ST-46

Description
The ST-46 is a typical example of the atmospheric capable shuttlecraft in use within both the Inner Sphere and Clan territories. Many stations and larger transports, such as JumpShips and WarShips, carry at least one of these craft to allow planetary transport of crew and cargo without having to rely upon docked DropShips for the task.

Because the ST-46 features an aerodyne shape, the design is able to conserve fuel during trips from space to a planetary surface, though requires a prepared ferrocrete runway to land on as the landing gear is susceptible to damage and collapse on unpaved terrain.

Armament
Primarily intended for civilian use, the ST-46 is totally unarmed, the small amount of armor the craft carries intended more to offer some protection, whatever minor, against landing or docking mishaps than overt offensive assault.

Cargo
Directly behind the ST-46s cockpit is the 8 person capacity passenger section which leads to the craft's single airlock. The vessel's cargo section is directly behind the passenger section but there is no internal access to the cargo bay and engineering section behind it from inside the craft, only via the single large cargo hatch on the ST-46's starboard side. The cargo section can, however, be accessed from the engineering section through ducting.

Variants

 * ST-46C : Introduced in 2897, due to their higher level of technology the Clan version of the ST-46C boasts minor improvements in both armor and cargo capacity, though like the Inner Sphere version is also unarmed. BV (1.0)= 813