The Strms-101 Fenrir is Kingdom of Scandinavia’s locally produced version of ZAFT’s Bucue. Its structure and internal systems are largely identical to ZAFT’s own design, with certain modifications to adapt the machine to the cold and snowy environment it will be operating in.
The feet are enlarged by 10% to spread the weight of the machine onto a larger surface; the increase in contact surface reduces the ground pressure and risk of getting stuck in snow. Additionally, there are retractable studs mounted in the feet to provide better grip in icy and slippery surfaces. It is equipped with domestically produced RM-160 jet thrusters, with enlarged intakes and vectored nozzle. Cowlings are mounted on intakes and heat vents to prevent clogging by heavy snowfall and ice forming. Since heavy snowfall and snowstorms can affect wireless communication, an extra communications antenna are fitted to the head. Internally, several radiators are removed and in its place, heaters are installed to prevent moving parts freezing and getting stuck.
Armament:
-Chin-mounted turret with a RT-62 revolver cannon, used to destroy lightly armored targets, and intercept guided munitions.
-Mgk-70 450mm twin railgun. Licensed production of Maius Military Industries’ original design. It has a fire-control radar mounted on top.
-Fmk-70 multi-tube missile launcher. Loaded with domestically produced RBS-series missiles.
Historical commentary:
As the alliance-plant war escalated and spread to more and more places on Earth, ZAFT military planners felt the need to be ready for the possibility that the theater of war might spread to freezing cold climate regions, and further development and modification will be needed to ensure ZAFT equipment can still function in these extreme conditions. Unfortunately for the strategists, none of ZAFT’s allies have territories with these extreme conditions, and they obvious have little to no experience of operation and combat in arctic climates. Which meant ZAFT have no choice but to reach out to any third party that can fulfill the extremely strict requirement on secrecy and credibility, who PLANT can fully trust and can guarantee that any information they have would not be making it to the wrong hands. This eventually led to a clandestine collaboration between ZAFT and Winslet World Konzern, a multinational business headquartered in the officially neutral Kingdom of Scandinavia.
In the wilderness of ice cold Lapland, away from population centers(and prying eyes), WWK put the Bucue its paces to see how it performs on heavy snow and ice, and provide feedback to ZAFT to further develop and modify the Bucue to operate in the freezing environment. At the same time, they also gathered data and schematics on the machine, as payment for their service.
To date, there are still some discrepancies and gaps in the official records and paper trail regarding exactly how did PLANT and the Kingdom of Scandinavia reached an agreement to let WWK conduct the test, not to mention the clandestine technology transfer that took place when WWK gained access of the Bucue. With the untimely death of Siegel Clyne, the then Supreme Council Chairman, the secret followed him to the grave
The Kingdom of Scandinavia started producing a small number of Fenrir from early CE71, its number hampered by the lack of suitable OS for naturals. This meant that only a small number of Fenrir can be brought into service piloted by coordinators in the Royal Armed Forces, along with a handful of naturals who mostly uses the Bucue more as a big tank than a mobile suit. In mid-CE71 the Kingdom of Scandinavia was forced into the Earth Alliance, as a final act of defiance the pilots scuttled their machines, and any data they have is either deleted or transferred off-site. After the First Alliance-PLANT War, the Kingdom of Scandinavia can start to produce these in larger numbers, thanks to the development of natural-compatible operating system.