Designed late during the One Year War, the YMS-16M Xamel was the first true heavy artillery mobile suit, designed to operate as a mobile artillery gun battery. Equipped with a powerful hovercraft/hoverjet system in its legs and massive skirt armor, it could skim along the ground at high speed, giving it the ability to fire, move to another location, set up and fire again without giving away its position too easily. Its primary armament was its long-barreled 680mm cannon, which could be folded up for transport when not in use. It also mounted a missile launcher pod for medium-range fire, but its close-combat abilities were extremely limited, with only a pair of almost useless arms and a 20mm vulcan gun turret mounted in the head. The Xamel also featured a tandem-seat cockpit, crewed by a pilot and a gunner. It was unknown exactly how many of these prototype units were produced, although one Xamel was used by Delaz Fleet forces in its Operation Stardust theft of the RX-78GP02A Gundam GP02A Physalis prototype from the Earth Federation Forces in October UC 0083, inflicting severe damage to the Torrington Base in Australia.