DropShip

While JumpShips move units and other hardware from star system to star system, it falls to the DropShips to move them inside the system. Almost all DropShips are capable of landing on a planet, and they are the primary method of moving goods and armies. These workhorses are still technological wonders, much like their bigger JumpShip and WarShip brethren.

DropShips range in mass from the 400 ton (Vampire Troop Carrier) to the massive 100,000 ton (Behemoth Cargo Carrier) and all sizes in between. This bulk would be nothing without the large and very powerful fusion engines that propel them through space. Despite their massive size, these DropShips are usually cramped inside, featuring relatively little in the way of creature-comforts or extra space. Every possible hole or space in a DropShip has some sort of system or mechanism important to the operation and maintenance of the vessel. Most crews live in small, spartan quarters bunking four crewman or more a piece, though Star League-era DropShips, as well as some newer ones as of the late 3060s, feature comparatively spacious twin cabins. Except for passenger liners, which afford their attendants a bit more privacy, DropShips are very public places. Most DropShips described talk of stale air and overly-cramped living conditions. Still, in terms of the needs of humanity, these DropShips and their crew are technological god-sends.

They are based around two basic hullforms, aerodyne (aerodynamic, resembling that of the space shuttle) and spheroid (egg-shaped). Aerodynes are generally smaller than spheroids, require runways to take off and land, but are capable of at least crash-landing. Spheroids must rely on brute drive strength to remain in flight. To facilitate these designs, most colonized planets feature massive starports in order to service and unload/load these behemoths. Though designed to land on any terrain, DropShips mainly set down at these facilities in order to minimize the chance of damage. Maintenance of a DropShip usually costs more in resources in a year than the average citizen in the BattleTech universe would ever earn in several lifetimes. The chassis itself costs a large fortune to make, let alone the weapons, armor, avionics, and those powerful fusion engines required to even lift it off the ground.

The most common DropShips in military service are the spheroid "Union" and "Overlord" class DropShips. The Union can carry a full 12-'Mech company, and the Overlord can carry a battalion, consisting of three times a Union's complement. More recent designs, such as the Federated Suns Conquistador, can carry even more, delegating space for heavy combat vehicles, aerospace fighters, and even battle armor. Also, some DropShips have been pressed into duty to provide support or suppression fire in combat against enemy WarShips. These designs give up space in order to carry the massive weapons fielded by Warships, even though in terms of survivability, they would never last in a head-to-head fight. Still, these designs have gained popularity for being much cheaper to field in relation to the larger vessels.