Name:  Vehicular DropChute, Reusable (Standard)
Type (Category):  Equipment (Other)
Reference:  Tactical Operations: Advanced Units & Equipment (p. 160)

Description:
Descended from the landing chutes of early spaceflight planetary probes, the combat vehicular dropchute (VDC)—and its battle armor equivalent (BADC)—are not so much a mounted equipment item as an external add-on that enables vehicles, ’Mechs, battle armor and even inert cargo to be dropped from low atmospheric orbit. Intended as an economical alternative to the standard BattleMech drop cocoon, VDCs and BADCs are limited in combat, largely because chute-deployed troops are easier to target by hostile aerospace units, and rely on atmospheric drag rather than controlled thrust to slow their descent. This latter issue is considerably more dangerous when deploying by chute into turbulent atmospheric conditions, such as the height of a storm.

Game Rules:
Applicable units using VDCs (or BADCs) during a combat drop (instead of Jump Packs or integral jump jets) follow all the standard rules for a combat drop, with the following exceptions:

• VDC/BADC drops may only be attempted over planets with an atmospheric pressure of Thin or higher. VDC/BADC drops cannot be attempted in Very Thin or Vacuum atmosphere.
• VDC/BADC drops by manned units apply an additional +1 modifier to the Piloting Skill Roll upon landing; this modifier rises to +3 if the unit is unmanned (or out of control due to engine shutdown, gyro destruction or pilot incapacitation). Any modifiers for weather conditions in the landing zone are doubled as well.
• While dropping, hostile aerospace units may apply a –2 to-hit modifier (–1 if the unit is using a Stealth VDC/BADC) to attacks against unit’s chute (not the unit itself). However, each hit to a VDC or BADC delivers only 1 point of damage (Cluster weapons treat each point cluster as a separate hit). If the target is BADC-deployed battle armor, the attacking unit must roll to see which trooper’s chute is hit, as damage to their chutes must be tracked separately.
• If the VDC sustains 15 points of damage or more (BADCs can sustain only 5 points of damage per trooper), or is detached by the controlling unit (requiring a successful Piloting Skill Roll during the Movement Phase), the dropping unit plunges to the ground and is destroyed unless it has jump jets to control its fall (in which case, standard Dropping Troops rules apply).

In addition, units deployed by Camouflage or Stealth VDCs or BADCs prior to the start of play may use the chutes to begin play as hidden units. A unit with a functioning active probe will only detect a unit hidden by a Stealth chute if the probe unit enters a hex adjacent to the hidden unit.

Reusable VDCs and BADCs (an option in which the chutes may be retracted and stowed for later use) take 5 minutes (30 standard ground-scale turns) to stow, during which time the chute-equipped unit may not move (but may make attacks normally). Attacks against a Reusable chute in the process of being stowed receive the –4 immobile target modifier, and inflict damage against the chute in the same manner as noted above for aerospace attacks on a deployed VDC or BADC.

BattleMechsIndustrialMechsProtoMechsCombat Vehicles

Prototype Date:	~2348
Production Date:	2353
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

BattleMech Specific Construction Rules

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE
RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  VeeDropChuteReuseStd
Record Sheet Output → Critical Slot:  Reusable VDC (Standard)

Prototype Date:	~2348
Production Date:	2353
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

BattleMech Specific Construction Rules

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE
RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  VeeDropChuteReuseStd
Record Sheet Output → Critical Slot:  Reusable VDC (Standard)

Prototype Date:	~2348
Production Date:	2353
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

IndustrialMech Specific Construction Rules

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE
RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  VeeDropChuteReuseStd
Record Sheet Output → Critical Slot:  Reusable VDC (Standard)

Prototype Date:	~2348
Production Date:	2353
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

IndustrialMech Specific Construction Rules

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE
RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  VeeDropChuteReuseStd
Record Sheet Output → Critical Slot:  Reusable VDC (Standard)

Prototype Date:	~2348
Production Date:	2353
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

ProtoMech Specific Construction Rules

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE
RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  VeeDropChuteReuseStd
Record Sheet Output → Critical Slot:  Reusable VDC (Standard)

Prototype Date:	~2348
Production Date:	2353
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

Combat Vehicle Specific Construction Rules

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE
RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  VeeDropChuteReuseStd
Record Sheet Output → Critical Slot:  Reusable VDC (Standard)

Prototype Date:	~2348
Production Date:	2353
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

Combat Vehicle Specific Construction Rules

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE
RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  VeeDropChuteReuseStd
Record Sheet Output → Critical Slot:  Reusable VDC (Standard)