Line #113 Main/DefenselessTransports


1	For reasons of CompetitiveBalance, units designed to transport other units in strategy games tend not to be armed. This has the effect of turning them into TheLoad in most scenarios. In other games, they might provide the motivation for an EscortMission.
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3	In real life, most vehicles intended to be used on the front lines have at least a machine gun mount. But there is some TruthInTelevision to this trope as the transport needs to sacrifice its ammo storage in favor of passenger space. Contrast AwesomePersonnelCarrier, which is (usually) anything but defenseless, and TechnicallyATransport, where somebody looked at the "defenseless" transport and decided to strap some guns and armor on it.
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5	----
6
7	!!Gaming examples:
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9	[[AC:First Person Shooter]]
10	* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
11	** [[DropShip UNSC Pelicans]] are fitted with a chin-mounted chaingun or autocannon, wing-mounted missile pods, and a door gunner with a heavy machine gun, but these are never seen in [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved the first game]]. ''Literature/HaloTheFlood'', the novelization of ''Combat Evolved'', explained it as them having run out of ammo off-screen, as the ''Pillar of Autumn'''s crew didn't have time to grab a whole lot of ammunition for their heavy weapons during the evacuation: there's an extended sequence in the novel of the Marines taking a convoy out to the crash site to restock. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'', their weapons get put to use [[CutscenePowerToTheMax in cutscenes]], and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' introduces a gunship variant equipped with a heavy laser that the Master Chief gets to fly in one of the missions.
12	** Averted by Covenant Spirit and Phantom {{dropship}}s, which carry belly guns useful for clearing landing zones of pesky UNSC Marines (though they don't work as well against the Master Chief's PoweredArmor). These ships are virtually indestructible without the use of special equipment (with the exception of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''[='s=] Phantom, which can be destroyed with several shots from the Scorpion tank's main gun), though the guns can usually be destroyed with regular weapons fire.
13	** Also averted in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' by the Mammoth, a UNSC MilitaryMashupMachine combining field command post, armored personnel and vehicle carrier, and self-propelled heavy artillery piece, with its flanks covered by homing missile turrets.
14	* Mostly averted in ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}''. Humvees, transport trucks, and riverboats have mounted machine guns, and the Marines' [=VTOLs=] (seemingly meant as successors to the V-22 Osprey) have machine guns and missiles. However, the island also has civilian pickup trucks, which are unarmed (CarFu excepted).
15	* Downplayed in ''Videogame/PlanetSide 1''. While none of the logistics vehicles were armed or even had spare seats for a friend, most ground transports had weaponry but were usually pretty helpess; the Harasser dune buggy had a pathetic 12mm machine gun that could hit nothing and did little when it did, and the Sunderer BigBadassRig [[ScrappyWeapon was so bad]] at everything that it was replaced with significantly up-armed and armored empire-specific variants geared more towards combat and breaching than transport, which the airborne and gun-laden Galaxy did ''far'' better. The sequel gives weapons to every vehicle, and the two ground transports - the [[CoolCar Harasser]] and [[BigBadassRig Sunderer]] - can take on tanks with the right weapon and a competent crew.a
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17	[[AC:Flight Sim]]
18	* Several {{Escort Mission}}s in the ''VideoGame/XWing'' series are built around protecting troop transports on their way to or from an objective. While these transports ''are'' armed, the AI often seems to conveniently forget about this, leaving the player to do all the work. The games' SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' continues the trend.
19	* Industrial ships in ''VideoGame/EveOnline'' are designed to transport large amounts of material and are virtually defenseless, having paper-thin armor and poor, if any, weapons. Taken to the extreme with freighters, the capital-class industrial ships. While the regular industrials can at least fit some defense modules or weapons, freighters have no fitting slots whatsoever! (Although in practice freighters are actually much harder to destroy than regular industrials, as their much greater size gives them much more effective hit points than even a heavily tanked industrial).
20	* {{Downplayed\|Trope}} in the ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'' series. While most TP- and TS-class freighters have a weapon turret, they are effectively defenseless against combat ships because they can barely power the weapon; their only recourse is to [[HyperspeedEscape jump out]]. TM- and TL-class ships are tougher and carry fighters but they're still quite vulnerable due to their size ([[MileLongShip particularly the TLs]]) and mediocre-at-best weapons loadout.
21	* Spoony complains about this phenomenon in his review of ''VideoGame/Privateer2TheDarkening''. In the game you have to hire and escort cargo ships. Often the cargo ships will jump ahead and you will be detained, leaving them to go ahead to be destroyed while defenseless.
22	** Yet, the game also averts this with larger and more expensive transports becoming increasingly tough and well armed. The largest transport ships can often double as a small capital ship, blowing away most enemies before you get the chance.
23	* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' regularly has enemy transport aircraft (and ship, rarely) as mission targets. They generally have fighter escorts and can absorb multiple missiles, but can't fight back in any way. Conversely, the player must regularly protect friendly transports as part of an EscortMission.
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25	[[AC:Real Time Strategy]]
26	* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' series: transports, except for Norse longships in ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'', have no attacks.
27	* Zigzagged in the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' series: land-based transports like APCs usually have guns, and they can all [[CarFu run over (most) infantry]]. But sea and air-based transports are unarmed.
28	** In C&C Red Alert 2, played straight as the massive amphibious transports have no defence against anything. The Allied mining vehicle has no defence either[[note]]in the sense of being able to fight back, at least. It is equipped with a teleportation device that allows it to quickly return to a refinery[[/note]] but the Soviet one gets a LMG and a good deal of armor. The Allied Nighthawk transport helicopter has a small chin-mounted machine gun but it does so little damage it may as well be an EmergencyWeapon.
29	** In C&C Red Alert 3, the Soviet APC is armed with an AA battery and the Allied one with a MG and torpedo tubes. While the Japanese one is unarmed, it can disguise itself as an enemy vehicle. Played straight with the Soviet and Allied mining trucks - the Japanese one can deploy a light gun but it will lose its cargo.
30	* ''VideoGame/StarCraft''
31	** The {{Drop Ship}}s used by all three races have no attacks. Neither do Protoss carriers. But [[GameplayAndStorySegregation between missions]] Terran dropships and other units are carried from system to system aboard [[TheBattlestar Battlecruisers]], and Carriers have energy weapons capable of sterilizing planets.
32	** The lack of weapons on dropships is lampshaded by one of the ''Hyperion's'' engineers in the novel ''Flashpoint'', and she outfits one with guns just in time for a GunshipRescue.
33	** ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' features a mission where Raynor's Raiders ''attack'' several unarmed transport trains with the new Diamondback {{Hover Tank}}, which can fire on the move and keep up with the train.
34	* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIIIReignOfChaos'': There are no faction-unique APCs, the only transport options are the mercenary zeppelins/ships, which have no defense but their speed (and if killed over deep water, all units are lost, if killed over land or shallow water, the units are alive but horribly slowed, making them easy prey). In ''VideoGame/WarcraftIITidesOfDarkness'', both sides could build defenseless transports.
35	* ''VideoGame/WarGamesDefcon1'' zig-zags this trope around. The AwesomePersonnelCarrier used by both NORAD and WOPR have high defense, but it's sole weapon is a light turret that does ScratchDamage on tanks and vehicles. Meanwhile, aerial transports like the Chinook helicopters for NORAD and Phoenix Carriers for WOPR are completely defenseless against air attacks. Same goes for the Amphibious vehicles for both factions, who can only carry troops around. It becomes a plot point in one WOPR mission in Hong Kong - you'll need to control a defenseless hovercraft through NORAD's heavily-armed Naval Base in Victoria Harbor to retrieve a drone TrappedBehindEnemyLines and make your way back, and most of your mission have you controlling said transport ''around'' enemy waters or be blown up.
36	* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'':
37	** The Space Marine and Chaos Marine Rhino APC doesn't have guns, but it does have a smoke grenade launcher. Note that in the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} source material]] Rhinos are armed with a Storm Bolter (a twin-barreled SMG with exploding rounds). And even in ''Dawn of War'' there are other, armed [=APCs=] (for example, the Space Marines' Land Raider super-heavy tank doubles as a troop transport, the only one that can carry Terminators).
38	** What's extra weird is that the Sisters of Battle Rhino ''is'' armed, but the Space Marine Rhino remains weaponless.
39	** The Tau's APC is not only armed but invisible.
40	** The Necrons don't have an APC, as they only have one unit that needs to be stored in a Monolith so as to be teleported onto the battlefield (Flayed Ones). However, if they get a relic, that Monolith becomes a ([[MightyGlacier vaguely]]) mobile mountain of devastation constantly spewing lightning and new troops, with Flayed Ones teleporting back to it so as to be sent elsewhere.
41	** Ork trukks have guns, because even their buildings have guns.
42	** The Eldar transport can be upgraded to be anti-vehicle, and is the closest thing to a flying transport in the game.
43	** Imperial Guard Chimeras and Dark Eldar Raiders also allow loaded units to shoot while being carried.
44	* ''VideoGame/DuneII'': Carryalls (which carried units around the battlefield) had no weapons.
45	* Trucks and transport helicopters in ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict'' can carry infantry squads but have no weaponry whatsoever. Jeeps can also carry infantry but have a mounted machinegun--however, the machinegun is so weak compared to other units' weapons, the jeeps might as well be unarmed.
46	* In ''VideoGame/EmpireAtWar'' ground units are moved from system to system by unarmed shuttles. In the Empire's case ships that were quite clearly shown launching from Star Destroyers.
47	* In ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'' Carrier Cruisers don't have any weapons of their own. But capital ships that carry [[SpaceFighter Strike Craft]] are armed.
48	* In ''Videogame/BattleZone1998'' and the sequel, Tugs do not carry any weapons, being "Utility" units used only to shuffle ancient relics around in the campaign, make a HumongousMecha move slightly faster by carrying it the tug's magnetic grips, or carry treaded vehicles [[SuperDrowningSkills over water]] in the sequel. [=APCs=] have no weaponry besides dumping out their squadron of infantry; they're pretty bad in ''1998'' because they're also slow and the infantry are weak CannonFodder, but ''Battlezone II'''s APC flies above weapons range before dropping down and spewing out armored troops wielding bazookas.
49	* Transport Ships and Air Transports in ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalacticBattlegrounds'' are totally unarmed and lack any kind of fire points.
50	* Civilian ships in ''VideoGame/{{Celestus}}'' (freight liners, mining modules, construction modules...) are unarmed. Flying them through enemy territory unescorted is... [[{{TooDumbToLive}} unwise]].
51	* Units in the [[{{VideoGame/WargameEuropeanEscalation}} Wargame]] series are modeled on real world military vehicles and as such run the gamut. Supply transports are near universally unarmed and will surrender if an enemy so much as gets near them. Troop transports on the other hand can be anything from unarmed trucks to [[{{TechnicallyATransport}} Hind attack choppers]] with the firepower to wipe out entire tank columns. It's sometimes worth it to call in infantry reinforcements simply for their transports rather than for the troops themselves.
52	* Downplayed in most grand strategy games by ''Creator/ParadoxInteractive'': ''[[VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis Europa Universalis IV]]'', ''[[VideoGame/VictoriaAnEmpireUnderTheSun Victoria II]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/HeartsOfIron Hearts of Iron IV]]'' all feature transport ships or convoys that do have limited combat abilities, but compared to actual warships they might as well be defenseless unless they severely outnumber their opponent. ''[[VideoGame/CrusaderKings Crusader Kings 2]]'' technically plays it straight, but since ''all'' ships are transport ships it only results in there not being a mechanic for naval combat at all.
53	* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarthII'': Subverted in the first 5 ages, where the only transport is also the only warship (Galley/Trireme/Decareme), which can carry 9/12/15 units and then provide support fire due to its surprisingly long range. Played straight afterwards when transports have no defenses.
54	* ''[[VideoGame/{{Homeworld}} Homeworld Cataclysm]]'': Mission 7 has you responding to a distress call from a Republic Taiidan convoy under attack from [[TheAssimilator the Beast]], which intends to [[TheVirus subvert and assimilate]] the helpelss colony ships using self-guided bio-warhead missiles.
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56	[[AC:4X]]
57	* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' and sequels:
58	** ''VideoGame/CivilizationII'' starts out with ships that can both carry troops and fight, but as the tech tree advances, this trope comes into play. If you have built Leonardo's Workshop, then you don't even get a choice; a Caravel that was able to fight, upon researching Magnetism, will be automatically upgraded to a Galleon that can't (but has more carrying capacity). At that point, though, you can still build new Frigates, with reduced capacity but enhanced offensive capabilities -- until you research Industrialization, at which the new, weaponless Transport will obsolete the Frigate too.
59	** In vanilla ''[[VideoGame/{{Civilization}} Civilization V]]'', land units gain the ability to embark onto transports to cross water once the 'Optics' tech is researched. While in this state, they are completely defenseless, and even a super-advanced Giant Death Robot will be easy prey for a leftover barbarian Galley. The expansions change this, giving embarked units the ability to fight back (although not very effectively).
60	** The latter continues with ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'', although a number of higher-tech units are {{Hover Tank}}s, so they don't actually convert to transports when entering water.
61	** In ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', transport modules use the same slot in the [[DesignItYourselfEquipment unit workshop]] as weapons. However, since combat tests the attacker's weapon strength against the defender's ''armor'' strength, and psi combat is based on morale instead of either, it's possible for a weaponless transport to win a battle but not attack.
62	* ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations''. The default troop transport has no weapons or defenses, though the players can design new transports that are armed. And one of the possible United Planets referenda is a mandate that transports have defenses, after all they carry millions if not billions of people.
63	** The sequels allow for custom ship design, with troop transport modules being just an item to be attached to a hardpoint. However, they take up a lot of space, so it's impractical to place them on any small hull. Early on, this means a noncombat hull (with 1 HP), although nothing prevents you from also arming the thing to the teeth and placing enough defenses to keep enemy shots from even reaching your hull.
64	* Played straight to the point of silliness in ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations''. Once you have a sea port any land units that hit water will automatically turn into unarmed transport ships.
65	* Averted big-time with the DOS turn-based ''Empire'' strategy game, which allows every unit including troop transports and aircraft carriers to both attack and defend (although you'd still want to keep them out of battle most of the time since their carrying capacity depends on hit points remaining).
66	* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' doesn't even have marine combat: galleys are only useful for moving armies over seas.
67	* ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion'' has troop transports that cannot be customized or armed in any way. Their only purpose is to carry and drop infantry to invade enemy colonies and cannot be reused. Unescorted transports are automatically destroyed upon encountering hostile ships.
68	* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' Civilian ships and Troop Transports aren't armed. If hostile ships appear in the same system they [[HyperspeedEscape jump out ASAP]]. Though [[SpaceFighter Strikecraft]] carriers are treated like warships with one module dedicated to a hangar bay, the other modules can be [[TheBattlestar armed to the teeth]].
69	* Played straight for all factions in ''VideoGame/BirthOfTheFederation'' except for the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Klingons]]. Even their ''colony ships'' have disruptors on them. However, all Romulan ships (including troop transports) have {{Invisibility Cloak}}s, which means they can just run from the battle during their initial ExtraTurn (unless they're attacked by one of the two Klingon ship types with cloaking devices or a ''Defiant''-class).
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71	[[AC:Role-Playing Games]]
72	* Unlike ground vehicles in the previous games, ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'''s Nomad all-terrain vehicle is completely unarmed (though it at least has shields). The same is true of Pathfinder Ryder's CoolStarship the ''Tempest'', which, unlike Commander Shepard's military frigate SSV ''Normandy'', has no weapons (which puts her in a tight spot during a couple cutscene encounters with kett warships).
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74	[[AC:Simulation]]
75	* In ''[[Videogame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'', the armored personnel carrier is armed with only a pathetic pair of machine guns which are only a threat to [[PoweredArmor battlearmor]] and a [[BulletSparks source of eye glare]] to [[HumongousMecha battlemechs]], and a single laser anti-missile turret. The DummiedOut Karnov transport VTOL has a couple turrets, each with a single small pulse laser, giving it a third (at best) of the firepower of a entry-level battlemech.
76	* ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' games in general tend to zigzag this trope, depending on the size of the transport. Any vehicles designed to carry personnel - [=APCs=], transport choppers or [=VTOLs=], etc. - tend to at best have weapons that will barely scratch the paint on a battlemech. Dropships, however, can easily pack the firepower of an entire assault lance, typically sporting several [[RailGun Gauss Rifles]], [[LightningGun PPCs]], and/or [[SlowLaser Large Lasers]].
77	* In the ''VideoGame/NavalOps'' series, enemy transports regularly turn up as easy targets for the player's ludicrously well-armed ship. They have relatively few hit points and no weapons. Friendly transports occasionally turn up to be escorted.
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79	[[AC:Turn Based Strategy]]
80	* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' has three such vehicles: APC for ground infantry transport, Lander for sea vehicle/infantry transport, and Transport Copter for air infantry transport. As none of those vehicles can fight back if provoked, this leaves them open to enemy attacks if the CO is not careful. Black Boats introduced in the third game are similarly harmless and capable of transporting up to 2 infantry units, but can also repair 1 HP to a unit per turn.
81	* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/FrontMission1'' with supply trucks. They ''can'' attack and defend, but all they have is a dinky little machinegun that might, ''might'', drain about 5% of an enemy Wanzer's health. For all practical intents and purposes they are defenseless.
82	* ''VideoGame/{{Nectaris}}'' has two transport units. The NC-1 Mule truck averts this, being capable of attacking ground ''and'' air units; its weak attack power can be compensated for by surrounding its target with the same unit it unloaded only a turn or so ago. The C-61 Pelican plane, however, is totally weaponless, and makes easy prey for other airplanes (all of which have greater movement range).
83	* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' has ''Tausendfussler''-class transports that are completely unarmed and poorly armored, mostly serving as EscortMission fodder or background [=NPC=]s.
84	* Played straight in ''VideoGames/PacificFleet'' and ''Atlantic Fleet'', where missions that involve merchant shipping, oil tankers, and troop transports have them entirely unarmed. In the dynamic campaign of the second game, if a German ship or U-boat encounters an Allied convoy without an escort, the unarmed transports are automatically destroyed. Germany has a few auxiliary cruisers, which are civilian transports equipped with some guns, but they're considered warships in the game (their only advantage is that they appear right on top of the enemy and can get a few shots in and have a chance of sinking a destroyer or two.
85	* In ''VideoGame/TenMinuteSpaceStrategy'', bombers and colonisers can give ''some'' firepower to your fleet if you pick the right traits before beginning the game, but this doesn't change the fact that without fighters escorting them, they will get wrecked effortlessly by either the enemy's fighters or their planetary defence systems.
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87	[[AC:WideOpenSandbox]]
88	* ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity'':
89	** Varies by game and by ship, but generally the base model freighter is unarmed and frequently only lightly shielded. However, players will often use mass expansions to turn part of bigger freighters' cargo bays into room for weapons, a process nicknamed "mass-modding". Upper-tier freighters (the Freight-Courier in ''Override'', the Enterprise, Pegasus, and some Leviathan variants in ''Nova'') frequently carry heavier armament, though they still don't hold a candle to actual warships.
90	** The Polaris Sprite light freighter and Cambrian heavy freighter in ''EV Nova'' are {{justified}} examples due to the Polaran FantasticCasteSystem. Freight transport is the responsibility of the worker caste, the Tre'pira, while combat is solely the responsibility of the Nil'kemorya, the warrior caste (and they're so good at it that the Tre'pira lacking weapons is a non-issue). The Sprite and Cambrian each have a hardpoint for a turret but no expansion mass to put anything in (though again, players can buy items to remedy this at outfitters).
91	** The Executive Transport in ''Classic'' lacks even a weapon hardpoint, which is possibly why it is one of only three non-mission ships in ''Classic'' that can't be bought (it is also the only proper ship in ''any'' of the games that lacks a hardpoint).
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93	[[AC:TabletopGames]]
94	* In ''TabletopGame/AxisAndAllies'' troop transports have no attack power whatsoever and a pitiful 1 defense. Later editions got rid of that as well, so that even one enemy unit moving on undefended transports will destroy them all without a fight.
95	* In ''TabletopGame/TwilightImperium'' carriers have minimal defenses. Though if they're carrying fighters instead of ground troops those can protect them.
96	* Played straight for some armies in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', but subverted for others. Generally dedicated transport units tend to have less firepower and defenses than combat vehicles, barring the Land Raider (which can be taken as a dedicated transport for Space Marine Terminators but otherwise uses a heavy support slot like a "proper" tank), but how defenseless they are varies. Space Marine Rhinos have low armour and only a single storm bolter (a slightly longer range version a basic infantry gun), while Imperial Guard Chimeras actually mount fairly good mid-strength weaponry. And then you have the Eldar Wave Serpent, which is arguably one of the best battletanks in game, combining medium armour, high speed and good firepower.
97	* Creator/AvalonHill board games
98	** ''Starship Troopers''. Air Cars and Retrieval Boats have no attack capability.
99	** ''1776''. Bateaux (boats) and Transport Fleets (ships) can't attack other units.
100	** ''Panzerblitz'' and ''Panzer Leader''. Trucks and wagons have no weapons.
101	** ''Panzerarmee Afrika''. Truck units have no combat capability.
102	* In ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' Carriers have no weapons arrays by default, they rely on their drones and flak barriers. Though they do have two Omni-Slots that weapons could be fitted into, or landing bays for carrying corvette's, or point-defenses.
103	* Several ships that provide Trade in ''TabletopGame/StarRealms'', such as Scouts and other low cost transports, do not provide Combat points. Higher cost transports could do damage, and even the low-cost Explorer [[HeroicSacrifice could do damage if you trash it]].
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105	!!Non-gaming examples:
106	[[AC:Comic Books]]
107	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': The Sangtee Empire slave transports are entirely defenseless despite there being anti-slavery sentiment in the empire. Once Diana's SpacePirate Revolutionaries start stealing the ships and freeing all the slaves the empire starts sending fighter escorts along when transporting slaves and political prisoners in large shipments.
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109	[[AC:Fan Fiction]]
110	* In ''{{Fanfic/Conquest}}'', after the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]] is damaged, a lot of its personnel is evacuated on such transports. For the Rebellion, [[SinkTheLifeboats attacking these]] is an opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Empire with minimal risk. Of course, their [[Franchise/StarTrek Federation]] allies consider it [[WhatTheHellHero meaningless slaughter]] and turn on them.
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112	[[AC:Live-Action Film]]
113	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
114	** ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'': The Techno Union Transports are completely unarmed but do have shields and hyperdrives. The Trade Federation Core Ships and Commerce Guild Cruisers from the same film were armed but the weapons negligible at best for any sort of prolonged combat.
115	** Film/TheLastJedi'', the transports aboard the ''Raddus'' are slow, with no weapons, DeflectorShields, or hyperdrive. [[spoiler:This becomes a problem when the First Order learns how to see through their InvisibilityCloak and starts firing on them.]]
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117	[[AC:RealLife]]
118	* In the age of sail it was practical for merchantmen to be at least lightly armed (and in some cases like the Dutch and British East India Companies, well armed); but that ended when warships adopted metal armor and turret guns. Supply ships are now 100% dependent on escort and air cover.
119	* When tanks need to move any substantial distance outside the battlefield, they're loaded onto wheeled transports to save fuel, plus wear and tear on the tracks. Needless to say, they're generally vulnerable in that state.
120	* The Humvee was designed as a light truck and was never intended to be an armored car. Improvised or retrofitted armor, and weapons mounts, had to be added for asymmetric warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq.
121	* The official definition of an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armoured_personnel_carrier Armoured Personnel Carrier]] includes the line "is armed with an integral or organic weapon of less than 20 millimeters calibre." Which, of course, means that practically every one of them has a mounted Browning machine gun or a grenade launcher.
122	* Most cargo ships of the world wars were unarmed, making them easy pickings for submarines; during the early years of both wars, German U-boats would more often use their deck guns to take out lone ships. During the latter years of World War II, the armaments of cargo ships improved, though these still meant little to dedicated warships or aircraft.
123	** Large, fast ocean liners acting as troop transports [[AvertedTrope averted]] this trope by being simply too fast for the rather slow U-boats to catch - and in the case of RMS ''Olympic'', simply running over and sinking a hapless U-boat that wandered in front of its bow.
124	** The Luftwaffe's Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor had some success with long-range bombing raids on Allied convoys, despite being highly vulnerable to AntiAir tactics.
125	** Even the light armament of a merchant ship could still be deadly. In 1943, the US Liberty ship ''SS Stephen Hopkins'', while sailing alone in an area thought to be safe, encountered the heavily-armed [[TechnicallyATransport German armed merchant raider]] ''Stier''. ''Hopkins'' had the standard armament for a Liberty ship at the time: a single 4-inch gun and a few antiaircraft guns, but did enough damage to ''Stier'' that the raider sank shortly after her opponent.
126	* The C-47 Skytrain [[note]]the military version of the DC-3 passenger plane[[/note]] was completely defenseless while taking Allied paratroops over enemy territory. The Soviet licensed copy sometimes mounted a single machine gun in a dorsal turret, but it wasn't terribly effective.
127	** Obsolete British bombers recycled for transport, delivering paratroopers and for towing gliders, such as the Short Stirling, had most of their gun turrets deleted and faired over and were in the same position.
128	** Subverted by the Mosquito light bomber, which was also used as a courier aircraft and occasionally modified to carry a small number of passengers: It was unarmed in these roles, but so was the original bomber version because it was fast enough to outrun any Axis fighter then in production.
129	** German and Soviet transport planes, as a general rule, carried built-in defensive guns, and as such averted this trope.

Context Main / DefenselessTransports