T-32z Jarhead-class assault lander

T-32z assault lander "We have green light for drop! Move your asses, Marines!"

- Lt. Commander Thedus Bimm

The T-32z assault lander, a double-duty manufactured by  for use by the assault forces of the Republic Marines, was first introduced ten years after the conclusion of the  as the T-32a. Designed as a heavily-armored and -shielded first-wave landing craft that could safely deposit its troops while under fire, or evacuate wounded soldiers from contested landing zones, it was among the first dedicated assault shuttles to incorporate a, albeit a slow one. The improved version, designated T-32z, included a pair of blaster cannon turrets for providing suppressing fire. Though it was relatively slow by the standards of starfighters and airspeeders, its shields could withstand the impact of a proton torpedo before failing.

Design and construction
Resembling a rectangular wedge with its engines attached at the rear via heavily reinforced pylons, the T-32 series used simplicity of design to accommodate the extra and armor that made it a tough nut to crack. The hull was divided into three sections, each of which could be sealed off in the event of puncture: in the front was the cockpit, where the single pilot sat in a centerline position, with the space aft taken up by systems operators which, in the T-32z, were replaced by dedicated gunners while a fourth crewmember was added to fill their function. The central compartment housed the shield generators and motivator, and was afforded extra armor protection. The rear, and by far the largest compartment, was dedicated to holding upwards of a full platoon of battle-ready infantry., in four rows of seats laid out parallel to the length of the craft.

Onto the rear upper corners of the outer hull were attached the two sublight engine pods, which were themselves heavily armored while the three-point support struts that attached them to the fuselage were reinforced. Outfitted with powerful s, the T-32z could, theoretically, continued onto the landing zone despite having one of its engines shut down or shot away. The hull itself opened at six places: a forward hatch provided access to the crew compartment; the rear wall of the hull could be lowered to form an exit ramp, and four hatches opened up from the troop compartment. This latter feature allowed the T-32z to rapidly deploy soldiers or cargo. By rappelling from the side hatches, soldiers could drop into a much tighter space, while cargo, piled on top of a repulsorlift gurney, could simply be pushed out of the back. Finally, the side hatches could be fitted with extending docking collars for use in boarding other s.

Early production
With the reorganization of the Marines that began in the wake of the Great Sith War, it was realized that the Republic Marines needed a specialized type of combination assault shuttle and landing craft to accommodate their roles as ship-to-ship infantry or urban assault specialists. Both and  submitted draft proposals, with the latter corporation being awarded the contract. By 3,986 BBY, the first prototypes of the T-32 had been built and were made ready for trials, with platoons from the Republic Marines' newly-reorganized 4th Battalion utilizing them in a series of wargames. Organized and carried out on against the, the results of these initial tests were encouraging. However, the Marines involved noted the lack of armaments and sluggish handling at low speeds.

Upgrades and combat use
By the time the began raiding worlds beyond the established  boundaries of the, Kuat Drive Yards' shipwrights had refined the design, boosting the T-32z's low-speed handling and outfitting the craft with a pair of top-mounted turreted double blaster cannons for defense and suppression of enemy forces. The upgraded design was embraced by the Marines, who used them to great effect in their assaults on Mandalorian-occupied worlds throughout the. The type's use as a hyperdrive-equipped evacuation shuttle and ambulance also proved invaluable in the early battles, when the Republic seemed unable to stop the tide of conquest.

With the violent and cataclysmic end of the Mandalorian conflict at the, many of the Marines that had fought alongside and  found themselves posted on outlier worlds, where combat was unlikely to occur. As a result, the T-32zs that they had operated were sent back to the, who chose to retain them in the , basing them on planets where new Marines were then being trained to replace those who had been lost during the war. When the two s who had led the campaign to defeat the Mandalorians fell to the and turned on the Republic, the military high command attempted to consolidate its forces to counter the 's offensive. This resulted in the newly-reactivated Marine units becoming well-equipped with the T-32z.

During the first full year of the, Marine units attached to the few reserves that the Navy possessed used their assault shuttles to great effect, conducting raiding attacks against worlds on the flanks of Sith territory, or else evacuating Marine and Army outposts that were threatened with being overrun by Sith forces. In the wake of the, Marine T-32z shuttles were among the first to respond to the calamity, evacuating the wounded from the surface as fast as they could. During the 's attempt to capture Darth Revan in 3,956 BBY, the Jedi and Marine strike force used a pair of T-32z shuttles which, thanks to the use of by, were able to board the 's flagship. Their tough shields and armor were of considerable help when it came time to evacuate the stricken Sith warship, which had been fired upon by that of Darth Malak, who sought to usurp the title of.

In the years following the end of the Jedi Civil War at the, T-32s began to be sold off to constituent military forces within the Republic. The ian government acquired several of these ships, while the herd of  received a dozen examples that had been converted for use as heavy cargo haulers as part of the. A year before the, a number of T-32s mysteriously vanished from where they were being stored on ; these ships were later identified as having been part of 's assault fleet that attacked. After the intervened, eliminating the Sith troopers and  that had managed to board the station as the Republic forces under   eliminated the Sith fleet, the shuttles were found to have been abandoned. Eventually, the T-32 was phased out of service, to be replaced with redesigned and improved models from various manufacturers.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Saber Battalion