Troop Deployment Pod

The Troop Deployment Pod is an extension which can be attached to a Pelican-class dropship's overhang to increase its passenger load capacity.
==Overview==
Troop deployment pods are mainly used when a Pelican must transport a large number of personnel or supplies which exceed the craft's normal payload capacity. They are also used when personnel simply will not fit inside the craft's troop bay, the so-called "Blood Tray."Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 203 In addition to transporting personnel, the troop deployment pod may be able to host two more Mongooses as well as an AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun, a M247 General Purpose Machine Gun, or a 25mm grenade launcher facing out the rear entrance.
==Possible Uses==
*At the end of the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, the SPARTAN-IIs were able to evacuate a group of surviving civilians as well as Corporal Harland's squad and the remaining Marines from the Alpha Headquarters.Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 199 Including the SPARTANs, this would make a total of 46 people, which a normal Pelican cannot ferry.
*A troop deployment pod was likely used to carry the 75 children conscripted for the SPARTAN-II Program, as such a number of people, even children, would not normally fit inside a Pelican's troop bay.Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 46
==Sources==
Category:Human Aircraft