Intruder (DropShip class)

Intruder
Production information
Manufacturer	Andurien AeroTech BBP Industries Tharkad Aerospace Group
Production Year	2655
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	7x PPC 2x AC/10 3x AC/5 4x LRM-20 4x SRM-6 4x large laser 16x medium laser
Armor	34 tons Standard Fore: 17 Sides: 15 Aft: 14
Crew	30 5 Officers 18 Enlisted 7 Gunners (Crew Types) 2 Pilots 5 Engineers 22 Secondary Engineers Bay Personnel: 116
Heat Sinks	113
BV (1.0)	3,825
BV (2.0)	3,977

Description

Designed to carry out raiding and assault operations, the Intruder-class DropShip is smaller, though more heavily armed, than the more common Union-class. 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.

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 extends 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.

Besides weaponry, the Intruder will typically carry a company of marines for spacecraft boarding and ground operations. The infantry company can be used in ground combat or security details aboard the vessel just as easily. Three large bays provide sufficient space to set up target practice simulators or house physical exercise courses for the marines and crew. When not in use, these bays double as recreational spaces.

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, a dispensary, and a highly sophisticated command center featuring mapboards, tactical intelligence displays, and battle computers. The command and control facilities on the Intruder rival those of the command versions of the larger Union and Overlord, though its capacity is limited to smaller Battalion-sized formations at most.

The largest producer of the Intruder in the Inner Sphere was Andurien AeroTech, a division of Free Worlds Defense Industries. However, the Andurien Secession of the 3030s badly damaged the facility 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. Post-Jihad, Andurien AeroTech announced its intention to separate from its parent company in 3078. The upgraded 3056 version continues to see use primarily in the balkanized and reconstituted Free World's League while the Liao refit is found mostly in its namesake nation.

Armament

The Intruder is equally at 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.

Cargo

While designated as an attack craft, the Intruder features a large cargo capacity that 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 class 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.

Variants

• Intruder (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.

• Intruder (3056) 

  Built by Andurien AeroTech in 3056, the entire weapons array of this upgraded version of the Intruder 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, BV (2.0) = 6,498

The Clans' primary battle armor carrier DropShip, the Sassanid class, is based on the Intruder, though it is considered a distinct design and not a mere variant.

Named Vessels

(See List of named Intruder-class DropShips)

Notes

• In German products, the unit's proper name was translated to Störenfried, which translates to Mischief, while Intruder could be better translated as Eindringling.

Gallery

• 

  Original illustration of the Intruder from DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary

• 

  Intruder (3056) from TRO:3057

Bibliography

• AeroTech 2 Record Sheets
• BattleSpace
• DropShips and JumpShips
• Objectives: Free Worlds League
• Technical Readout: 3057
• Technical Readout: 3057 Revised