UD-4L "Cheyenne" - the Aliens "dropship"
A forum crash or two ago there was a discussion about the UD-4L "Cheyenne" Dropship from the second movie in the Aliens franchise and how it could be adapted to BattleTech.
During the discussion I introduced the version presented herein, using the construction rules for Aerospace Fighters. Why ASF and not an actual, you know, ''dropship''?
Glad you asked.
The first thing we have to do is look at the capabilities of the "Udie" in the film and from canon Aliens sources and compare these to BattleTech unit types.
We know that the Udie has a crew of two and packs a LOT of missiles. It is capable of trans-atmospheric performance and can carry a vehicle in a bay that permits fast deployment. The Udie is also capable of flying "low & slow" and can take off and land vertically. We can see this on-screen. Official sources state that the Udie weighs in at a featherweight 34,640kg fully loaded, yes; a 35-ton unit.
In BT terms, the design is clearly an aerodyne. The trans-atmospheric capability rules out conventional fighters or fixed-wing support vehicles. The "low & slow" flight profile and VTOL (what BT terms "VSTOL") capability rules out aerodyne dropships (which would be too big and expensive to be considered for the role. While an aerodyne small craft might be considered, too many features make small craft undesirable for the role; lack of VSTOL, crew of four and incapability of "low & slow" flight profile (I'll get to this in a bit). This leaves us with the ASF; it has a crew of 1 (can be fluffed to 2), is VSTOL capable and can fly "low & slow", meaning that it can make use of special maneuvers available only to ASF/conventional fighters and could conceivably fly slow enough to use ground-scale movement (in a very limited manner; basically hover over a board to bring its firepower to bear against ground targets).
So it's an ASF, now what? How do we build it? The single most defining characteristic of the Udie is its ability to carry an APC and quickly deploy it in battle. The M577 APC is a lightweight 14,500 kg, so it's really little more (less, actually) than a standard 10-ton wheeled APC (heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the M577 inspired the 10-ton wheeled APC art!) with a top speed (according to official sources) of 150kph, matching well with a 9/14 or 10/15 MP profile; basically, a light vehicle. The fast deployment seen on-screen (Udie lands, opens the ramp, APC drives off and the Udie takes off again in less than ten seconds) requires a light vehicle bay, so that's 50 tons right there. Obviously, a 35-ton frame will not do.
For simplicity's sake, let's go with a 100-ton frame.
Now the armament. Look at the thing: it's bristling with missiles! (in those cool deployable box wings!), but read the official stats; one-shots. We can do better than that:
Official armament list, approximated in TM/TO:
1 x 25 mm gatling gun with 900 rounds - MG with 1/2 ton of ammo (remember, they list individual rounds while CBT lists "shots")
32 x 150 mm unguided rockets - 4 RL-20's
12 x 70 mm unguided rockets - 2 RL-10's
8 x 120 mm guided rockets - 2 SRM-4 launchers
7 x AGM-220 air-to-ground missiles - Thunderbolt-5 launcher (or LRM-5 launcher)
3 x TSAM threat suppression missiles - alternate ammo bin for TB/LRM-5
3 x AIM-90 short range air-to-air missiles - alternate ammo bin for TB/LRM-5
As an ASF it can also carry external ordnance, though not much can be carried without compromising its capability of returning to the orbiting ship.
What we don't need:
Infantry bay - the infantry boards the APC on the mothership, the APC then gets loaded onto the Udie, with the troops riding inside the APC all the way down.
Escape pods - two crew; IF there is an escape system, the standard cockpit ejection should suffice; APC and PBI are SOL.
Transit drive - orbit-to-surface and surface-to-orbit does not require advanced small craft engines.
So let's take a look at what we've got:
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
Freehand
Class/Model/Name: UD4L Colonial Marines Dropship
Tech: Aliens
Vessel Type: Aerospace Fighter
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 100 tons
Frame: UD4
Power Plant: TF-900 200-rated Fusion "Turbine"
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
1 MG
4 RL-20's
2 RL-10's
2 SRM-4
1 Thunderbolt-5
Manufacturer: Republic Dynamics
Location: Earth
Communications System: WTWGA-6
Targeting & Tracking System: 69-4U2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class/Model/Name: UD4L
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant: 200 Fusion 8.50
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Structural Integrity: 10 0.00
Total Heat Sinks: 12 Single 2.00
Fuel: 5.00
Cockpit & Attitude Thrusters: 3.00
Armor Type: Standard (184 total armor pts) 11.50
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Nose: 46
Left/Right Wings: 46/46
Aft: 46
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 MG Nose 2 -- -- -- 0 0.50
100 rd. ammo 0.50
1 Thunderbolt-5 Nose 5 5 5 -- 3 3.00
36 rd. ammo 3.00
1 RL-10 RW 6 6 -- -- 3 0.50
1 RL-20 RW 12 12 -- -- 5 1.50
1 RL-20 RW 12 12 -- -- 5 1.50
1 SRM-4 RW 4 -- -- -- 3 2.00
25 rd. ammo 1.00
1 RL-10 LW 6 6 -- -- 3 0.50
1 RL-20 LW 12 12 -- -- 5 1.50
1 RL-20 LW 12 12 -- -- 5 1.50
1 SRM-4 LW 4 -- -- -- 3 2.00
25 rd. ammo 1.00
1 Light Vehicle Bay body 50.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: Heat: 25 100.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
N/A
What good is it in BT? Well, the capability of carrying and quickly deploying a 50-ton light tank/APC into battle, directly from orbit, sounds good to me. It is not a dogfighter, so speed is not essential to its transport mission. It can stick around to provide some support to its dismounted units or take off again to stand by for a quick extraction or return to base for another unit pickup.
Who could field something like this? I see this more as a merc/corporate forces transport, since it requires tactics uncommon among IS militaries.
Among the clans, we can use the basic concept of the Udie and come up with something truly scary; a dedicated Protomech or BA Transport; instead of a single 50-ton light vehicle bay, we can put in a 50-ton five-proto bay OR a five-point Elemental bay. The reduced weight of clan missile systems can allow for ''real'' weapons to be used (if you want to keep the original flavor) OR other weapon systems might be used instead (like pulse or ER lasers). Conceptually the craft could be visualized as a Star Wars LAAT "gunship"; an effective means of getting small numbers of combat troops on the ground FAST.
I can easily see the Blood Spirits using such a unit to deliver protos in the defense of York, or the GBD military to deliver elementals.
Edit: Corrected weapon location typo. Yes. It's a typo... we'll go with that...
Edit: Corrected coding errors, reformatted code tags.
