Dropship

A dropship is an atmospheric and/or exoatmospheric transport aircraft/spaceplane of small proportions chiefly designed to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from surfaces or another ship. They are often referred to as an assault boat, shuttlecraft, or troop carrier; depending on the application of their intended type and role.

Role
Some dropships are designed to carry specific types of cargo, such as supplies or prefabricated structures. On capital ships, dropships perform double duty, serving as tenders in day-to-day activities, but fully equipped to act as evacuation crafts in an emergency.

A military dropship's primary technical definition is any logistical support/deployment platform that can deliver (or extract) troops, military assets, and hardware from space platforms to the surface of a planet or ship (or vice versa) for infiltration, invasion, and boarding operations. These dropships also serve as gunships and utility craft, providing ground operations with close air support in addition to ferrying infantry and matériel between combat zones within atmospheric and/or terrestrial environments.

Boarding craft

 * Covenant boarding craft

Evacuation craft

 * Covenant escape pod

Gunship/close air support

 * Phantom dropships - The primary series of Covenant dropship.
 * Type-44 "Phantom" Troop Carrier - A dropship supplanted by a newer model, the Type-52, which was ubiquitous later in the Human-Covenant War. Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction use the Type-44 as their primary dropship, likely due to the scarcity of the newer model.
 * Type-52 "Phantom" Troop Carrier - A more heavily armed version of the Type-44 typically used to transport personnel, though also used to transport matériel.
 * Type-52 "Phantom" Gunboat - Exoatmospheric combat craft and a variant of the Type-52 Troop Carrier. It is used for space-based engagements
 * Type-25 "Spirit" Troop Carrier - A dropship commonly used to transport matériel, though also used to transport personnel.
 * Type-56 "Lich" Ground Support/Ultra Heavy Deployment Platform - The largest airborne deployment platform, the Type-56 boasts heavy armament and is capable of mass deployments of up to forty soldiers.

Orbital insertion craft

 * Orbital insertion pod
 * Heavy orbital insertion pod

Tender/troop carrier

 * Kig-Yar shuttle
 * Kig-Yar troop carrier

VIP/staff transport craft

 * Contrition-class transport

Atmospheric-only craft

 * UH-144 Falcon - The primary air-to-ground support and troop transport aircraft of the UNSC Army.

Cargo/logistical support craft

 * D82-EST Darter - A dropship, similar to the Albatross, used to deliver supplies directly to forward bases.
 * D96-TCE Albatross - A larger, less common dropship used to transport large quantities of matériel and large groups of personnel.
 * Pod - A very large, heavy dropship used for transporting prefabricated structures to groundside locations.

Evacuation craft

 * Class-3 Enclosed Heavy Lifeboat, Controlled
 * SKT-13 shuttlecraft
 * SKT-21 shuttlecraft

Gunship/close air support craft

 * Pelican dropships - The primary series of UNSC dropship.
 * D77-TC Pelican - The standard Pelican dropship.
 * D77H-TCI Pelican - A more recent, upgraded model of the Pelican.
 * D77C-NMPD Pelican - A law enforcement variant of the Pelican.
 * Troop deployment pod - Overhang extension to increase passenger load capacity.
 * D79-TC Pelican - Became the UNSC's standard dropship by 2557; replacing the D77-TC and D77H-TCI models.

Orbital insertion craft

 * SOEIV Human Entry Vehicle
 * LRSOIP variant

VIP/staff transport craft

 * Command shuttle

Forerunner dropships

 * Falco-class space pod

Flood dropships

 * Flood dispersal pod