Invader

From BattleTechWiki

Invader Class JumpShip

Production information
Manufacturer	Ioto Galactic Enterprises, Stellar Trek, Universal Air, Technicron Manufacturing
Use	Mercantile/Military
Tech Base	Standard
Cost	500,000,000 C-Bills
Introduced	2631
Technical specifications
Mass	152,000 tons
Length	505 meters
Top Thrust	0.1 Gs
LF Battery	None
Armament	2 PPCs or 2 Large Lasers
Armor	60 tons
DropShip Capacity	3
Crew	24 crew
Grav Decks	1 (65m diameter)
Escape Pods/Life Boats	6 Escape Pods
Heat Sinks	0 + 116
BV (1.0)	???
BV (2.0)

1 Description
2 Armament
3 Cargo
4 Variants
5 References

[edit] Description

Accounting for an estimated 46% of all registered JumpShips in the Inner Sphere^[1] (as of 3055), the popular, cost-efficient and widespread Invader class is the archetypical JumpShip. Despite its martial name, it is a civilian design and ill-suited for combat. It does, however, possess sophisticated communications gear and can maintain radio and laser-link feeds with up to ten transmitting stations, making it an ideal vessel to coordinate a task force.

51% of all Invaders are operated by the militaries of the Inner Sphere, 32% are owned by giant corporations and the remaining 17% are owned by mercenary units or private citizens.

The Invader's most distinctive design feature is a pair of hydroponic garden domes. They produce food and oxygen for the crew, even a small surplus for trade with docking DropShips. Although fully automated, system failures mean that the gardens have to be maintained manually by the crew on every third ship. Many older ships also have a design flaw that could cause the hydroponics booms to lock in the extended position, preventing the vessel from jumping; this flaw was largely rectified following the Fourth Succession War and old ships were refitted accordingly.

[edit] Armament

The original design of the Invader was not armed, but carried two special anti-meteor long range lasers. Maintenance problems saw these replaced with a pair of Large Lasers or PPCs, but even these can barely match the firepower of a single Aerospace Fighter. This, and the thin armour, has led to Invaders being regarded as non-combattants, like all JumpShips in the age of LosTech.

[edit] Cargo

The Invader can carry between 522 and 526 tons of cargo in the cargo section, depending on the weapon configuration. It also has two hangar bays for Small Craft.

[edit] Variants

No major variants exist. The mass of the Invader is usually given as 152,000 tons, but older sources (AstroTech) gave 145,000 tons with identical stats otherwise. This could be taken to be an older version of the Invader, possibly the one with faulty hydroponics booms.