In the year AC 195, rebel space
              colonists send five Gundams to
              Earth to wage war against the
              opressive Alliance. Each of
              these Gundams is based on the
              fifteen-year-old Wing Gundam
              Zero design, but the Wing
              Gundam, created Doctor J and
              piloted by a boy code-named
              Heero Yuy, bears the greatest
              resemblance to its ancestor.
              Though the ill-fated Wing
              Gundam is intercepted during
              re-entry and spends most of the
              following months either blown
              to bits or sitting at the bottom
              of the ocean, it's nonetheless a
              superb example of mobile suit
              engineering.

              Where its namesake was
              designed for space combat, the
              Wing Gundam is meant for use
              on Earth. It can transform into a
              winged "bird mode," allowing it
              to survive re-entry and fly in
              Earth's atmosphere. This gives
              the Wing Gundam far greater
              range than the other four
              Gundams, which are effectively
              ground-bound.

              The Wing Gundam's primary
              armament is its buster rifle, a
              particle beam cannon based on
              the main weapon of the Wing
              Gundam Zero. At maximum
              power, the buster rifle's wide
              beam can vaporize several
              enemy mobile suits with a single
              blast, but its supply of stored
              energy is only sufficient for
              three shots. Otherwise, the
              Wing Gundam must depend on
              its beam saber and the
              medium-range machine cannons
              in its shoulders.