History Main / DropShip

* The Sky Crane dropships and their un-named ARM counterpart in {{Section 8}}. It fulfills a similar role to the dropships in the ''RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles''; soldiers are shot out of ports in the side for the classic ItsRainingMen assault, and after the battle lands to extract the infantry. It also ferries in heavy armors and heavy tanks requisitioned by the player.

** In ''Tiberium Wars'', the job is, in turn, filled in by the V-35 Ox transport.

* ''GroundControl's'' drop ships where rather square in the first game and seemed to have 'belly door' that could drop off troops very quickly. By ''GroundControl 2'' they were more similar to existing aircraft and could be upgraded with more powerful weaponry and extra armor.

* In ''{{Master of Orion}} II'' the invasion with a ground combat is the only way to capture an enemy colony (except for a Telepathic race) and special single-use "Transport Ships" are the only way to deliver troops for the invasion.

** Speaking of, ''{{StarCraft 2}}'' has Terrans ditching the Dropship for the Medivac, which doubles as a Medic, hence the name. The Protoss abandon the Shuttles for Phase Prisms, which convert the 'cargo' between physical and energy states for transport. Phase Prisms can also be used as makeshift Pylons, which coupled with Warp Gates allows the Protoss to transfer over far more soldiers than the Phase Prism itself can carry. Meanwhile, the Zerg Overlords remain more or less the same, but are now able to excrete creep onto the ground.

** Speaking of, ''{{StarCraft 2}}'' has Terrans ditching the Dropship for the Medivac, which doubles as a Medic, hence the name. The Protoss abandon the Shuttles for Phase Prisms, which convert the 'cargo' between physical and energy states for transport. Phase Prisms can also be used as makeshift Pylons, which coupled with Warp Gates allows the Protoss to transfer over far more soldiers than the Phase Prism itself can carry. Meanwhile, the Zerg Overlords remain more or less the same, but are now able to [[strike: [[IncrediblyLamePun crap]]]] excrete creep onto the ground.

** Drop Pods are also present in both games which bring infantry from the orbit. Both are special abilities used by GDI, but while the first case has several pods with normal infantry at the highest veterancy level, the latter case brings down several Zone Troopers in a single pod. Zone Troopers are the most powerful GDI infantry apart from the Commando.

** Let's not forget the Orbital Drop Shock Trooper's Drop-Pods. Instead of using Pelicans, the ODST team will drop into battle in one man pods from space, plowing through the atmosphere and into the front lines with a bang. Of course, they have a reputation of being {{badass}}. These pods once again pay homage to one of the trope codifiers, ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', wherein the troops drop into battle in similar pods.

--> -- ''[[BattleTech Mechassault 2]]''

** The ship (maybe) and its pilot (definitely) were inspired by ''StarshipTroopers'', though the preferred method in the book for deploying the Mobile Infantry was literally to drop them from orbit. However, drop ships were used when the deployment was on a more relaxed schedule, and ships were used to take the [=MIs=] off the planet. The movie, though, played it straight.

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' naturally has a lot of these, such as the Space Marine Thunderhawk or the Tau Orca. Not to mention the Drop-Pods, which are essentially a cross between a DropShip and an Escape Pod, and a {{shout out}} to ''StarshipTroopers''.

** Let's not forget the Orbital Drop Shock Trooper's Drop-Pods. Instead of using Pelicans, the ODST team will drop into battle in one man pods from space, plowing through the atmosphere and into the front lines with a bang. Of course, they have a reputation of being {{badass}}. These pods once again pay homage to one of the trope codifiers, ''StarshipTroopers'', wherein the troops drop into battle in similar pods.

* The Sky Crane dropships and their un-named ARM counterpart in {{Section 8}}. It fulfills a similar role to the dropships in the StarshipTroopers animated series; soldiers are shot out of ports in the side for the classic It's Raining Men assault, and after the battle lands to extract the infantry. It also ferries in heavy armors and heavy tanks requisitioned by the player.

* In {{Planet side}} there are 3, one that carrys Large vehicles and [[{{Humongous Mecha}} BFR's]] (lodestar), another for carrying passengers and Smaller vehicles (Galaxy) with a variant that Carrys auto-matic Grenade Launchers, and One that Carrys 4 passengers and Cloaks (Phantasm)

** You also have the Mako, which is awesome enough that it gets on the ground by being dropped from orbit without taking damage. The second game has you arriving at the site of most missions by shuttle.

* LAAT's and ''Acclamator''-class ships both perform this role in the ''StarWars'' prequels, on different scales. The Acclamators are dropships ''for'' dropships, which is pretty impressive. There are also LAAT-derivatives and (off-screen) barges for dropping off AT-ATs and other walkers.
** The ''StarWarsBattlefront'' games use LAATs and other craft as ship-to-ship boarding dropships. There are various other kinds of dropship in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse, primarily but definitely not exclusively belonging to the Empire. There are a lot of different classes, designed to ferry anything from stormtroopers to [[SpiderTank AT-ATs]] to and from the surface of the planet and the Star Destroyer drifting in orbit.

* In the original ''{{Transformers}}'' game for the PS2 (not TheGameOfTheMovie), Decepticlones travel using dropships. They don't have weapons (but carry troops who ''do'') and are at first near-indestructible- at least til you upgrade your arsenal...

* ''{{Battlefield 2142}}'' has drop ships for both factions that also have drop pods as well. A full drop ship with competent gunners can usually be effective enough to be a lethal threat to gunships, infantry and light vehicles.

* The TropeMaker is ''StarshipTroopers'' by Heinlein.

-->--[[BattleTech Mechassault 2]] explains.

* Dropships act as the standard Terran transport in ''StarCraft''. The unit's voice is even a ShoutOut to the ''Aliens'' dropship pilot. The Protoss have Shuttles, and while the Zerg Overlords are initially [[ConstructAdditionalPylons control suppliers]], you can later upgrade them to OrganicTechnology shuttles.
** Speaking of, ''StarCraft 2'' has Terrans ditching the Dropship for the Medivac, which doubles as a Medic, hence the name. The Protoss abandon the Shuttles for Phase Prisms, which convert the 'cargo' between physical and energy states for transport. Phase Prisms can also be used as makeshift Pylons, which coupled with Warp Gates allows the Protoss to transfer over far more soldiers than the Phase Prism itself can carry. Meanwhile, the Zerg Overlords remain more or less the same, but are now able to [[strike: [[IncrediblyLamePun crap]]]] excrete creep onto the ground.

** Speaking of, ''StarCraft 2'' has Terrans ditching the Dropship for the Medivac, which doubles as a Medic, hence the name. The Protoss abandon the Shuttles for Phase Prisms, which convert the 'cargo' between physical and energy states for transport. Phase Prisms can also be used as makeshift Pylons, which coupled with Warp Gates allows the Protoss to transfer over far more soldiers than the Phase Prism itself can carry. Meanwhile, the Zerg Overlords remain more or less the same, but are now able to [[strike: [[IncrediublyLamePun crap]]]] excrete creep onto the ground.

** Speaking of, ''StarCraft 2'' has Terrans ditching the Dropship for the Medivac, which doubles as a Medic, hence the name. The Protoss abandon the Shuttles for Phase Prisms, which convert the 'cargo' between physical and energy states for transport. Phase Prisms can also be used as makeshift Pylons, which coupled with Warp Gates allows the Protoss to transfer over far more soldiers than the Phase Prism itself can carry. Meanwhile, the Zerg Overlords remain more or less the same, but are now able to disgorge creep onto the ground.

* The spaceplanes and Kulu Ion Fliers in Peter F. Hamilton's ''Night's Dawn'' trilogy perform this on a regular basis, some with more success than others. Most notable being [[spoiler: Ashley's last-second rescue of the ''Lady Macbeth'''s crew and assorted others when an ironberg (yes, that's exactly what it sounds like) is about to fall on them from orbit. Another of the ''Lady Mac'''s spaceplanes was used to sterilise a landing zone in a jungle with belly-mounted microwave lasers.]]

Not to be confused with AbandonShip, which is about {{Shipping}} in the fandom sense.

A common vehicle in Military Science Fiction: A DropShip is a craft used to carry troops, vehicles and/or supplies from an orbiting ship to the surface of a planet and back, sometimes while under fire. Some are effectively a {{military mashup machine}} between a space shuttle and a transport helicopter, while others are full-sized landing craft that are substantially larger. If the ship is armed and/or the troops involved happen to be reinforcements, it can double as a {{big damn gunship}}.

** The coolest ones are the Imperial Guard's Valkyries, a cross between an Apache, a Huey, a P-38, and a Harrier.