Mark VII Landing Craft

Description
The Mark VII Landing Craft is a military shuttlecraft used for transporting cargo from orbit to planetside battlefields. This version of the Landing Craft has been in service with Inner Sphere powers since 2841. It was developed from the Ares landing craft first introduced by the Terran Hegemony.

The aerodyne Mk VII small craft is prized for its ability to use its VTOL capacity to hover for short time periods over a landing site. This allows it to land in rough terrain, where other aerodyne type small craft must use landing strips.

Due to changes in the construction rules for small craft, different versions of this vessel have been described in different sources. (See ''Notes below.)

Weapons and Equipment
The Mk VII's principal weaponry are a pair of medium lasers mounted in its right and left wing sections each as well a the aft section, plus a pair of nose-mounted small lasers.

The ship is protected by 13 tons of standard armor.

Cargo
The ship has 67.44 ton cargo capacity in a single large (14m long by 8m wide by 5m tall) bay with a floor lifting/lowering system. One of its roles is to carry the Rommel and Patton tanks.

Variants

 * Liao : This version gives up the cargo space to replace the original engine with a Rawlings 300 to boost the craft's speed and handling (5/8 speeds), while also adding 2 tons of fuel and 15 heatsinks. The craft radically alters the weapons load to include an AC/10 with 2 tons of ammo and yet a third small laser in the nose. The LRM 5 is upgraded to a LRM 20 with 3 tons of ammo. The forward and aft medium lasers were upgraded to large lasers and a medium laser was added to the left and right wings. This variant has assisted in some planetary defensives against both Federated Suns and Free Worlds League forces with great success.


 * Steiner : A very few craft operated by the Lyran Commonwealth were outfitted with Pitban 300 engines to address handling/flight issues (5/8 speeds). These craft have a 55 ton cargo capacity and a half ton less armor, but lose the means to transport the Rommel / Patton heavy tanks.


 * Egret : A variant developed exclusively for ComStar's Explorer Corps, the Egret trades cargo capacity for increased fuel tonnage.


 * Mark VIIC : The Clan version of the ubiquitous Mark VII Landing Craft is outfitted with Clan technology and yet is little changed from the Inner Sphere models. The ship's armaments include two nose mounted Medium Pulse Lasers, with pair Mediums Pulse Lasers mounted in the ship's right, left wing sections and two mounted in aft. The ship's armor capacity is one ton less than the Inner Sphere version, however its protection is greater. BV (1.0) = 1,027