dropship needed...

[Cannonshop]

Okay, bear with me, I don't usually put up a request for one of these.

it needs to be optimized to transport heavy vehicles and light infantry with battlearmor. 

It also needs to be able to haul light vehicles, and Powered Armor infantry.

Timeframe is 3055-3060, location is Lyran. 

Fluff-wise, it should suggest 'multiple terrain takeoff and landing' and it should be convertible to ASF transport/launch as  carrier mod. 

Basic framework is to be common between three branches  (Armor, Aerospace, and Infantry).  This is an outsourced design, so fluff should represent one of the major Aerospace firms in the Lyran FedCom member state with the primary production site being one of Winter's arcologies, Ia Drang on Kowloon, or Mainstreet.

Bonus points for weird quirks.

Story Purpose: the story purpose is obviously tied to a Ngo story, she's pushing for as much mass-production/standardization as she can wring out of the universe around her, and not all her ideas are good ideas.

but it should be...'Adequate'.  Not optimized.

[Ramblefire]

Just start with a jumbo and slap armor and support beams onto it until you get it durable enough that you feel comfortable being shot at in it. 10131 tons of cargo capacity. In its base configuration, it can handle 36 Inner Sphere Novas (2 tanks+1 squad BA) 72 heavy tanks +36 squads BA, 792 personnel-ish, while still having 2643 tons of support cargo.

And since it's a jumbo it can be pumped out by basically any shipyard in the sphere or periphery, and probably is pumped out by most major shipyards to keep their C and D teams occupied in slow seasons.

edit: I mean ******, you probably don't even need a shipyard, most periphery worlds building jumbos probably just have Vehicle Assembly Buildings and weld it together shirtsleeves on the ground rather than take up valuable shipyard time and space.

[Hellraiser]

it needs to be optimized to transport heavy vehicles and light infantry with battlearmor. 

It also needs to be able to haul light vehicles, and Powered Armor infantry.

Timeframe is 3055-3060, location is Lyran. 

Fluff-wise, it should suggest 'multiple terrain takeoff and landing' and it should be convertible to ASF transport/launch as  carrier mod. 

So instead of something completely new, given your requirements, my first thought is to actually make this a "variant" of the newly introduced in 3053 Hercules class Dropship that is the Lyran's version of an Excalibur "Light" or a Triumph.


Per Sarna & the TRO the starting load of the Hercules as follows

Crew Deck above Vee Decks:  Vee Crew Quarters + 12 Infantry Platoons
Upper Vehicle Hold:  24 HvyVeeBays, though its loading ramps cannot support more than 75 tons.   (Fluff Quirk of Ramps not moving Assaults)
Lower Vehicle Hold:  12 HV-Bays for any size vehicles.
Cargo Bay:  1,381 tons


While you wanted it to be a 2 separate variants, my initial thoughts is you can swap out 24 Heavy Bays for 12 ASF & 12 Light Vees as a combo unit.
Otherwise you have the tonnage for 4 Squadrons of ASF w/o any Tanks.

The Infantry is also a fairly easy swap. 
Reduce the Grunts by 3 Platoons for 3 Platoons of BA paying for it w/ a bit of the Cargo Bay.

Fluff it as Bowie licensing your company the production rights & then they create the variants.

So we have Option-1 = 12+12+12 above.
Option-2 = 24 ASF

Option-3:
There could also be the idea of keeping up production of the original model which is where you get your Heavy Vees & Foot Infantry from.
And then you have another variant that swaps all that out for the Light Vees, ASF, & BA you want.
Say 18 ASF + 12 Light Vees + Battle Armor Battalion (Less Cargo)    (Or a Company + added Cargo)


The Herc is clearly a support ship, the armor is thin, its NOT at all an assault ship & weapons are decent but nothing amazing.

[glitterboy2098]

so doing some quick skimming on sarna.

in lyran space, you have:
Lockheed building Leopards and Leopard CV's
Defiance Industries building Avengers
Tharkad Aerospace building Mules, Behemoth's, Intruders, and Fortress's
Bowie Industries building Hercules, Leopard, Leopard CV, and Union
Shipil Company building Overlord's, and the new Claymore. (maybe Unions as well, given they develop the union-X by 3065?)
Semier Data Tron building Buccaneer, Excalibur, Fortress, Seeker

depending on which hull gets picked to be the basis, the main manufacturer is going to get a ton of business (though i suspect that to meet demand, licensing deals would be rammed through by the Archon to get multiple shipyards making the things)

if licensing isn't viable (or would take too long to see useful results, then a Leopard or Fortress based design would be ideal from an economies of scale perspective. which really just means a fortress, since a leopard is far too light to carry a useful embarked vehicle group.

you could mod a Fortess into a pure vehicle carrier fairly easily, just swap the 12 mech bays for 12 heavy vehicle bays and 12 light vehicle bays. which gives you a total load of 24 heavy vehicles, 12 light vees, and 3 platoons of infantry. or you could do all light vee's on the additional bays, netting you 12 heavy and 36 light.
 only 175 tons of cargo space though. but i bet you could gain a fair bit of cargo by stripping out the typical crew quarters in favor of more bare bones accommodations. maybe stripping down the guns as well. (though i'd retain the long tom mount, it's useful for supporting the vehicle battalion aboard. you'll always be a bit thin on onboard supplies though.

[Hellraiser]

Shipil Company building Overlord's, and the new Claymore. (maybe Unions as well, given they develop the union-X by 3065?)

Negative on the Union.
The X was them diversifying into a new Dropship they hadn't previously made.
They also expanded to the Overlord-A3 Variant in the late 50's & Auroras eventually in 69.

[Daryk]

I think Hellraiser's suggestion of the Hercules is a winner.  The armor is easily tweaked by taking some out of cargo and rationalizing the weapons (no AC/5s, one size of LRM launcher, etc.).

[Hellraiser]

but it should be...'Adequate'.  Not optimized.

I think Hellraiser's suggestion of the Hercules is a winner.  The armor is easily tweaked by taking some out of cargo and rationalizing the weapons (no AC/5s, one size of LRM launcher, etc.).

Given the quote above, Not even sure it has to be tweaked.
But, that said.

I'm really starting to like the idea of the base model unchanged for full HeavyVee+Grunts.

And I'm thinking that 18 ASF + 12 Light Vee + BA Company/Battalion  (And maybe some Armor/Weapon upgrades),  could be called the "Hercules (Marine)" variant?

IDK, I sort of like the idea of a full fighter wing but also the troops needed to secure a ground LZ & take some "Spec Ops" objectives once they are down.

Kind of a cross between a Titan, Seeker, & Intruder in terms of Function/Role?

[kindalas]

Where the original Seeker refit developed at Semier Data Tron involved a systems refurbishment and simple swaps to high tech weaponry there was a second design developed on Duran by Semier's R&D prototypes division.

Dubbed the Seeker II the design sought to apply Omnimech pod technology to Dropships. Unlike attempts by other corporations across the Inner Sphere the development team focused not on swapping out weaponry for different mission profiles but on perfecting the Seeker's re-configurable transport bays.

The Seeker's Quad RanTech 720s were downgraded to simpler and more maintenance friendly RanTech 576 drives.

The new drives were more compact and lighter then the 720s but they produced only 75% of the trust of the larger 720s.

The frame of the vessel was reinforced and over 70 tons of modern Ferro-Aluminum armor was layered over the hull.

Production of the Seeker II stalled as it was never intended to be used to upgrade vessels in the field. It was to be an upgrade of the production lines on Tharkad that had been neglected because of the focus on upgrading the Fortress production lines at the same site.

Currently there are three prototype vessels operating in the Duran system. They have successfully tested out half a dozen Configurations for the Seeker II's transport bays, including one that swaps out the vessel's transport capacity for a purely anti shipping role using newly redeveloped capital missile systems.

If another Organization within the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth is interested in producing the design the executives at Semier Data Tron are very interested in getting the vessel into production figuring that would lead to the eventual expansion of their own Seeker lines on Tharkad. After all the real money as far as they are concerned is the patents they hold on the Omni Bay systems.




Armaments:

The forward facing PPCs mounts were replaced entirely with dual ER PPC turrets that were grabbed from the Upgraded Fortress's parts bin.

The Rear mounted LRMs were replaced with brand new (as of 3054) Extended LRM 20s with magazines that held 24 salvos of missiles.

The original lasers that were spread over the rear of the craft were replaced with dual ER Large Laser mounts


Omini Bay Configurations: (2760 tons available)

Primary: (mirrors the refitted Seeker)

36 Light Vehicle Bays
36 Battle Armor Squads
672t Cargo

Alpha: (A Battalion of support troops)

12 Heavy Vehicle Bays
12 Light Vehicle Bays
36 Battle Armor Squads
672t Cargo

Beta: (A replacement for the Union)

12 Mech bays
36 Battle Armor Squads
672t Cargo

Charlie: (Something between the Leopard CV and the Vengeance)

12 ASF Bays
36 Battle Armor Squads
2 Small Craft
272t Cargo



Delta: (A layout for a potential Civilian model)

2760t Cargo

Echo: (a Coast Guard Patrol configuration)

6 ASF Bays
6 Small Craft
72 Battle Armor Squads
84t Cargo

Omega: (The End)

2 Nose Mounted White Shark Launchers with 20 missiles.
1 Fore Left Mounted Barracuda Launcher with 10 missiles
1 Fore Right Mounted Barracuda Launcher with 10 missiles
4 Gunner Crew stations and quarters
2 Small Craft Bays
36 Battle Armor Squads

Code: [Select]


Seeker II (3054)
Type: Military Spheriod
Mass: 4,700 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Introduced: 3054
Mass: 4,700
Battle Value: 9,111
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-X-F-E
Cost: 320,286,400 C-bills

Fuel: 200 tons (6,000)
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Heat Sinks: 92 (184)
Structural Integrity: 20

Armor
    Nose: 408
    Sides: 342/342
    Aft: 278

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Small Craft (2)         1 Door   
    Bay 2:  BattleArmor (IS) (36)   2 Doors   
    Bay 3:  Cargo (221.0 tons)      3 Doors   

Ammunition:
    20 rounds of White Shark ammunition (800 tons),
    48 rounds of Extended LRM 20 ammunition (12 tons),
    20 rounds of Barracuda ammunition (600 tons)

Escape Pods: 8
Life Boats: 0
Crew:  3 officers, 2 enlisted/non-rated, 6 gunners, 226 bay personnel

Notes: Mounts 72 tons of ferro-aluminum armor.

Weapons:                                      Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)                                Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV     ERV   Class       
Nose (30 Heat)
2 Capital Missile Launcher (White Shark)  30   6(60)   6(60)   6(60)   6(60)  Capital Missile
    White Shark Ammo (20 shots)
RS/LS Fwd (40 Heat)
2 ER PPC                                  30   2(20)   2(20)   2(20)    0(0)  PPC         
1 Capital Missile Launcher (Barracuda)    10   2(20)   2(20)   2(20)   2(20)  Capital Missile
    Barracuda Ammo (10 shots)
RS/LS Aft (34 Heat)
1 Extended LRM 20                         10   1(12)   1(12)   1(12)   1(12)  LRM         
    Extended LRM 20 Ammo (24 shots)
2 ER Large Laser                          24   2(16)   2(16)   2(16)    0(0)  Laser       
Aft (24 Heat)
2 ER Large Laser                          24   2(16)   2(16)   2(16)    0(0)  Laser       



[Daryk]

Shouldn't the Alpha have 24 Light Vehicle Bays (vice 12)?  Heavy bays are only twice as heavy...

[kindalas]

Shouldn't the Alpha have 24 Light Vehicle Bays (vice 12)?  Heavy bays are only twice as heavy...

I haven't had coffee yet. But 12 heavy is 1200 tons, 12 light is 600 tons for 1800 tons. And 36 light is 1800 tons.

[Daryk]

I must have crossed lines in reading them last night... I could have sworn the numbers were different...