Republic Attack Dropship

The Republic attack dropship is a compact fighter utilized by the Republic that shares several characteristics with the Rothana Heavy Engineering's LAAT series. Like its larger brethren, the purpose of this craft is to transport clone troopers into the battlefield and provide the necessary close air support. Due to its small size, it can only ferry two troopers at a time. This is accomplished through a pair of armed backpack units laid back-to-back orientation at the aft section of the vehicle, connected to the trooper only by a harness that engages with their belt.

While the dropship is fairly streamlined in flight - in fact, the cockpit is oriented in a way where the pilot is effectively lying on his back - when it comes time to deploy the pair of troopers, the cockpit would tilt downwards to perform a two point of contact with the ground when combined with the large ventral cannon serving as a monopod landing gear. Once landed, the entire backpack assembly is ejected from the craft while it is still attached to its occupants, allowing the craft to quickly return to its air support duties. For this duty, the Republic attack dropship is remarkably well armed, with a pair of chin guns on its forward hull, a pair of missile launchers on its wing root, two further cannons between them, and the ventral cannon.

The Republic attack dropship usually comes in the standard livery found on the LAAT/i, although it is noted that the units assigned to the 501st Legion sported their signature blue markings on white base color.

Text and facts from the “Republic Attack Dropship” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.