The Invader Class JumpShip is the most common JumpShip in the Successor States and the Clan occupation zone. First launched in 2631, the versatile vessel has met with surprising success and is popular with both military units and commercial users. Production of the Invader in recent decades has shifted over to commercial enterprises though as the Successor States have shifted military purchases to better armed craft.
         The pair of large hydroponics domes mounted on booms on either side of the Invader's command section is the most distinctive feature of the design. These facilities produce both food and oxygen for the JumpShip crew and create enough surplus to trade with transported DropShips. These hydroponics gardens are fully automated on most Invaders, but system failures force the crews on about 30 percent of active Invaders to maintain the domes manually. Many older Invaders suffer from a design flaw that causes the hydroponics booms to lock in the extended position, which can prevent the vessel from entering hyperspace. Work carried out since the Fourth Succession War has solved this problem on all new craft, and many older vessels have been modified to eliminate the flaw.
         The Invader is one of the few old Inner Sphere designs whose original meteor-defense system also provided an offensive capability. The original design featured a pair of special-purpose long-range lasers, but maintenance problems led manufacturers to replace this system with either large lasers or particle projection cannons. In the last twenty years, Invaders refitted to use the modern jump cores have had their original lasers added back into the design, making a uniform standard again. These weapons still provide little more than psychological support for the crew though.
         The Invader's sophisticated communications system and computers make it an ideal vessel for coordinating a task force. The vessel can maintain radio and laser-link feeds to up to ten transmitting stations.
         Invaders comprise most of the Clans' and Successor States' backwater transport fleets, although newer and better vessels have replaced them in front line formations. Their ability to transport three DropShips and ten thousand tons of cargo are highly prized by merchants though, and they are making large inroads into that market.