Multi-Troop Transport

The Multi-Troop Transport was manufactured and designed by Baktoid Armor Workshop, as a modified cargo pod. Reminiscent of a jungle animal, its reactor and main engines were in the rear, in classic Baktoid style. The MTT could carry a company of 112 battle droids, comprising 100 infantry, 10 security droids, and 2 commanders, all of which were equipped with their standard blaster rifles. The folded droids hanged from a hydraulically powered deployment rack that extended out from the face of the MTT, allowing the droids to be deployed directly into combat if needed. The rack was also detachable.

The MTT's face was reinforced and studded with case-hardened metal alloy studs and was designed to smash through enemy walls to reach its destination. With heavy armor and weaponry, the strongest Baktoid had ever made, the MTT was almost unstoppable.

The MTT's control room was staffed by an OOM pilot battle droid and a droid gunner/engineer. It was armed with only a quartet of 17kv anti-personnel blaster cannons twin-mounted in two ball turrets. A single turret, however, was accurate and powerful enough to target and destroy a starfighter in atmospheric combat.

After the Battle of Naboo, it became clear that the MTT's deployed too slowly. Further models employed during the Clone Wars, including the ones used during the Battle of Muunilinst, deployed soldiers in standing and battle-ready position, four units at a time, allowing for immediate deployment of droids efficiently and reducing vulnerability. Some were also repainted in Separatist colors and retrofitted with new racks that could carry 12 super battle droids.

The MTT was capable of being upgraded to a more powerful version, the Heavy Multi-Troop Transport.

Since the MTT was armed with twin blaster cannons, it was an obvious counterpart of the unarmed Platoon Attack Craft, which served a similar function. The MTT's weapons allowed it to deploy its B1-Series battle droids on the front line, whereas the PAC was used to drop off troops and leave the battle. The MTT was originally manufactured by Baktoid on the planet of Ord Cestus.

The MTT's first deployment was during the Invasion of Naboo in the year 32 BBY. They were landed on the far side of the planet and attacked the capital city, Theed in the early morning. Two MTTs transported Trade Federation troops to the occupation of Spinnaker.

MTTs also deployed legions of battle droids during the Battle of Naboo. Following the destruction of the Droid Control Ship, all elements of the Trade Federation Droid Army on Naboo shut down.

The original Baktoid design for the MTT called for an open staging chamber, but Baktoid's eccentric designers had the unusual job of making a transport that had to convey droids, not living beings. They thus devised a system that could load folded battle droids onto a giant deployment rack. This more than doubled the troop capacity of the MTT, which extended the droid rack to deploy the compressed troops, which would then unfold into fighting position. At the end of the battle, they'd be refolded and loaded back onto the rack to be transported back to the base. However, the open chamber was retained for storing droidekas.

During the early Clone Wars, Baktoid developed a newer vehicle to serve the MTT's role. Known as the MUT (Multi-Utility Transport), this vehicle lacked weaponry, but also carried battle droids. It was used mainly in the Dark Reaper crisis. A space-bound variant, the Trade Federation Troop Transport, was also employed during this era. However, the MTT saw extensive use during the Clone Wars, seeing more action than its successors. The MTT employed by the CIS were painted gray and blue in the Separatist color scheme, much like how the AAT was re-colored blue.

During the Battle of Ryloth, Wat Tambor used many of these units to ship treasure from across the planet to the capital where the main base was, although two units were destroyed by Mace Windu.

They were also utilized at Dathomir and Onderon, where they deployed super battle droids.

The MTT was seen in combat on Coruscant and many other battlefronts (including the Battle of Kashyyyk). MTTs were still in use as of the Battle of Coruscant.

Multi-Troop Transports first appeared in 1999 with the release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and its tie-ins.

The revised rough draft script of Episode I described the MTTs as "Maxi-Troop Transports." George Lucas' original design requests spoke of a massive locomotive-type vessel knocking everything down in its path. With this direction, the Art Department crafted a number of battering ram and literal locomotive designs. In the end, Doug Chiang incorporated animalistic qualities, giving the MTT the characteristics of a massive elephant, with a high "forehead" and gun turret "tusks."

In the 2001 video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and its 2002 expansion pack, MTTs serve as the "assault mech/troop transport" unit for the Trade Federation. Players are provided them in several missions of the campaign, and more may be built at mech factories for 200 units of food and 350 units of nova crystals.

MTTs were also re-imagined in LEGO form in 2005 for LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game and its 2007 compilation re-release.

• LEGO Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
• LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga