Dropships are flying transport vessels capable of carrying combat units and supplies from a larger space vessel in orbit down to the surface of a planet and back again. Their typical role on the battlefield is to dart into a conflict zone at maximum speed, land just long enough to offload or pick up their cargo, and swiftly retreat back behind friendly lines.
Though armored against small arms fire and shrapnel, they possess minimal weaponry and are often vulnerable to attack from combat aircraft or surface-to-air batteries. Escort fighters can help with the former, but to avoid the latter, dropships may need to avoid detection by entering the atmosphere outside the enemy's surveillance range and attempting a low-altitude approach of the landing zone. Dropships are capable of rapid vertical takeoffs and landings (VTOL), often possess anti-personnel weapons for laying down suppressive fire in a wide arc while transferring personnel, and are invariably piloted by women.
Starcraft
Dropships (a.k.a the Quanradyne APOD-33 dropship) were in Starcraft and although its top speed is slow, its best often used with multiple dropships.
DROPSHIP | STATS |
---|
Race | Terran |
Type | Airbourne APC |
Role | Transport |
Armament | None |
Resources | 100 minerals |
Supply | 2 units |
Transport slots | N/A |
Build time | 50 sec |
Hit points | 150 |
Armor | 1 (adds 1 per Armor Shield upgrade) |
Built at | Starport |
Sight Range | 8 |
Hotkey | D |
Build dialogue | "Strap yourselves in, boys!" |
Starcraft II
There were ideas of the original dropship to be used in Starcraft II, with an extra ability to transform into a medivac dropship. This unit was not used and instead was replaces by the Hercules dropship.
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