classified. The armor stops all small arms, heavy infantry weapons fire, and light mecha-mounted weaponry, and provides fair to good resistance to medium mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Valkyrie's 55mm APFSDS round. Like on the Gamo, much of the armor is sloped or rounded, giving almost perfect performance against the standard human 35mm shells fired from so many mecha and craft. Only shells of this size that impact at shallow angles to the armor have a chance of penetrating. The armor on the forearms is substantially superior, and stops all small arms, heavy infantry weapons fire, and light mecha-mounted weaponry, and provides good to excellent resistance to medium mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Valkyrie's 55mm APFSDS round, and poor to fair resistance to heavy mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the VHT-2's 120mm smoothbore shells.

All Invid mecha provide full protection from nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards, using a sealed overpressure cockpit environment.

IX. Development:

The Gosu was first seen in conjunction with the humanoid Invid, and it is therefore often assumed that the Gosu battloid was designed for the Solugi Invid exclusively. This is, however, incorrect. The Solugi themselves have indicated that the decision over their physical form was not made until 2043, but the Gosu, to come into service at that moment, must have been in development for several years beforehand.

Numerous Invid sources place the genesis of the Gosu design around 2038, and although this has not been officially confirmed, it has never been contradicted either. After an examination of mecha effectiveness, including the Bioroids, Battlepods and recently encountered Alpha fighters, they found that the most effective of these enemy mecha had heavy missile batteries and extremely high maneuverability near the ground, where almost all battles were decided. Speed, especially in the high Mach numbers, was important only in dedicated fighters. In the case of Earth mecha, all this and high speed was achieved by the transformable nature of the mecha; in the case of the Zentraedi Quaedluun-Rau Power Armor, the sheer bulk could accommodate the huge engines necessary for heavy accelerations and an unprecedented 126 dogfight missiles. Eventually the Invid came up with a non-transformable design that combined the best of the features with the least amount of compromise. The new mecha, the Gosu, like all other Invid mecha, uses a cockpit system not unlike that of the Tirolian Bioroid, although the Invid versions do allow for movement in the cockpit. In addition, and again unlike previous mecha, the Gosu is humanoid in appearance.

The Gosu is about the size of an Alpha fighter, but the combined thruster/missile launcher design is more reminiscent of the Quaedluun-Rau Power Armor than of any Veritech design features. While it is natural to assume the humanoid shape was dictated by the shape of its first pilots, this is untrue, as that decision was made for aerodynamical reason, as in level, high speed flight, a humanoid frame is more streamlined than the custumary crab-like modelling of earlier Invid mecha.

The huge engines in the back propel the Gosu at speeds up to 1160 kph. This means that the Gosu cannot go supersonic. The Invid, however, do not see this as a design flaw since most of their airborne warfare is fought at speeds between speeds of 20 kph (ground attack) and 1000 kph (aerial combat). The high speeds of the Terran Veritech mecha were not needed for the Gosu, since they were intended as command and ground attack mecha. Also, because of their large numbers, there is usually an Invid unit in range of a high speed hostile, where humans and Zentraedi, with their somewhat lower preferred density, would need faster mecha to cover equal amounts of ground in equal amounts of time. A such the Invid lack a dedicated high-speed atmosphere capable fighter, and rely on numbers to deal with fast, airborne, foes, although present trends in mecha design lean to more capable weapon systems (mainly missiles) to engage fast movers, and likely a true aerial mecha is being studied.

The weapons for the Gosu are more diverse than on other Invid mecha. Where the Iigaa and the Gurab carry two cannons each, and the Gamo has two cannons with two small secondaries, the Gosu has one (albeit large and multi-functional) plasma cannon, but also a secondary laser in its head (copied from the human Valkyrie and AGACs mecha, but hidden in the manner of the forearm cannons on the Invid Malar), and a large number of anti-mecha missiles in the thruster housings. This is the first time that missiles have appeared on an Invid mecha. They provide the Gosu with a very powerful punch, and the design is exceeded in number of missiles carried only by the Quaedluun-Rau Power Armor. Two types of missiles are carried: a short-ranged dogfighting missile for use against slow-moving mecha, and a longer-ranged and faster missile used against faster targets. Combined, these weapons give the Gosu a capability at all ranges that is totally new for Invid designs. Invid experience with missile tactics was minimal in the Third Robotech War, and the Invid pilots seemed to rely almost exclusively on their cannons, using missiles almost solely as an afterthought. This could, however, indicate a lack of confidence in the missiles on the part of the pilots; certainly, only a few of the missiles reached their intended targets, most being decoyed by their targets' electronic warfare system, simply being outflown, or prematurely detonated. Likely this was due to the fact that the Invid were new to missile technologies.

Since the end of the Third Robotech War, the Solugi remaining on Earth have produced large numbers of Gosu mecha for their militia. An improved version is now being produced, the Gosu-B, and many of the Gosu-A are being refitted to the new standard. The main differences are a more capable weapon system, including anti-radiation missiles, and a Jehudi-type active visual low-observability system. Human tacticians have suggested that the anti-radiation missiles will make it difficult for stealth fighters to activate their radars, and the optical cloaking system will further draw human mecha into Invid range, thus effectively negating the present human stealth and range advantage.

See additional design notes.

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