GN-001/hs-A01 Gundam Avalanche Exia (aka Gundam Avalanche Exia, Avalanche Exia) is a variant of the GN-001 Gundam Exia appearing in the side stories Mobile Suit Gundam 00V and Mobile Suit Gundam 00V: Battlefield Record.
The Gundam Avalanche Exia is the Celestial Being's Gundam Exia equipped with additional high mobility unit known as "Avalanche Unit". The Gundams have exceptional flight control capabilities through the use of GN Particles, but their speed in the atmosphere and in space are generally inferior to that of specialized high-speed units such as aircrafts. Celestial Being's general mechanic, Ian Vashti, designed and created the Avalanche Unit to grant Exia a high level of mobility comparable to an aircraft's. This concept of utilizing a mobile suit like an aircraft is very similar to the AEU's, and might have been because Ian was previously the chief mechanic of AEU's armed forces and is highly skilled in such utilization of mobile suit.
The multiple parts that make up the Avalanche Unit are equipped with GN Condensers and by discharging all their stored GN Particles through various verniers simultaneously, the Avalanche Exia can achieve a higher level of mobility. Additionally, during high-speed movements, the Avalanche Exia's forearm and shoulder parts are linked together in a quasi-transformation like manner. This reduces air resistance and generates a thin GN Field on the machine's surface to control the airflow on the exterior. The name, Avalanche, carries the meaning of "passing by in an instant, consuming everything in its path" and like its name, the mobile suit can outspeed the latest aerial combat mobile suits such as the SVMS-01 Union Flag, AEU-09 AEU Enact and even its fellow Gundam, the transformable, high-speed GN-003 Gundam Kyrios. The "hs" in its model number stands for "High Speed" and the "A01" means "Avalanche type Unit 1".
The drawbacks of the Avalanche Exia are that it takes an hour to fully charge the Avalanche Unit's GN Condensers with GN Particles, which will be completely discharged in 10 minutes, limiting the use of the mobile suit to an extremely brief period of time and restricting its travel range. Even so, the Avalanche Exia still has high utility value as it allows the Exia to reach its combat location swiftly. While the one-hour charging time seems to make the Avalanche Exia unusable for unplanned missions, this issue is resolved to a certain degree as Ian always keeps the Avalanche Unit's GN Condensers fully charged. It is possible to extend the discharge time of the GN Particles and increase the travel range by concentrating the Avalanche Exia's supply of GN Particles to the verniers as well as lighten the Gundam by removing its armaments.
The Avalanche Unit's GN Condensers are larger than regular ones and can be charged with more GN Particles. Unlike the regular GN Condensers that can display information about their status on the surface, the Avalanche Unit's GN Condensers are completely internalized and so their status are instead displayed on the Gundam's chest GN Condenser. As the Avalanche Unit's primary purpose is for high-speed movement, it does not come with additional weaponry. All the weapons of the normal Exia remain usable by the Avalanche Exia, but due to its higher speed, the Exia's characteristic seven swords have improved penetration and destructive power. To prevent the seven swords from being a hindrance during high-speed movements, they are all stored on the Avalanche Exia's upper body, with the majority mounted on a pair of weapon holders known as "Weapon Arms".
The Avalanche Exia was seen relatively early during Celestial Being's armed interventions, and the Avalanche Unit's weight is kept below 5 tons as that was initially thought to be the maximum possible weight without negatively affecting the Gundam's balance. However, this assumption was later found to be wrong, and additional equipment is developed for the Avalanche Exia, resulting in the GN-001/hs-A01D Gundam Avalanche Exia', which is better adapted for operating in space. To prevent the Avalanche Unit from being a dead weight after use, its parts can be instantaneously purged from the Exia prior to the Gundam engaging in close combat.
