D96-TCE Albatross

Albatross

The Albatross Heavy Dropship is a Heavy-lift dropship of the United Nations Space Command.

Background
Because it has only been seen twice in any of the Halo games, little to nothing is known about the factual troop transport. The two times the Albatross can be spotted are on Multiplayer maps (one in Halo 2, another in Halo 3). The craft is half-buried and not much can be seen of its structure; therefore design-wise, nothing is completely known about the Albatross. From its general design and structure, it seems to be a dedicated cargo dropship for vehicles, crates, and raw supplies for the ground pounders in the field, rather than possessing any combat capabilities, suited more towards ferrying supplies and vehicles to a planet's surface, as vehicles such as the Pelican have a more aggressive nature. Once it has landed, the Albatross lowers three metal ramps, allowing its cargo to be unloaded. Both times the Albatross has been seen, it can be used as a makeshift base, indicating that it may also serve as a mobile field command post for the UNSC.

Appearances of the Albatross
The Albatross is visible only as concept art in the book The Art of Halo. However, the cargo bay of the Albatross is visible on the Halo 2 multiplayer map Relic, where it was crashed or landed on one of Relic's beaches, and on the Halo 3 multiplayer map Sandtrap, where again, only the cargo tray is visible. In Relic, the rear section of the cargo bay is open, and a Warthog can be seen on a ramp leading to its cargo area. Although there is only one Warthog, the rear's interior looks large enough to fit 3-4 Warthogs, or a Scorpion Tank. On Sandtrap the crashed Albatross was carrying a Missile Pod, a Regenerator, and a Crate although if it is used to carry supplies it most likely carried all UNSC related equipment onto Sandtrap and the humans moved it all. Also, in the Halo Wars E3 Announcement Trailer, an Albatross, or what appears to be one, is seen dropping to the ground and opening its cargo bay.

Another theory, although less prevalent, is that the Albatross could be a mobile command post. It is used as such on Relic, being the base for one of the teams. It may also be able to perform transport and command post roles alternatively, switching between the two.

Known Albatross class dropships

 * 03, Attached to the UNSC Aegis Fate.

Trivia
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 * The Albatross appears on two maps, Relic and Sandtrap. By coincidence, both maps are large, meant for Big Team Battles.
 * If you look closely on the side of the Albatross ship, you will see the words "=making coin doh rahi
 * On the Halo Wars Announcement Trailer you can see a half of an Albatross touching down on the winter plateau on Harvest while the Banshees are seen dogfighting with Shortswords.
 * On the UNSC Spirit of Fire Artwork several Albatrosses can be seen attached to the forward 'wings'.
 * The Albatrosses on the Halo Wars Announcement trailer seem much larger than those on Sandtrap and Relic.
 * Albatross is Known in Golf as Two under Par.
 * Albatross is also a bird, keeping the Animal based Vehicle Tradition going.
 * On Sandtrap, on the right inner beam of the back of the Albatross, if you zoom in you can see a distorted face.

Related Links

 * United Nations Space Command
 * D77H-TCI Pelican Dropship

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