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Grapple Class Boarding Shuttle
Type: Spheroid
Mass: 200 tons
Thrust: 5/8
Fuel: 15 tons
Structural Integrity: 20
Crew: 4 (1 Pilot, 1 Co-Pilot, 1 Flight Engineer, 1 Gunner) Steerage Quarters
Armor: 33 tons standard armor  Nose: 170   Sides: 160    Aft: 118
Heatsinks: 28
Cargo: 13 tons
Infantry: 2 Jump Infantry Platoons
Weapons:
Nose:
2 Large Lasers
1 Medium Laser

Sides:
1 Medium Laser

Aft:
1 Medium Laser

Overview:
Since the early days of the Concordat Navy and the first battles with the Federated Suns, the Taurians have deployed large numbers of Zero-G trained Marines.  In addition to defending Taurian vessels, these Marines have also conducted boarding operations against enemy ships.  The Grapple, introduced into service in 2560, is the latest boarding shuttle designed to meet the specific needs of the Taurian Marines.

Capabilities:
The main feature of the Grapple is it's ability to carry 2 platoons of Marines and deploy them in boarding operations.  The ship is equipped with a universal airlock that allows it to connect to a variety of hatches and docking collars.  The ship also features magnetic grappling system that can be used to attach directly to the hull of ship. The Marines can then cut their way into the ship's hull and board the vessel.

As the Grapple is intended to be deployed against enemy dropships and warships, the design features 33 tons of armor, providing excellent protection.  The ship also has a number of lasers mounted across the hull for self-defense and to aid the Marines in breaching the hull.

While Grapple can deploy of over 1 week, the cramped quarters of the Marines and the substandard living quarters for the crew tend to limit deployment to 6 hours or less.   The Grapple has a surprisingly large cargo space for an assault vessel.  This space is used to carry a variety of specialized combat equipment used by the Marines in their boarding operations.

Deployment:
The Grapple Boarding Shuttle is commonly carried by the ships of the Concordat Navy.  During the Reunification War, Taurian Marines used the Grapple to board and capture dozens of SLDF and AFFS vessels.  The ship proved to be very well suited to its designed role and is expected to remain in service with the Concordat Navy for a long time.

Variants:
The Concordat has recently introduced an upgraded version of the Grapple that takes advantage of reverse engineered Star League technologies.  The new design features an improved heat dissipation system, which despite dropping 8 heat sinks, manages to dissipate more heat through the use of double strength heat sinks.  The improved heat dissipation allowed the designers to replace the forward and side firing medium laser with large lasers.  While this has reduced some of the cargo space available, studies conducted by the Concordat Navy have shown that the Marine's only typically used half of the available cargo space, so there has been no real impact to Marine operations by this change.