Condor (DropShip class)

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Condor
Production information
Manufacturer	Hinsdale Elec Nimakachi Fusion Products Limited
Use	Troop carrier
Type	Military Aerodyne
Tech Base	Inner Sphere
Technical specifications
Mass	4,500 tons
Structural Integrity	9
Length	104 meters
Width	97.4 meters
Height	36.1 meters
Drive System	Pitban 1350-XRB
Safe Thrust	1.5 g
Max Thrust	2.5 g
Fuel (tons)	208 tons
Fuel (days)	113 days
Armament	1x PPC 3x AC/5s 1x LRM-15 5x Large Lasers 8x Medium Lasers
Armor	33 tons Fore: 15 Sides: 13 Aft: 12
Crew	24
Escape Pods/Life Boats	8/10
Heat Sinks	70
BV (1.0)	2,505
BV (2.0)	2,579

Description

One of the largest DropShip designed purely to transport infantry, the Condor-class is able to deliver a fully equipped infantry battalion to the battlefield.

One of the few military aerodyne ships capable of planetary landings, the Condors wings are extremely sturdy and less susceptible to control surface damage than other aerodyne DropShips. The unique design of Condors hollow wings are also less well known for a large amount of "dead" space, accessible via a series of passageways, which Condor crew rarely reveal to non-crew and reserve for "off the record" cargo. As infantry carriers go, the Condor features unusually spacious barracks-style quarters for its infantry troops, as well as a very well equipped medical facility for the ship's size.

Armament

Like many troop carriers, the Condor features a merely adequate weapons array, with a single PPC, LRM-15, AC/5 and twin Medium Lasers mounted in the nose, with a AC/5, two Large Lasers and two medium lasers carried in forward facing mounts in each wing. A single large laser and two more mediums ward the rear, while four tons of autocannon munitions and three tons of missile reloads provide reasonable endurance during combat.

Cargo

On paper, the Condor features total four-hundred ton cargo capacity, divided between facilities to carry 336 infantrymen, 12 Platoons, and up to twenty light Combat Vehicles to carry them, with ten tons of "off the record" storage capacity in the wings.

Variants

• Dove - Introduced after the Fourth Succession War, about two dozen Condors have been converted to hospital ships, with the cargo bays replaced with treatment wards for 150 patients and 75 medical staff and ten expanded operating theaters. ComStar field half of these, with the remainder distributed among the various Successor State fleets.

• Stork - Prior to the upheavals of the Word of Blake Jihad, Nimakachi was scheduled to release a purpose-built civilian cargo carrying version of the Condor to be named the Stork.

• Upgrade - First introduced in 3054 by Nimakachi, the upgraded Condor switches the PPC and Large Laser for extended range models and adds Artemis IV FCS to the LRM launcher. While the heat sinks were replaced with Double Heat Sinks, the proximity to the PPC to the missile launcher caused the Artemis system to malfunction, resulting in movement of heat sinks to cope in models launched after late 3055. BV (1.0) = 2,549, BV (2.0)= 2,841

Condor Ship Gallery

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  Condor-class DropShip

Bibliography

• AeroTech 2 Record Sheets
• DropShips and JumpShips, pp 34-35
• Handbook: House Marik
• Technical Readout: 3057, pp 40-41
• Technical Readout: 3057 Revised, pp 38-39