At the beginning of the planet's invasion by the Zeon military in the one-year war, it was predicted that the air force of the Earth Federation Army would be a major threat in combat on the ground. As anti-aircraft strength to cope with that, Zaku equipped with anti-aircraft weapons based on "MS-06 Zaku II" for land battle was proposed, but the necessity of having the MS equipped with anti-aircraft weapons in actual war is low It turned out to be. The plan will be temporarily frozen.
However, the situation changed completely after the "RX - 77 - 2 Gun Cannon" developed by the Earth Federation Army was put into practical warfare. "RX - 77 - 2 Gun Cannon" was active as a battle support type by bombardment from medium range in the game against MS, and had a great achievement. Therefore, the Zeon Army side of Zeon will also shift to develop "Zaku equipped with anti-aircraft weapon" as a "shelling type MS for medium range support", and "MS - 06K Zaku Cannon" will be born.
The "MS-06K Zaku Cannon" is equipped with a backpack-integrated 180mm cannon as its main weapon, and a missile pod/launcher called the Big Gun attached to the waist as an auxiliary weapon, enhancing its range of use and bombardment capabilities. The main body was also improved to match these weapons. The head is equipped with a full-circle mono-eye that expands the search range, and a sub-camera and short-range communication antenna are added to the top of the head to improve communication functions and unit coordination capabilities. The commander's unit also has an additional antenna on the top of the head equipped with two blade antennas (commonly known as the "Rabbit Type"). In addition, to compensate for the decrease in mobility due to the increased armament, an auxiliary propulsion device adopted in the "MS-07B GOUF" was added to the legs, and the shoulder armor was also reshaped, making it more than just a simple equipment change.
After completion of the prototype, Unit 1 rolled out on the basis of California in North America, was aimed for test operation in central North America and West Asia area, and was painted in sand color so as not to be noticeable in the desert area. Afterwards, when adopting the formula, dark gray paint of low visibility camouflage (low visibility paint) was given, and he was active mainly in the North American front.
After the one year war, some aircraft were taken over by the Earth Federation Army and renovated and put into the Gripps war, UC 0096 has also been observed by the guerrilla force of the remnants of the Zion armies remaining on the ground.