Vertical maneuvering equipment

The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment (立体機動装置), is a set of equipment developed by humans that allows great mobility when facing the Titans in combat. The equipment allows the user to fight in a 3D space as opposed to a 2D one. The equipment itself takes the form of a body harness that encompasses much of the body below the neck.

Although the equipment can grant a skilled user tremendous mobility, it is a demanding art that requires strength, and skill, both of which must be honed through constant practice.

Some tools involved in the apparatus include:


 * Hand grips
 * Piston-shot grapple-hooks
 * Gas powered mechanism
 * Iron Wire Propeller with Plug in Blades

Usage
The simplest move possible with the Vertical Equipment is simply aiming and firing the grapple hooks at an object and then activating the gas mechanism to reel oneself toward said object. They can then disconnect the hook and continue moving forward.

Usually however, soldiers must be able to move around in order to navigate in general. Therefore, they tend to use their momentum in order to swing around targets, not only in rectilinear patterns, but also slaloming between objects and Titans. The gas mechanism is so powerful that it can stop a person from falling without using the hooks.

The Vertical Equipment tends to be less efficient in open spaces because the user does not have too many spots where the hooks can be reeled. However the hooks are able to pierce Titan flesh and Vertical Equipment can be as fast or even faster than a Titan.

More advanced techniques include changing directions while still being reeled in as demonstrated by Jean Kirstein.

Origin
The circumstances regarding the creation of the Vertical Equipment are detailed in the prequel novel Attack on Titan: Before the Fall. The Vertical Equipment was invented between the year 775 (date of the first appearance of the Titans and BTF's prologue) and 788 (13 years later) by Angel Aaltonen, a first-class weapons craftsman who worked closely with the Survey Corps.

Mechanics
The Body of the Device - Steel wire is stored inside the body. There are two axles, which revolve independently.

Operating Device - The functioning part of the operating device is a black box, which the technical department manages and improves in secrecy. The operating device has two triggers that launch the hooks, a lateral switch that aims the hooks and a brake.

Body of the Compressed Gas Cylinder - Gas is compressed into the cylinder and injected.

Blades - The blades are made from a Super Hardened Steel, which is both supple and strong, capable of rending Titan flesh. It can only be manufactured in the blast furnaces of factory cities.

Fan Section - Gas is blown directly into the fan to make it rotate. The pressure of the gas is regulated to manipulate the output.

Training
Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training is a rigorous process that allows humans, which are limited to two-dimensional movements, to adapt to movement in the third dimension.

Great physical strength, particularly in the legs, coupled with spatial recognition abilities, as well as the mental strength to not waver in the midst of a panic, are crucial qualities.

One of the first things done after enlisting in training is the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment aptitude evaluation. Those unable to remain upright are dismissed.

"Those incapable [of staying upright] aren't suited to even be used as decoys!"

Three years of training is needed before officially becoming a soldier. Many run away or are driven out before graduating. The training is so intense that some people actually die during the process.

Trivia

 * As of Chapter 58, Gunfire, the members of the Central Military Police's Anti-Human Suppression Squad are shown wearing a variant that is quite different from the standard Vertical Maneuvering Equipment used by the regular forces. While the basic principles for maneuvering in it are the same, the design is drastically different with the bulk of the device worn over the shoulders rather than the hips, one tank of compressed air on the back rather than two mounted on the blade sheaths, and with the grapple-hooks being fired from the hand grips rather than from the blade sheaths. In addition, the swords are replaced with high powered pistols that are reloaded with the barrels being discarded and replaced with others stored in bandoliers worn over the thighs of the wielder.
 * The Beast Titan has shown some interest in the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment for some reason.
 * The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment is referred to as the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, or "ODMs" in the English dub. This was provided by the publishers of the manga to American distributors for use in the dub.