Northrup (Jump Jets)

Northrup, is an ancient name in the aerospace industry that has persisted through to the 31st century. Most recently Northrup is most famous for its lines of Jump Jet systems. Northrup jump jets are manufactured by a number of producers in the Inner Sphere as well as being utilized by the Clans.

Standard Jump Jets
Northrup standard jump jet designs have been produced in a number of variants. The best known versions are listed below.

750 Series
Produced between 2660 and 2835 by the Maltex Corporation, the Northrup 750 series of Jump Jets was designed for the WVE-5N Wyvern. Being a refit, the WVE-9N Wyvern was not actually manufactured directly by Maltex but is included here as the Model 750 remains the standard jet for that variant. The 750 may also remain as the installed system in the WVE-10N Wyvern as produced by Maltex.

12000 Series
Introduced in 2575 in the WVR-6R Wolverine , the 12000 series has been in production essentially continuously since that time. This model has also seen use in the MAD-5M Marauder, PWR-1X Prowler and CNS-5M Cronus. The Prowler is built explicitly upon a Wolverine chassis by Innovative Design Concepts on Solaris VII and the Cronus is offered by Gilmour MilTech, a company initially known as a maintenance contractor and re-builder of scrapped equipment. In these cases it is unclear whether the use of the 12000 series is new manufacture or is simply an artifact of being already installed in remanufactured equipment.

Nova Leap 30a Series
The Nova Leap 30a-series jets were used on Kallon Industries' futile attempt to introduce a downgraded Exterminator to replace their "aging Wolverine." Little else is known at this time about this product, except that listings in industrial catalogs indicate them being offered on the open market to custom `Mech designers in the Inner Sphere.

Starlifter M40 Series
The Starlifter series of jump jets is the line of Northrup derived propulsion systems developed by or for Clan Nova Cat. The Starlifter M40 was first identified in use in the Griffin IIC 4 Series however relatively little is known about this system. Most notably available intelligence reports do not indicate which Griffin IIC model this design was first implemented in and when. While the use of the Starlifter M40 in the Griffin IIC 4 is documented, information on prior models is not available. The naming convention adopted by the Clans suggests that the Starlifter series in general represents a design departure of some sort from the 750 and 12000 series but this is also unclear. Common to all the systems in the Starlifter line are `Mechs that have been produced by Irece Alpha in some form. It is conceivable that Irece Alpha may be the originator of the core design of the whole line but published sources do not elucidate on this point.

Starlifter M45 Series
First documented in the Shadow Hawk IIC 4, like the Starlifter M40 in the Griffin IIC, the M45 series may or may not have been installed in the earlier Shadow Hawk IIC variants.

Starlifter M50 Series
The Starlifter M50 is the Starlifter variant that Irece Alpha has installed in the Huntsman (designated by the DCMS as the Nobori-nin). Performing similarly to the Starlifter M40 and M45 variants the M50 is likely simply another variant on the standard Starlifter design base.

Super Heavy Starlifter M100 Series
Installed in the Supernova, the M100 is the largest entry in the Starlifter series seen to date.

Starlifter M41 Series
While the Starlifer M41 is a continuation of the Starlifter naming convention the design of this jump pack is substantially different from conventional Jump Jets. The M41 represents a clan design of the type that has come to be known as Improved Jump Jets. Offering more thrust and operating cooler, these jets allow for significantly improved mobility for the Griffin IIC 6. This system has also been incorporated into the WVR-9W2 Wolverine variant from Luthien Armor Works.

Starlifter M46 Series
Similar to the M41 Series, the Starlifter M46 is an improved jump jet replacement for the M45 that has been seen in the Shadow Hawk IIC 7.