Imperial Dropship

This article is about the smaller Imperial Dropship used during the Galactic Civil War.
You may be looking for the larger Imperial Dropship Transport already used before the Galactic Civil War.

This article is non-canon within the canon continuity.

This article covers a subject from a LEGO product that has not appeared in a canon or Star Wars Legends source, and thus is considered non-canon.

The Imperial Dropship was a Galactic Empire dropship type. It had two engines, flanked by maneuvering fins, and a front cockpit. The dropship could be piloted by a shadow stormtrooper or a regular stormtrooper and could transport a squad of up to four stormtroopers on a detachable platform at its back.

The craft had three variants, with two of them featuring a pair of laser cannons and another pair of the configurations having external racks for personal blasters. During the Galactic Civil War, Imperial Dropships were used in two engagements in desert where they either deployed stormtroopers or fought Rebel Alliance forces .

Characteristics

The Imperial Dropship was a type of small,^[6] fast space troop transport.^[4] It had a gradually upward-sloping black, gray, and blue fuselage that culminated with two engines at the back^[1] that were flanked by a large pair of^[6] blue^[1] or black maneuvering fins.^[6] At its front, the dropship had a single-seat cockpit with a viewport that could swing open^[1] on its top hinge,^[6] while the back of the craft featured a detachable troop transport platform^[1] that was open in order to allow troopers to deploy quickly.^[6]

An alternate variant of the Imperial Dropship

The Imperial Dropship came in three variants, with one configuration sporting a pair of forward-firing laser cannons^[2] directly aft of the cockpit—near the ship's base^[3]—and also having built-in racks allowing to mount a pair of blaster rifles^[3] at the craft's midsection, toward its top.^[3] Another variant instead featured near its base four racks for holding the blasters of the pilot and the troopers.^[7]

Finally, the third configuration of the dropship had laser cannons that were similarly positioned to those of the first variant and fired green blasts. It had an elongated cockpit, and both its maneuvering fins and engines—which had blue-colored exhaust jets—could be swung downwards. The configuration's troop transport platform, on which blaster rifles could be mounted, could only seat two troopers,^[5] in contrast to the other two variants that had four-seated platforms.^[1]^[6] The Imperial Dropship had three Imperial crests emblazoned on it, with one at its top and two either near the laser cannons,^[3] on its maneuvering fins,^[5] or on the troop platform.^[1]

Role

The Imperial Dropship could be piloted by a single shadow stormtrooper^[4] or a regular stormtrooper.^[5] It was used to swoop down to a battlefield and detach its troop platform,^[2] thereby deploying a squad of up to^[4] four^[6] clone stormtroopers^[4] before flying away.^[2] Alternately, the dropship could also engage in combat enemy ground vehicles.^[5]

History

An Imperial Dropship during a Galactic Civil War combat engagement

At one point during the Galactic Civil War, an Imperial Dropship piloted by a shadow stormtrooper^[4] deployed three stormtroopers during a confrontation in a desert, with one of the troopers wielding a rifle that had been stored in the craft's blaster rack.^[2] In another instance of desert combat, an Imperial Dropship piloted by a stormtrooper faced off against a Rebel Scout Speeder crewed by three Alliance Fleet troopers of the Rebel Alliance. While one stormtrooper was engaging the scout speeder on the ground, the dropship opened fire on the craft with its laser cannons while carrying another stormtrooper on its troop transport platform.^[5]