Development Notebook

Scratch Pad

navy will perform air cavalry and troop transport role with gunships. I need to flesh out the marine recon role.

Increase the length of the prologue, to have more fleeing, near death experiences, etc.,
Here is a list of characters

Here is a list of warships

Here are the Races and Professions.

http://robertplewis.com/index.php/Category:Naval_Weapons

need a page to promote artists.

http://robertplewis.com/index.php/System_Titles

Dropship Roles and Capabilities

In this setting, small agile fighter craft have been rendered obsolete by ubiquitous close-in weapon systems (CIWS/point-defense). Instead, the primary close air support and mobility platform is the multi-crewed, heavily armed and armored dropship (comparable to Starfleet runabouts vs. shuttlecraft or Peregrine fighters). These are Navy-piloted with Marine gunners and systems officers, offering superior survivability, endurance, payload, and versatility.

Dropships operate primarily in a high-altitude or near-orbit loiter profile, functioning as persistent sensor/communications nodes and precision fire support platforms (inspired by F-35 CAS doctrine but scaled up).

Primary Roles

Troop Insertion / Extraction: Hot drops of Marine squads/platoons (in power armor) into contested landing zones; rapid exfiltration under fire.; Rear/ventral ramps for fast egress; ventral-mounted energy cannons for suppressive covering fire during ingress/egress.; Often includes stealth coatings, ablative armor, or short-duration ECM bursts.

Close Air Support (CAS) / Gunship: Provides persistent, high-altitude overwatch and precision fire support to ground troops.; Loiters at altitude (20,000–50,000+ ft or near-orbit) to remain outside most ground-based CIWS envelopes.; Delivers devastating fire via energy cannons (plasma, particle beams, or high-energy lasers) on troop call-for-fire.; Precise, near-infinite "ammo" (power-limited) with minimal collateral compared to kinetics; surgical suppression to anti-armor/anti-structure strikes.; Secondary kinetic options (railguns, missiles) for hardened targets.

Reconnaissance / Cavalry Scout: Forward scouting, target designation, and overwatch for main force or orbital strikes.; Pairs with recon platoons for deep insertion, sensor placement, and real-time intel gathering.; Equipped with advanced sensor suites (phased-array radars, hyperspectral imagers, quantum-linked drones).; Light armament for self-defense; fast atmospheric/near-vacuum flight for rapid repositioning.

Sensor and Communications Platform: Acts as elevated battlespace manager and data relay.; Massive sensor fusion creates shared picture for ground units (recon platoons, rifle companies, command).; Feeds real-time video, targeting data, and threat tracks to Marine helmet HUDs or neural links.; Serves as comms gateway in jammed/degraded environments; includes EW/jamming capabilities.

Multi-Role / Utility: Modular mission pods allow rapid reconfiguration (troop bay ↔ sensor suite ↔ missile/torpedo launcher ↔ medevac).; Handles cargo transport, medical evacuation, electronic warfare, light boarding actions, or fleet screening.; Swappable loadouts enable one hull to fulfill multiple expeditionary needs.

Anti-Small Craft / Escort: Defends against enemy drones, residual fighters, or swarm threats.; Heavy point-defense grid (mini-CIWS) plus anti-fighter missiles.; Armored and redundant systems allow it to tank hits that would destroy smaller craft.

Key Capabilities Summary

Survivability: Thick armor/shields, own CIWS/point-defense, redundant systems, multi-crew redundancy.
Endurance: Long loiter via advanced propulsion (fusion/anti-grav/solar regen); hours to days on station.
Firepower: Primary energy cannons for precision CAS; secondary kinetics; modular ordnance bays.
Sensor/Intel: 360° distributed aperture, AESA-equivalent radar, drone swarms, hyperspectral/quantum sensors.
Integration: Navy pilots handle flight/EW; Marine gunners/systems officers manage weapons/targeting/troop coordination.
Versatility: Fewer, more capable platforms replace fighter wings; squadron of 8–12 supports a battalion.

These dropships serve as the linchpin of marine planetary assault operations—combining mobility, fire support, reconnaissance, and command functions into a single, tough platform.