The Excalibur Class DropShip is a large combat troop transport designed to carry a combined arms unit into hostile territory. The ship has the facilities to carry two tank battalions, one infantry battalion, and one BattleMech company.
         The Excalibur’s 16,000 ton, egg shaped body resembles the shorter, fatter Overlord Class DropShip. The most notable contrast between these two is that the Overlord is equipped with six retractable landing legs, while the Excalibur has four heavy, box-like structures attached to the bottom sides of the hull. Besides serving as fixed landing pads, these structures also contain the DropShip’s rear side weapon bays.
         The Excalibur is powered by a GM 48000 fusion drive system equipped with four Risley F-10 thrusters. When combined, these thrusters provide the ship with one G of acceleration, with bursts up to three Gs for a number of hours. However, the last manufacturer able to produce these thrusters closed in 3022, and for a while the craft looked doomed. Eventually House Kurita commissioned an engineering team to research an alternative propulsion system. The team proposed a modified version of the smaller GE 2080 drive system used in the Mule Class DropShip for the Excalibur. This innovation proved successful, and most Excaliburs produced since the 3030’s use this drive system. The DropShip maintains a high mass-to-fuel consumption ratio, making it one of the more efficient combat transports. Excaliburs are almost always found in large-scale operations, if only to hold down the operation costs.
         The vessel’s four roomy vehicle bays each have sufficient floor space to hold up to 25 heavy vehicles, with a maximum capacity of 1,500 tons. The ships are beginning to show signs of structural stress, however, and so many have a maximum deck capacity of 1,000 and 1,250 tons. This does not present much problem for light armor units, but units equipped with heavy vehicles , such as Combine's Demolisher tanks, sometimes have to give up an entire armor company to prevent stress on the ship’s structure.
         Besides these two vehicle bays, the Excalibur is also equipped with a cramped ‘Mech bay containing twelve ‘Mech cubicles. Unlike vessels such as the Leopard, Union, and Overlord, which are specifically designed to transports ‘Mechs, the Excalibur has no ‘Mech repair facilities. Moreover, the ship is not equipped to make ‘Mech drops.
         In the upper section of the ship are six troop decks, each having accommodations for 100 troops in barracks-style housing, as well as mess facilities and recreation rooms. Shared training and medical facilities are located in various areas in this area.
         Above the troop decks is the crew deck, with accommodations for the ship’s 50 crew members. There are 22 double-occupancy rooms, and six single-occupancy rooms for the captain and the ship’s senior officers. The crew deck is equipped with its own mess hall and recreation room.
         The Excalibur’s combat capabilities are somewhat limited, which has earned it considerable criticism. Mounted in the nose are an Autocannon/5, and LRM-10 launcher, and one medium laser; on the front sides are a PPC, two LRM-10 launchers, and two medium lasers; on the rear sides are a large laser and a pair of medium lasers; and in the aft are one large laser and a pair of medium lasers. Though this armament may not provide a lot of punch, it does protect the ship from uncoordinated Fighter attacks. It is also the main reason Excaliburs are almost never sent into hostile territory without a well-armed escort.
         The Excalibur is normally assigned to provide support for siege operations and to supply reinforcements following planetary assaults. Because of its light armament, the vessel does not involve itself directly in combat.
         During planetary assault operations, the Excalibur is usually one of the last ships to enter the battlefield. Before entering the target planet’s atmosphere, AeroSpace Fighters and DropShips normally ensure that the Excalibur will not be harassed by enemy forces. The ship then unloads in an area that is unthreatened by enemy weapons fire. Depending on the organization of the unit and the amount of equipment carried, it may take anywhere from half an hour to as much as two or three hours to deploy the Excalibur’s military payload.
         Once it has unloaded, the Excalibur serves a general support vessel, transporting supplies and extra equipment to operations support stations. It is useful in this role, as it is better protected than the average civilian DropShip.
         The Excalibur is generally too large to be operated by anyone but Successor State armies and large mercenary units. Some of the Inner Sphere’s larger corporations (including Akira Transport, which provides a wide range of transportation options for merchants and mercenaries) own and operate several Excaliburs as armed transports.