Medivac dropship

The medical evacuation dropship, officially designated as the G-226 medical transport, is a terran aerospace transport that also provides medical support for wounded troops.

Overview
The medivac concept was first introduced as an improvised solution by the Terran Dominion's 19th Marine Division. The unit was operating in the acid storms of Thalon VII, and modifying a Quantradyne APOD-33 dropship to allow for remote control increased the combat life of medics by decaminutes.

The official adoption of medivacs was carried out by the Dominion Armed Forces. A Dominion post- analysis found a startling 37% of field-deployed troops became casualties requiring evacuation to the rear. In light of these findings, Emperor Arcturus Mengsk personally ordered Quantradynes redesigned to produce the medivac transport. The redesigned dropship served as a forward triage station and kept units in the field longer, regardless of injury. However, the medivac is very expensive to deploy, and the Dominion has thus maintained the use of traditional infantry medics.

The success of the medivac design caused the Umojan Protectorate and Kel-Morian Combine to adopt them as well. By the Second Great War, the Moebius Foundation had acquired medivacs as well and through them, Raynor's Raiders.

Procyon Industries won the contract to provide the G-226's laser scalpels and auto-sutures by being the lowest bidder. The accuracy and precision of these tools are questioned by marines. Bellerephon developed a new gravity tube for the medivac, allowing almost instant deployment. By the Second Great War, a healing AI had been developed for the medivac, allowing it to acquire and heal two targets simultaneously.

The medivac retains the Quantradyne's rotatable engines, but unlike its predecessor, its boarding/departure ramp is at the front rather than the rear.

Game Unit
Medivacs appear in StarCraft II, dropping units quickly one at a time. There is a delay between every dropped unit. Transports have a drop animation which doesn't affect gameplay, although it will be more vulnerable as it will not automatically move away if attacked.

The medivac dropship picks units up extremely quickly, fast enough to enable units to dodge stalker attacks.

Against the zerg, medivacs work well with marauders as part of a "commando force."

The medivac dropship can transport a thor. The thor transforms into a cube and hangs underneath. This fills up the entire capacity of the dropship.

Wings of Liberty
Medivac dropships are unlocked by playing "The Moebius Factor" mission, available after Emil Narud gave Raynor's Raiders control over their medivacs.

Quotations

 * See: StarCraft II Medivac Dropship Quotations

Strategies
Medivac dropships make great support to s, especially those bolstered by M98 ballistic alloy combat shields, which enables them to survive a hit from a high damage unit, after which they can be quickly healed.

Development
The medivac dropship was designed to replace medics. Medics could not keep up with reapers, which discouraged the latter's use in favor of the medic/marine combination. The medivac dropship allowed for more flexibility.

The medivac had two upgrades that are not present in the final version of the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty campaign but are available in the map editor; Expanded Hull and Auxiliary Med-Bots. The two upgrades increased the cargo space of the medivac and healing rate respectively.

Known Medivacs

 * KTO 08

Known Pilots

 * Maria Thalasses