R&D Team

R&D Team was a division of both the Militaires Sans Frontières and the Diamond Dogs. As indicated by their name, the division was responsible for the research and development of weapons and items used by Snake (as well as Venom Snake) and the Combat Unit. Members included Engineers, Mechanics, and Researchers. A similar unit, known as the Tech Unit, existed in what would later become FOXHOUND during the San Hieronymo Incident, containing eight members during this time. It was formed alongside the Medical Unit by Roy Campbell shortly after discovering the existence of the ICBMG at the Harbor.^[1]

They were among the first divisions for both military groups. Under at least the MSF team, the R&D Team, aside from weapons and equipment development, was also involved in the development of Mother Base itself, namely plant expansion and upgrading the design for Mother Base to be a honeycomb design, which also required recruits and GMP expenditures to complete.^[2]^[3] Post-renovation, the unit as stationed at the R&D Lab. In addition, in regards to at least the Diamond Dogs team, they were also extremely thorough in their researching of various weapons, taking apart and analyzing the components recovered from the battlefield and then putting them back together in such a way that it was as if it was never dismantled to begin with, as Miller relayed to Ocelot shortly after recovering the CIA weapon "Honey Bee" where they analyzed the weapon before giving it back to the CIA and thus technically keeping their word about having it be "intact."^[4] Huey Emmerich also developed some weapons and equipment for Diamond Dogs, albeit unofficially due to his status as persona non grata for his suspected role in MSF's destruction, including D-Walker and Battle Gear. After he was exiled due to his various crimes, including confirmation on his role in MSF's destruction, came to light, his research notes were left behind, with the R&D Team putting them to use to ensure they can develop his various materials without needing Huey at all.^[5] The Diamond Dogs' R&D Team no longer had the function of base expansion, as that ended up being relegated to the Base Development Unit.

During the Diamond Dogs' mission into Africa, around the time Venom Snake was about to assassinate an executive for the Contract Forces of Africa stationed at Nova Braga Airport, the R&D Team and their platform ended up attacked by an unknown private force led by a former disgruntled member of MSF, also taking a number of hostages among the R&D Team,^[6] thus forcing Snake to return to Mother Base to quell the threat. This event ultimately convinced Miller to create Forward Operating Bases as a further security measure against another direct attack on Mother Base. During that time, several members of the R&D Team were held hostage.

Tech Unit-related Skills (pre-FOXHOUND)[]

Skill	Description
Arms Specialist	Effect on recruited soldiers Increases max ammo count.
Elite Engineer	Effect on group Greatly enhances item development.
Engineer	Effect on group Increases item development.

R&D Team-related Skills (Militaires Sans Frontières)[]

Skill	Description
Bipedal Weapons Design (Huey Emmerich only)	Effect on Mother Base When part of R&D Team, a development division for bipedal weapons will be established.
AI Development Technology (Strangelove only)	Effect on Mother Base AI can be installed on Metal Gear ZEKE.
Gunsmith (Handguns)	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, lowers GMP required to develop handguns.
Gunsmith (Shotguns)	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, lowers GMP required to develop shotguns.
Gunsmith (Assault Rifles)	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, lowers GMP required to develop assault rifles.
Gunsmith (Submachine Guns)	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, lowers GMP required to develop submachine guns
Gunsmith (Machine Guns)	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, lowers GMP required to develop machine guns.
Anti-tank Rifle Design	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, PTRD1941 and PTRS1941 can be developed.
Patriot	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, Patriot can be developed.
Japanese Patriot (Japanese: Yamato Spirits)	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, Tanegashima Musket can be developed.
Optical Technology	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, weapons with laser sights can be developed.
Metamaterials Technology	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, Stealth Mat and Stealth Camo can be developed.
M134 Design	Effect on Mother Base When part of the R&D Team, M134 Gatling Gun can be developed.

R&D Team-related Skills (Diamond Dogs)[]

Icon	Skill	Description
	Anesthesia Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables tranquilizer round conversion for handguns and sniper rifles.
	Bionics Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of prosthetic arms. (Exclusive to Soviet Bionics Engineer)
	Bipedal Weapons Developer	When assigned to R&D Team, enables development of D-Walker equipment. (Exclusive to Huey Emmerich)
	Cybernetics Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of "Medical" prosthetic arm technology.
	Electromagnetic Net Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of EMN-Mine.
	Electrospinning Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of the Knife Sneaking Suit for D-Dog and the Battle Dress for D-Horse.
	Gunsmith (Assault Rifles)	When assigned to R&D Team, GMP required to develop and use Assault Rifles reduced by 3%; can stack up to ten times for a maximum 30% reduction. Also enables development of derivative models.
	Gunsmith (Grenade Launchers)	When assigned to R&D Team, GMP required to develop and use Grenade Launchers reduced by 3%; can stack up to ten times for a maximum 30% reduction. Also enables development of derivative models.
	Gunsmith (Handguns)	When assigned to R&D Team, GMP required to develop and use Handguns reduced by 3%; can stack up to ten times for a maximum 30% reduction. Also enables development of derivative models.
	Gunsmith (Machine Guns)	When assigned to R&D Team, GMP required to develop and use Machine Guns reduced by 3%; can stack up to ten times for a maximum 30% reduction. Also enables development of derivative models.
	Gunsmith (Missile Launchers)	When assigned to R&D Team, GMP required to develop and use Missile Launchers reduced by 3%; can stack up to ten times for a maximum 30% reduction. Also enables development of derivative models.
	Gunsmith (Shotguns)	When assigned to R&D Team, GMP required to develop and use Shotguns reduced by 3%; can stack up to ten times for a maximum 30% reduction. Also enables development of derivative models.
	Gunsmith (Sniper Rifles)	When assigned to R&D Team, GMP required to develop and use Sniper Rifles reduced by 3%; can stack up to ten times for a maximum 30% reduction. Also enables development of derivative models.
	Gunsmith (Submachine Guns)	When assigned to R&D Team, GMP required to develop and use Submachine Guns reduced by 3%; can stack up to ten times for a maximum 30% reduction. Also enables development of derivative models.
	Master Gunsmith	When assigned to R&D Team, enables weapon customization. (Exclusive to Legendary Gunsmith)
	Materials Engineer	When assigned to R&D Team, enables development of the Battle Dress and other equipment.
	Mechatronics Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables development of the Precision prosthetic arms and other equipment.
	Metamaterials Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables development of the Stealth Camo.PP and other equipment.
	Missile Guidance Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of the Killer Bee and other equipment.
	Noise Suppression Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables built in suppressor conversion for handguns.
	Radar Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of the Active Sonar and other equipment.
	Rocket Control Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of the Rocket prosthetic arms.
	Sleeping Gas Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of LLG-Mine and Sleep Grenade
	Transportation Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of the Cargo 2 Fulton upgrade.
	Trap Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of the E-Stun Decoy.
	Video Surveillance Specialist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of security devices such as the Surveillance Camera and other equipment.
	Zoologist	When assigned to R&D Team, enables the development of the Bait Bottle.

Known members[]

Militaires Sans Frontières

Huey Emmerich
Strangelove
Parrot
Ostrich

Diamond Dogs

Dr. Emmerich (Huey) (unofficially)
Spying Harrier (bionics specialist)
Silent Basilisk
Killer Hedgehog (cybernetics specialist)
Vile Buffalo (electrospinning specialist)
Malak (anesthesia specialist)
Hungry Squirrel (radar specialist)
Laughing Wallaby (zoologist)
Cunning Stallion (materials specialist)
Panzer Mongoose
Grizzly Squirrel (missile guidance specialist)
Gray Mongoose (master gunsmith)

Behind the scenes[]

Sometime after the game's release, Konami updated the game to have "online" weapons development. These weapons' research and development would progress, even when the game is offline. However, they take a significant amount of time to progress, some taking as long as twelve days. In addition, these "online" developments consume much more resources and GMP than offline and only four can be under development at a time. This can be sped up using MB coins, causing some players to criticize this feature.

Gallery[]

Notes and references[]

^ Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Kojima Productions (2006)
Roy Campbell:If we can find the nuclear storage facility and render the nukes unusable, Metal Gear will be nothing but a pile of useless scrap, right? That settles it! Our next mission is to find the nuclear storage facility. Now that we're over the bridge and into the east side of the peninsula, there are a lot of areas we need to reconnoiter. Let's redeploy our spy units and start collecting intel on Metal Gear and the nuclear warheads. As for the Sneaking Unit... Why don't you go get us some more new recruits? By the way, do you know about the medical and technical units? As new recruits come in, try assigning some of them to the medical unit and the technical unit. They'll make your soldiers' wounds heal faster and develop new weapons and items for you. In the meantime, we'll be waiting for word from our spy units. Trust your men to do their job.
^ Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Kojima Productions (2010).
Kazuhira Miller: I got a report in from the R&D team. They’ve finished plans for a new hex-type plant. And today they’re gonna start construction on the first block. Can’t wait to finally say goodbye to this scrap heap. Only thing is, we don’t have nearly enough GMP. We’ll need to recruit more soldiers to get more GMP. You know what to do, Snake.
^ Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Kojima Productions (2010).
Kazuhira Miller: Snake, I got another report from the R&D team. They’ve finished converting Mother Base into a hex plant. MSF’s capabilities are up across the board, too. Our combat team’s contracts keep increasing. We’re seeing action on a daily basis, and we’re raking in a ton of GMP. Now this is how a business is supposed to look. At this time, the sky’s the limit. We’re just getting started, Snake. Keep up the good work.
^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Cassette Tapes > Briefing files > Info > Afghanistan Today [3] > Honey Bee Analysis Results
Benedict "Kazuhira" Miller: I had the R&D Team analyze the Honey Bee. // Ocelot: How? The CIA wanted it with everything intact. // Miller: They took it apart to look at it. Then they put it back together. Everything intact. // Ocelot: That's the R&D boys, all right.
^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Cassette Tapes > Briefing files > Info > Questioning Huey [7] > Picking up Emmerich's work
Kazuhira Miller: The R&D Team is going to take over Emmerich's work. He may be gone, but it won't affect us one bit. We'll be able to deliver whatever you need just like before - you can depend on that. One other thing. I'm tracking his whereabouts. Nothing to report at the moment, though. // Venom Snake: Let it go. He's gone. The guy is gone. // Miller: I know. I just want to be sure. Not like I'm losing sleep over the son of a bitch.
^ How many hostages were being held by Mosquito's private force depended on the current layout of the platform at the time of the mission. If they only had either a single deck, they have only one hostage, if the player had two decks, there were two hostages (in both instances, they could only be found in the pit of the first deck); three and four decked R&D platforms both had six hostages, three on the third deck, and three on the first deck.

[1] Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Kojima Productions (2006)
Roy Campbell:If we can find the nuclear storage facility and render the nukes unusable, Metal Gear will be nothing but a pile of useless scrap, right? That settles it! Our next mission is to find the nuclear storage facility. Now that we're over the bridge and into the east side of the peninsula, there are a lot of areas we need to reconnoiter. Let's redeploy our spy units and start collecting intel on Metal Gear and the nuclear warheads. As for the Sneaking Unit... Why don't you go get us some more new recruits? By the way, do you know about the medical and technical units? As new recruits come in, try assigning some of them to the medical unit and the technical unit. They'll make your soldiers' wounds heal faster and develop new weapons and items for you. In the meantime, we'll be waiting for word from our spy units. Trust your men to do their job.

[2] Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Kojima Productions (2010).
Kazuhira Miller: I got a report in from the R&D team. They’ve finished plans for a new hex-type plant. And today they’re gonna start construction on the first block. Can’t wait to finally say goodbye to this scrap heap. Only thing is, we don’t have nearly enough GMP. We’ll need to recruit more soldiers to get more GMP. You know what to do, Snake.

[3] Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Kojima Productions (2010).
Kazuhira Miller: Snake, I got another report from the R&D team. They’ve finished converting Mother Base into a hex plant. MSF’s capabilities are up across the board, too. Our combat team’s contracts keep increasing. We’re seeing action on a daily basis, and we’re raking in a ton of GMP. Now this is how a business is supposed to look. At this time, the sky’s the limit. We’re just getting started, Snake. Keep up the good work.

[4] Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Cassette Tapes > Briefing files > Info > Afghanistan Today [3] > Honey Bee Analysis Results
Benedict "Kazuhira" Miller: I had the R&D Team analyze the Honey Bee. // Ocelot: How? The CIA wanted it with everything intact. // Miller: They took it apart to look at it. Then they put it back together. Everything intact. // Ocelot: That's the R&D boys, all right.

[5] Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Cassette Tapes > Briefing files > Info > Questioning Huey [7] > Picking up Emmerich's work
Kazuhira Miller: The R&D Team is going to take over Emmerich's work. He may be gone, but it won't affect us one bit. We'll be able to deliver whatever you need just like before - you can depend on that. One other thing. I'm tracking his whereabouts. Nothing to report at the moment, though. // Venom Snake: Let it go. He's gone. The guy is gone. // Miller: I know. I just want to be sure. Not like I'm losing sleep over the son of a bitch.

[6] How many hostages were being held by Mosquito's private force depended on the current layout of the platform at the time of the mission. If they only had either a single deck, they have only one hostage, if the player had two decks, there were two hostages (in both instances, they could only be found in the pit of the first deck); three and four decked R&D platforms both had six hostages, three on the third deck, and three on the first deck.

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