I mean, even the smallest of merc units who are in possession of a DropShip probably have far more personnel than the 9 crew members needed to operate a Leopard. Only a handful get names at a time, though.
Leopard DropShips are supposedly around the size of a real naval corvette or something, and those are staffed by far more than 9 people at a time. Even Sarna notes that the crew numbers given for DropShips like the Leopard aren't necessarily the only people on board at any given time; that number doesn't account for MechWarriors, Aerospace pilots, or support staff. It's just the minimum crew needed to make the ship work. They probably don't have the numbers real militaries would have - nothing in BTech does, apparently, for better or worse - but certainly each Leopard is carrying more than 9 people at a time.
