Falcon Transport.jpg

ARMAMENT:
Twin 30mm Extended Range Gatling Autocannon's
Twin High Energy Particle Rail Cannons
Twin 88mm Mass Drivers
Turret Mounted .50 calibre minigun for squad support
Possible Wing Mounted Mission Specific Ordinance

COMPLIMENT:
6 Crew: Pilot, Co Pilot/Navigator, Primary Weapons officer, Secondary weapons officer, Electronic Warfare Officer, Ordinance Officer. The transport bays can accomodate one full infantry platoon, (27-30 men) or two mechanized squads (10-15 men). The variant used by the Dragoons carries a full Mechanized platoon with the Dragoon's armored motos being carried in special armored wing mounted drop pods. Some ranger, militia, private military, and planetary government models have refit the transport bays for more comfortable, longer distance travel, but sacrificing 75% of the transport capacity.

HISTORY:
Conceived and designed following the end of the corporate insurrections, The Falcon was to be the next generation of medium range transports for an ever expanding sphere of Human colonialism. It was hoped by many it would be the replacement to the Iconic "Brick" style troop dropship used by the Earth Colonial Marines, but this was never in the cards. The Falcon's design ideology combines aspects of a transport, gunship, bomber, and support craft. The exact nature of missions the designer of such a hybrid envisioned is unclear, and it has had some trouble finding it's place in normal military unit roles as a result. It's unique mix of capabilities has led it to be adopted into a number of special operations roles, such as Force Recon, Army Rangers and Airborne, and Naval Special Forces. With it's ability to engage orbitals, defenses, and smaller defense ships the Falcon has become an ideal landing ship for advanced forces preceding a planetary assault. While it's air to air combat capabilities leave it vulnerable to intercept by dedicated fighters, it does have sufficient speed to force a protracted chase, and if deployed in unison with Bomber, it may force planetary intercept to choose between trying to run down the Falcon's or hit the bombers. More often though, the Falcon is seeing wider use where Armed transport is necessary or for evac and medivac. It is starting to become as common a sight on non terrestrial battlefields as the Bell UH-1 Huey over the southeast Asian skies of Old Earth.
The Falcon class transport project was almost a non starter. With the Corporate Insurrections over and humanity entering a "New Golden Age Under Unified Central Earth Rule Once Again" the need for such a heavily armed transport craft was in doubt. It was exactly the new central government and the logistics that were faced policing hundreds of worlds that cemented the projects future. In the early days of this new "Golden Age" there was anarchy and lawlessness, especially in the outermost colonies. In response the E.O.C. expanded the department of Justice and instituted sweeping reforms in Law Enforcement, including the creation of the Marshals. The Marshals would be charged bringing law and order to the outer colonies over run with pirates, smugglers, slavers, and corruption. It was clear that for travel an transport the Marshal would need a well armed craft, especially as they would often be operating without significant support or backup. With this in mind the Falcon class was redesigned to include a Class II Langstrom Field drive for interstellar travel, and entered production with several hundred units allocated to the department of Justice. While some of the military models produced also are equipped with Langstrom Field Drives, the units produced for the D.O.J. do not include the hardpoints or electronics for wing mounted ordinance loads, but otherwise include all other armaments. While this has led to outcry from the public regarding further militarization of the police, many Marshals have still been lost to hostile action due to pirates, smugglers, and well armed gangs.


CREDITS: Davorama (a.k.a Davo, Beyondbent, Powerfusion3D, PoserFusion3D), All the great Kitbashers who have posted images of assemblies with Davo's sets that inspired me.