Intruder (DropShip class)

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Intruder
Production information
Manufacturer Andurien AeroTech[1]
BBP Industries[1]
Tharkad Aerospace Group[1]
Production Year 2655[2]
Use Assault Ship
Type Military Spheroid
Tech Base Inner Sphere
Technical specifications
Mass 3,000 tons
Structural Integrity 10
Length 69 meters
Width 69 meters
Height 61.5 meters
Drive System Movem-XL Drive
Safe Thrust 2 g
Max Thrust 3 g
Fuel (tons) 300 tons
Fuel (days) 163 days
Armament 7 x PPCs
2 x AC/10s
3 x AC/5s
4 x LRM-20s
4 x SRM-6s
4 x Large Lasers
16 x Medium Lasers
Armor 34 tons Standard[3]
Fore: 17
Sides: 15
Aft: 14
Crew 146 personnel
  • 5 officers
  • 18 enlisted
  • 7 gunners
  • 116 bay personnel
Heat Sinks 113
BV (1.0) 3,825[4]
BV (2.0) 3,977



Description

Designed to carry out raiding and assault operations, the Intruder-class DropShip is smaller than the more common Union-class though more heavily armed. This makes it more suitable for high-risk heavy combat where BattleMech support is not a requirement. The Intruder is adept at carrying out various types of operations independently, from intelligence-gathering to securing a foothold during an invasion.[3][5]

With heavy weaponry evenly spread across its hull, the vessel is hard to take out, even on the ground. Thanks to its unique landing gear which extend down from the hull instead of out like most other spheroid designs, the hull of a landed Intruder is flush with the ground, making it nearly impossible for enemy forces to get under the vessel and place explosives or sabotage delicate landing systems. The landing gear can quickly extend back down again in order to provide sufficient ground clearance for the fusion drive to ignite, allowing the Intruder to get airborne in just 30 seconds.[5]

Besides weaponry, the Intruder will typically carry a company of marines for spacecraft boarding and ground operations. Three large bays provide sufficient space to set up target practice simulators or conduct physical exercise for the marines and crew. When not in use these bays double as recreational spaces.[3][5]

The Intruder is also notable for its well-appointed medical and surgical facilities, including an emergency room with two operating tables, a six-bed intensive care unit and a dispensary, and a highly sophisticated command center featuring mapboards, tactical intelligence displays and battle computers. The command and control facilities on the Intruder rivals those of the command versions of the larger Union and Overlord, though its capacity is limited to smaller Battalion-sized formations at most.[3][5]

The largest producer of the Intruder in the Inner Sphere was Andurien AeroTech, a division of Free Worlds Defense Industries. However the Andurien Secession badly damaged Andurien AeroTech and forced the company to halt all production of the Intruder. It wasn't until 3046 that the Free Worlds League rebuilt the factory and production finally resumed. The recovery of lostech would also spur the company to introduce a new upgraded version of the Intruder in 3056.[3]

Armament

The Intruder is equally home fighting in space or on the ground, with its large weapons array fairly evenly spread across the entire surface of the craft. The nose bays feature a single PPC, LRM-20, AC/5 and twin Medium Lasers, with a further PPC and LRM-20 rack, paired Medium Lasers and a single Large Laser on each fore angle. The rear quarters of the craft are also heavily armed, featuring twin PPCs, paired AC/5 and AC/10, and two SRM-6 racks on each rear angle, with another LRM-20, twin Large Lasers and twin Medium Lasers mounted directly aft. For ammunition the vessel carries three tons of AC/5, four tons of AC/10, six tons of SRM-6 and eleven tons of LRM-20 munitions.[3][5]

Cargo

While designated as an attack craft, the Intruder features a large cargo capacity which can be used to carry a combined-arms unit. The vessel can carry up to four platoons of foot infantry, typically marines although other units such as motorized infantry can be carried as well with minor alterations. Additionally the vessel includes a single fighter bay on either side which can be used to service and launch Aerospace Fighters or Small Craft. When they were more prevalent these bays could also carry Land Air 'Mechs which provided more flexibility during combat operations. Finally the Intruder features a cargo bay capable of carrying 1,108 tons of supplies; it can also be easily modified to carry a company of light vehicles.[3][5]

Variants

  • Liao 
    The most common of the rare Intruder variants, this Capellan Confederation model introduced in 2905 replaces the rear-facing AC/5s with AC/10s and adds a further four tons of ammunition. To make room for this alteration, two medium lasers from each rear-facing firing arc were removed and six tons of fuel were dropped.[5]
  • Upgrade 
    Built by Andurien AeroTech in 3056, the entire weapons array of this upgraded version of the Intruder were was replaced with Lostech equivalents: the PPCs were swapped to extended range models, two Gauss Rifles covering the rear arcs and an Ultra AC/5 in the nose replaced the autocannons, Artemis IV FCS was added to the LRM and SRM racks, two ER Large Lasers and two Large Pulse Lasers replaced their standard equivalents, and all 16 standard medium lasers were replaced with Medium Pulse Lasers. Switching to Double Heat Sinks allowed the craft to vent twice as much heat as before despite dropping 13 heat sinks total, and protection was increased with 74 tons of standard armor. The standard carrying capacity was reduced to three infantry platoons and general cargo to 850 tons, with only 88 bay personnel needed to man this reduced capacity. BV (1.0) = 6,533[6], BV (2.0) = 6,498
  • Sassanid 
    The Clans primary Battle Armor carrier, the Sassanid is based on the Intruder; in fact like many Clan DropShip designs the first examples of the class were merely converted Intruders.

Named Vessels

(See List of named Intruder-class DropShips)

Intruder Ship Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 DropShips and JumpShips, p. 15
  2. MUL online date for the Intruder (DropShip class)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Technical Readout: 3057 Revised, p. 24-25
  4. AeroTech 2 Record Sheets, p. 217
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 DropShips and JumpShips, p. 48-49
  6. AeroTech 2 Record Sheets, p. 218

Bibliography