Bandai Fully Reveals Huge New Heavy Weapons Upgrade for Char’s Counterattack’s Nu Gundam
Amuro Ray’s Nu Gundam is getting a major new upgrade, with Bandai fully revealing an official Heavy Weapons System expansion set packed with additional armor, weapons, and a dedicated display unit.
The “METAL ROBOT SPIRITS
Nu Gundam originally appeared in the 1988 movie Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack as the mobile suit personally designed for Amuro ahead of his final confrontation with Char Aznable and the Sazabi.
The HWS version was designed by Yutaka Izubuchi and first appeared through a magazine project in 1988, imagining additional equipment developed for Nu Gundam in case the Second Neo Zeon War became a longer conflict.
Its Heavy Weapons System follows the concept of earlier Full Armor mobile suits, significantly increasing Nu Gundam’s armor, firepower and propulsion through equipment fitted across the chest, legs and waist.
Bandai announced the new expansion earlier this year, and it recreates those additions with a large chest armor section containing an I-Field Generator, alongside additional thrusters for the legs and front and rear skirt armor.
The leg thrusters can open outward to alter their direction, while the waist-mounted units also deploy to support multidirectional movement.
One of the biggest changes to the chest armor is the removal of the missile-bay doors seen on some earlier interpretations of the HWS, replacing them with newly designed Minovsky particle-removal powder ejectors.
The additional armor is covered with dedicated insignias and caution markings that match the detailing used across the existing METAL ROBOT SPIRITS Nu Gundam.
Its weapon loadout is led by the enormous Hyper Mega Shield, which incorporates two Mega Particle Cannons, four missile launchers, and a Beam Cannon into a single unit.
Sections of the shield can also open to expose the large cylindrical condenser housed inside, adding more mechanical detail when the equipment is displayed separately.
The set also includes the Hyper Mega Rifle, with its long barrel supported by an adjustable bipod connected through ball joints for different firing poses.
Bandai has created a dedicated display unit for the expansion as well, using the appearance of a maintenance rack to store the Nu Gundam’s standard weapons together with the additional HWS equipment.
This makes it possible to display the armor and weapons independently when using the standard Nu Gundam configuration, rather than leaving the unused parts packed away.
The reveal follows Bandai’s announcement earlier this month that the “METAL ROBOT SPIRITS
Nu Gundam has also received a separate major release during 2026 with the “PG UNLEASHED 1/60 Fin Funnel & Clear Color Body for Nu Gundam,” which adds six more Fin Funnels and transparent armor to Bandai’s much larger Perfect Grade model.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack itself has gained further attention this month through the newly confirmed US release of its “EMOTION BIG JACKET COLLECTION” collector’s edition Blu-ray, creating a new option for revisiting Amuro and Char’s final battle.
Pre-orders for the “METAL ROBOT SPIRITS
The separately sold “METAL ROBOT SPIRITS
The expansion has also been confirmed for Premium Bandai US, where pre-orders, priced at $110, will open on September 25 ahead of a slightly later April 2027 release, though at the time of writing, no US re-release for the “METAL ROBOT SPIRITS
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