Locked Weapons?

[Darrien]

An actual term for this eludes me at the moment, so hopefully I can get my point across. In the second episode of 08th, we see the 6-tube missile launcher locks into a protruding port on the Gundam's hand. Is this some kind of lockout, so that other machines would not be able to use it, or is this more of a connection that tells the Gundam automatically what weapon it is and how to use it properly, so that other machines could still use it but would have to be manually adjusted by the pilot?

Also, while I'd assume it applies to the other weapons the 79[G] carries, do we know if this actually extends to other Federation weaponry, things such as the 90mm bullpup, Beam Spray Guns, and the like?

[Strike105]

That might be the first on-screen appearance of the Mobile Suit hand plug. It seems like years since I've read anything about hand plugs, so my information may not be 100% accurate, in fact I'm certain of it.

From what I think I remember, it is kind of like an ID locking system. In order for a mobile suit to use the weapon, the weapon must be able to recognize the hand plugs of the suit trying to wield it. The weapon would likely be unusable to a suit with an incompatible set of hand plugs.

I also think I remember something about their importance to beam weapons as well. Beam weapons themselves hold most of the firing mechanisms and the compressed particles needed for ammunition, but they don't inherently have all that's needed to fire the destructive beams that we know them for. They need a catalyst to set everything off. That's where the plugs come in. In order to fire the weapon, the mobile suit's hand plugs provide the beam weapons with a very small burst of energy from the mobile suit's own power supply in order to "ignite the gunpowder" so to speak.

Again, It's been awhile since I've heard anything on the subject, so I'm sure that I might be missing something. It might be worth waiting for someone else more educated on the subject to fill in all the blanks.

[AmuroNT1]

The handplugs exist in other universes, too - in Gundam SEED Astray, Gold Frame's unique point is that it possesses Orb- and Alliance-compatible handplugs, which let it use the Duel Gundam's bazooka to escape Heliopolis (though since it wasn't properly calibrated, the right arm shorted out and was discarded). Likewise, Lowe discovers that Red Frame (and maybe the others) can channel raw energy through its handplugs, generating a "ball lightning" attack that becomes one of his trademarks.

[Darrien]

I also think I remember something about their importance to beam weapons as well. Beam weapons themselves hold most of the firing mechanisms and the compressed particles needed for ammunition, but they don't inherently have all that's needed to fire the destructive beams that we know them for. They need a catalyst to set everything off. That's where the plugs come in. In order to fire the weapon, the mobile suit's hand plugs provide the beam weapons with a very small burst of energy from the mobile suit's own power supply in order to "ignite the gunpowder" so to speak.

Heh, come to think of it, even though I'm in the process of rereading the 0079 novels again, I managed to completely forget that they mentioned this very thing. There's a whole battle where it specifically calls out that Amuro's Gundam's arm is damaged, and it destroys... something, I can't remember what it actually called it off hand... but basically, it states his beam rifle becomes useless, and he discards it, despite the fact that no damage was stated to have actually been done to the rifle itself. And I suppose that's also why they are adjusting parts in the 79[G]'s arm to change the beam saber output later on in 08th...