[4Tran]

Obviously, the main reason for showing the use of Mobile Suit catapults is to create visual ties to modern aircraft carriers (and to look cool). However, if we employ a little imagination, it's relatively easy to think of practical uses:

1. Quickly launches mobile suits away from the mother ship. This allows the mother ship to make quick vector changes without fear of ramming the launching mobile suits.

2. Thrust from a mobile suit can damage ships. It's thus preferable for mobile suits to engage their thrusters away from the mother ship.

3. Catapults allow the mobile suit to have a high delta-v in relation to the mother ship. This allows them to engage the enemy quicker and save on fuel and propellant at the same time.

4. In the atmosphere, a catapult can give an initial speed to flying units, thereby making it easier to attain stall speed.