The Federal Dropship is the Federation Navy's workhorse ship for tactical and special forces deployments. This is a well-armoured and well-armed ship capable of carrying large loads. Its versatile nature means that it is well-suited to tackling even the most hostile environment.
— In-Game Description
The Federal Dropship is a military ship produced for the Federation by Core Dynamics. Pilots must earn the rank of Midshipman with the Federal Navy before they are permitted to purchase it. The Federal Dropship has excellent hardpoint placement, and is known for its ability to remain functioning even when the hull is at very low integrity thanks to its module protection.
Overview
The Federal Dropship is generally available for purchase at Stations controlled by minor factions that are aligned with the Federation. Systems controlled by Federal President Zachary Hudson are guaranteed to have the Dropship on hand, along with other Core Dynamics vessels. Its body shape and design is shared with the Assault and Gunship, sometimes making it difficult to tell them apart at a glance. The Dropship is the cheapest of the three and the lowest needed federal rank.
The Dropship is a very good combat vessel. Featuring a large hardpoint and 4 medium hardpoints it has no trouble dealing with ships lower than its price and can put up a good fight against even higher tier ships like Pythons. Furthermore, the Dropship has above average armour as well as two military compartments for extra defense making it bulky. It suffers with low shielding and has rather poor mobility so it is poor against nimble ships like Vultures. Overall the Dropship is a respectable ship for both a Bounty Hunter or Pirate.
As a Trader, the Dropship has 164T of space to haul cargo. This is very good for a medium ship; and is the third best of all non-large ships, behind the much more expensive Federal Gunship and Python. Combined with its impressive defense, even when unshielded and ability to easily dodge interdictions the Dropship can be a very appealing trade ship. The biggest downside is its low jump range, especially when fully laden which may make trade options very limited.
As an explorer, the dropship has a poor jump range of 20LY or so, one of the lowest for a medium ship. Needless to say, the Dropship is a poor choice as an exploration vessel and the cheaper Asp Explorer is a far better option.
The Dropship is an excellent miner. 4 Medium hardpoints for mining lasers while retaining a large hardpoint for self defense, small size, great cargo space and good defences make the Dropship a fantastic miner and can be a miner's next stepping stone after the Keelback.
Overall the Dropship sacrifices some combat aspects to be better at trading and mining. The biggest downsides the ship suffers are its miserable jump range and its required federation rank. However, its price tag lets it be a good stepping stone ship, as there are no other medium ships in its range without required military ranks.
The weapon hardpoints are located as follows: Two side-mounted Class 2 Medium hardpoints in front of the lower wing (One each side), two bottom-mounted Class 2 Medium hardpoints located slightly behind the point at which the front fuselage tapering ends (One on each side of the underside), and One bottom mounted Class 3 Large hardpoint located under the nose of the ship and slightly forward of where the front fuselage tapering ends. Although all hardpoints have good to excellent fields of fire when fitted with turrets, the side mounted hardpoints benefit the most from turrets.
Purchase Locations
| System | Station | Date Seen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Majhwar System | Bond City | May 13 2017 | |
| Kadu Mist | Burroughs City | May 04 2017 | |
| LHS 2310 | Levy Hub | Feb 26, 2016 | |
| Okinura | Stafford Enterprise | Oct 20, 2015 | |
| AC +26 37030 | Culbertson Port | Dec 27, 2015 | |
| Alioth | Irkutsk | Version: 1.06 | |
| Nang Ta-Khian | Hay Point | ||
| Chamunda | Gidzenko Ring | Gamma 1.0 | |
| Breksta | Pierres Ring | Gamma 1.0 | |
| Mambojas | Conrad Station | May 25, 2015 | |
| FK5 2550 | Wundt Gateway | Gamma 1.05 | |
| Gliese 563.1 | Matteucci Ring | Jul 23, 2015 | |
| Branglal | Skripochka Gateway | Gamma 1.05 | |
| TURIR | Brooks Terminal | ||
| 64 Arietis | Weyn Dock | ||
| LP 908-11 | So-Yeon City | Dec 29, 2014 | |
| LTT 3572 | Horowitz Hub | Jan 16, 2015 | |
| GD 219 System | McKee Ring | Jan 2, 2015 | |
| Quivira | Godel Dock | Jan 2, 2015 | |
| Enawar | Adams Dock | Jan 3, 2015 | |
| Arexe | Janes Horizon | Jan 4, 2015 | |
| Misisture | Gelfand Dock | Jan 6, 2015 | |
| Zaragas | Jenner Hub | Jan 9, 2015 | |
| Bhritzameno | Feynman Terminal | Jan 14, 2015 | |
| Turona | McNair Terminal | Jan 14, 2015 | |
| GD 219 | McKee Ring | Jan 23, 2015 | |
| Abrog | Thagard Ring | Feb 07, 2015 | |
| San Zaihe | Ackerman Orbital | Feb 11, 2015 | |
| Una | Hoard Orbital | Feb 19, 2015 | |
| Ross 129 | Yang Hub | Mar 22, 2015 | |
| Ededleen | Tepper Hub | Mar 31, 2015 | |
| LTT 7786 | Parise Gateway | April 11, 2015 | |
| Ngombivas | Linaweaver port | April 11, 2015 | |
| LP 926-40 | Lee City | April 23, 2015 | |
| Mikinn | Wallace Dock | April 26, 2015 | |
| LP 339-7 | Gell-Mann Ring | May 14, 2015 | |
| LHS 531 | Nelson Terminal | May 17, 2015 | |
| Autahenetsi | Artyukhin Ring | May 25, 2015 | |
| Ugrashtrim | Northrop Orbital | June 08, 2015 | |
| 44 B Ophiuchi | Feustel Gateway | Jan/ 17, 2016 | |
| Tolians | Kuo Dock | Aug 11, 2015 | |
| LHS 215 | Spring Gateway | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| Grabil | Klimuk Terminal | Jan. 1, 2016 | |
| GL 606.1 B | Harvey Ring | Jan. 5, 2016 | |
| Panik System | Bennett City | Jan. 17, 2016 | |
| Delta Equulei | Bison Station | Jan. 28, 2016 | |
| Sol | Deadalus | April 22, 2016 | 10% discount |
| LTT 15574 | Haxel Port | May 10, 2016 | |
| Ualangur | Atkov Enterprise | Jan. 22, 2017 | |
| LHS 3505 | Olivas City | Jan. 12, 2018 | |
| LHS 3447 | Bluford Orbital | August 28, 2017 | |
| Shinrarta Dezhra | Jameson Memorial | January 26, 2018 | 10% Discount, Founders Permit Needed |
| LHS 450 | Stevenson Relay | June 23, 2018 | |
| Ki | Ashby Port | August 30, 2018 | 15% Discount |
| Ye'kuape | Bobko Hub | Feb 4, 2018 |
Outfitting
- Main article: Outfitting
All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Federal Dropship.
| Category | Default System | Default Rating | Default Class | Max Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium Hardpoint | Pulse Laser (L) | F | 1 | 2 |
| Pulse Laser (L) | F | 1 | 2 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 2 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 2 | |
| Large Hardpoint | Empty | -- | -- | 3 |
| Utility Mount | Empty | -- | -- | 0 |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Bulkheads | Lightweight Alloys | I | 1 | 8 |
| Reactor Bay | Power Plant | E | 6 | 6 |
| Thrusters Mounting | Thrusters | E | 6 | 6 |
| Frame Shift Drive Housing | Frame Shift Drive | E | 5 | 5 |
| Environment Control | Life Support | E | 5 | 5 |
| Power Coupling | Power Distributor | E | 6 | 6 |
| Sensor Suite | Sensors | E | 4 | 4 |
| Fuel Store | Fuel Tank [x16] | C | 4 | 4 |
| Internal Compartments | Cargo Rack [x32] | E | 5 | 6 |
| Cargo Rack [x16] | E | 4 | 5 | |
| Shield Generator | E | 5 | 5 | |
| Cargo Rack [x8] | E | 3 | 4 | |
| Empty (M) | -- | -- | 4 | |
| Empty (M) | -- | -- | 4 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 3 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 3 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 2 | |
| Supercruise Assist | E | 1 | 1 | |
| Planetary Approach Suite (H) | I | 1 | 1 |
- (L) = Loaned Module
- [x#] = Capacity
- (H) = Requires Elite Dangerous: Horizons, reserved solely for Planetary Approach Suite
- (M) = Military Compartment reserved for Hull Reinforcement Package, Module Reinforcement Package, or Shield Cell Bank
Trivia
- "Dropship" is a science fiction term for a type of orbit-to-planet military "landing craft", by analogy to those deployed from ships to land.
- "Drop-shipping" is also the practice of transferring goods directly to a customer, among other aspects. This could explain the ship's high cargo capacity and lack of Fighter Hanger.
- The wings on the Dropship are front-swept, which is seen on some aircraft and helps with lift.
Videos
Gallery
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