An Overview of Star Citizen Dropships
When planning to integrate dropships into your org's operations, remember that it's about use cases and practical applications—not just raw performance.
In this article, we’ll be giving a cursory overview of the different kinds of dropships available in the game. We define a “dropship” as any ship that has dedicated jump seats whose only function is to secure passengers during travel. As a result, touring ships like the Origin Jumpworks 890 Jump and 600i, RSI Andromeda Phoenix, and MISC Freelancer series are not considered.
Additionally, this article will examine only those ships which are implemented in the game and practically accessible to players. For this reason, the Anvil Aerospace Liberator and Legionnaire, Aegis Dynamics Idris, and Retaliator Dropship Module are not considered.
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Key takeaways
A dropship is any ship that has dedicated jump seats for passengers, and whose primary role it is to deliver troops to a battlefield.
Dropships can increase their passenger capacity by loading vehicles with personnel, but life support systems may place additional limits on this capability in the future.
The role and strengths of a dropship can vary wildly. Some are suited to covertly slip behind enemy lines, others are robust enough to lead breakthroughs, and some can loiter to provide close air support.
Dropship familiarization
The Aegis Dynamics Redeemer is a Medium-sized passenger-carrying combat ship. It has five crew stations: a pilot, two manned turret gunners, and two remote turret gunners. The Redeemer is heavily armed, featuring two Size 4 guns, a pair of manned turrets mounting two Size 5 guns, a pair of remote turrets mounting two Size 3 guns, and 16 Size 2 missiles. Although the Redeemer is billed as a gunship, it maintains four dedicated passenger seats and can carry two SCU of cargo.
Aegis Dynamics’ Vanguard Hoplite is a Medium-sized spacecraft and the game’s first dropship. It can carry up to six passengers and has a small crew that controls a range of weaponry. The pilot has control over a Size 5 gun hardpoint, four fixed Size 2 guns, and four Size 4 warhead hardpoints. The sole gunner controls two Size 2 guns via a manned turret.
The Anvil Aerospace C8 and C8X Pisces are small Snub-sized shuttles. They require just a pilot and have room for two passengers. Also, the Pisces has an impressive cargo area for its size, it’s too small to carry any vehicles that are currently in the game. The C8 is equipped with a pair of Size 1 guns and a pair of missiles, while the C8X adds pair of Size 1 guns.
Anvil’s Valkyrie is a Medium-size ship that requires one pilot and four gunners. It can transport 20 passengers. A small cargo hold can house one or more small vehicles. The weapon complement includes one pilot-controlled turret with two Size 2 weapons, two manned turrets with dual Size 3 weapons, two remote turrets with each with a single Size 3 weapon, and two Size 1 door guns that can be manned by passengers.
The Argo Astronautics MPUV Personnel is a Snub-size ship that requires one pilot and can transport eight passengers. It has no weapons but does feature armor by way of physical and energy damage modifiers. Its size makes it the dropship with the smallest physical footprint in the game.
The Crusader M2 Hercules Starlifter is a Large-sized strategic lift transport capable of delivering vehicles and troops to a suitably large enough landing zone. It requires a crew of three, has three remote turrets, and has a passenger capacity of 12. An expansive cargo bay allows it to carry multiple vehicles. It has a large number of powerful guns and turrets, including two Size 5 gun hardpoints, and three remote turrets capable of mounting two Size 4 guns each. Its sister model, the A2 Hercules gunship can also serve as a dropship for a variety of vehicles and has even more weapons. But the A2 has no innate passenger capacity.
Drake Industries’ Cutlass Black and Cutlass Steel are Medium-sized ships. Each has a crew of three. The Cutlass Black has a dedicated six-passenger transport capability, and a cargo bay capable of carrying a very limited range of small vehicles. It also has four Size 3 gun hardpoints, a manned turret capable of mounting two Size 2 weapons, and six Size 4 warhead hardpoints. Meanwhile, the Cutlass Steel provides an additional 12 passenger seats, bringing its total up to 18 passengers. The Cutlass Steel can’t practically or safely carry a vehicle but adds a remote turret with two Size 2 weapons, plus four bespoke pintle-mounted single-gun door turrets.
Esperia Prowler is a Medium-sized dropship. It has a crew of two and can carry 16 passengers. The Prowler has no room for vehicles of any kind. Its weapons are limited to a pair of Size 5 gun hardpoints and a single remote turret with a pair of Size 3 guns, but it also has large electromagnetic (EM), infrared (IR), and cross-section (CS) modifiers that greatly reduce its detectable signature.
The MISC Starfarer and Starfarer Gemini are both Large-sized ships primarily intended for refueling other ships. Each requires a crew of at least four—a pilot and three gunners. In terms of carrying capacity, they each have 12 passenger seats and a cargo bay large enough to carry several vehicles. The Starfarer has two pilot-controlled turrets with two Size 4 guns, one manned turret sporting two Size 4 guns, and two manned turrets each with a pair of Size 3 guns. While the standard Starfarer lacks warheads, the Gemini variant can mount nine Size 3 missiles and replaces one of the manned turret’s Size 4 weapons with a pair of Size 5 weapons. It’s worth noting that both variants can equip Size 3 weapons on their rear manned turrets.
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A deeper dive into dropships
Two of the crew stations on the Aegis Redeemer serve a pair of remote turrets. One of the remote turrets can be controlled by the pilot when there is no gunner, while the other is only practically operable from the remote gunner’s station. However, by repurposing its two remote gunner seats it can provide an additional two-passenger carrying capacity. This would bring the total passenger capacity up to six at little to no cost to combat effectiveness.
The Vanguard Hoplite is a repurposed design derived from Aegis’ line of Vanguard heavy fighters. As such, it’s strongly biased toward combat and has the weapon capacity and versatility to address a range of close air support needs. Additionally, the Vanguard is one of the few fighter designs to have actual wings, and as a result, may prove to exhibit superior atmospheric handling.
The Pisces C8 and C8X are relatively tiny crafts. Their main advantage as a dropship is that they can slip in and out of extremely small spaces and carry a small amount of cargo if needed. This makes them ideal for use as an extraction vector, while the C8X’s additional weapons make it particularly appealing for small-scale insertions deep into enemy-held territory.
The Cutlass Black provides economical transport for a squad of infantry supported by a small vehicle, such as a Dragonfly. A fairly large number of weapons and missiles allows for a diverse loadout, while a top-mounted turret with excellent coverage provides adequate defense when landed. There’s the impression that the ship could shift into the close air support (CAS) role after offloading, but the Cutlass’ comparatively poor survivability limits it to low-intensity conflicts.
At the time of writing, the Valkyrie is the highest-capacity passenger transport with an explicit combat focus in the game. When compared to the Cutlass Steel, the Valkyrie has significantly more sustainable firepower, coverage, and survivability. It can also carry a wider range of—and in some cases more—vehicles. However, it’s physically larger and more sluggish to maneuver.
The Prowler’s main defenses are its stealth modifiers and quick offloading and on-loading process. Eight “drop doors”, a ladder on each side, and a rear exit ramp mean that the entire passenger complement can be offloaded in a fraction of the time it would take its closest competitors, the Cutlass Steel and Valkyrie. In addition to cutting down on time-to-offload, the multiple doors also greatly mitigate safety issues of bottlenecks that are typical of entry and exit points.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, the Starfarer and Starfarer Gemini refueling ships can also perform as acceptable dropships. As a troop transport, there is no practical difference between the MISC Starfarer and Starfarer Gemini. Once again, passenger capacity can be increased by loading vehicles with personnel. But the types of vehicles that can be carried are limited by the height of the ship’s cargo bay entrance, preventing taller vehicles like Anvil’s Atlas platforms and Tumbril’s Nova tanks from being loaded.
A good range of weapon sizes and excellent placement means that the Starfarer variants are well-defended during loading and offloading. Even when those threats are Large ships. Additionally, equipping each of their rear manned turrets with PyroBursts can saturate a large area with fire.
For concerns regarding fuel flammability during combat, it’s important to acknowledge that the ship’s fuel transport tanks don’t need to be loaded during dropship operations.
Perhaps the most controversial dropship on this list is the Argo Astronautics MPUV Personnel. Certainly, its lack of weapons and sluggish performance relative to contemporary alternatives like the Vanguard Hoplite, Cutlass Black, and Redeemer would seem to disqualify it as a practical consideration for the role. However, when operating in an area where enemy anti-ship defenses have been effectively suppressed, the MPUV Personnel’s lack of combat ability is simply a non-issue. If so inclined, a well-trained pilot can even effectively maneuver the ship while a passenger aims a light machine gun, grenade launcher, railgun, or possibly even an infantry-portable missile launcher out of the passenger compartment’s opened door. Lastly, a dropship should have access to a combat-capable escort anyways, further rendering the MPUV Personnel’s combat capability largely moot.1
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Final thoughts
The most practical dropships on this list are the Aegis Vanguard Hoplite, Aegis Redeemer, and Anvil Valkyrie. That isn’t to say that the other ships are without value. Indeed, many of them can excel when their strengths and weaknesses are accounted for properly and may even be much better choices for specific applications. But in most situations, one of these ships is likely to meet your infantry unit’s dropship needs.
A good case in point is the M2 Hercules Starlifter. It’s one of only two ships listed that can transport large vehicles like Nova tanks, Ballista and Centurion air defense systems, and the Spartan armored personnel carrier. But unless your operation calls for weapon platforms that large, or smaller vehicles in an amount that only the M2 can carry, you’ll likely be better served by a pair of Valkyries or possibly even a pair of Cutlass Steels.
Practical augmentation of passenger capacities
Several ships discussed here can carry one or more vehicles. Therefore the passenger capacities of qualifying ships can be safely expanded—often well beyond their stated capacities—if only temporarily. This can be done by loading additional ship passengers into vehicles. As an example, the M2 Hercules Starlifter’s inherent passenger capacity is 12. But, its cargo bay can carry two Anvil Aerospace Spartans comfortably. A Spartan requires one driver and can carry up to 8 passengers. This brings the practical total passenger capacity of the M2 Hercules Starlifter up to a whopping 30 passengers.2
However, it’s important to note that in the future life support systems and sustaining life support will become an issue. So you’ll eventually need to take this into account when planning your operations. The good news here is that many vehicles, flight suits, and armor will maintain their own life support systems. These should extend your available time before survival becomes a concern.
Penetrators and close air support
While most ships described in this article are capable of combat, some are heavily biased toward the role. For example, the Vanguard Hoplite’s majority heavy, forward-facing guns and diverse warhead carrying capacity seem to suggest that it would be an ideal penetrator, interdictor, and strike fighter. Meanwhile, the Redeemer gunship’s multiple turrets make it a strong contender for CAS.
Other ships we believe are suited to the penetrator role only include the Anvil Pisces C8X variant and Esperia Prowler. Nearly all ships on this list can defend themselves and provide a degree of CAS. But some—like the Cutlass variants and MPUV-1P—should be limited to low-intensity conflicts or areas where anti-ship defenses have been effectively suppressed.
Anonymous. “Why the Argo MPUV Personnel Is the Best Dropship in Star Citizen”, The Doctrine, 30 Jun 2023, https://doctrine.substack.com/p/breaking-the-mold-the-argo-mpuv-1p
This is one of the foundational bases behind our proposal for the Carrack Assault Platoon.