CODEX: THE KOVENANT IMPERIAL ARMY.

Air Mobility And Support.

Air transportation and Mobility in the Kovenant Imperial Military has always been an important part of the operation of the armed forces and especially its Imperial Army.

Because of the nature of warfare, in which wars are fought across the galaxy, as well as being fought across the entire surface of a planet, than it becomes essential to find a means by which this armies can be transported across the battlefield and across the surface of a planet much faster and quicker.

To solve this, the Kovenant Imperial Army had fully mechanised or motorised its entire army, as dismounted troops are simply no longer able to function in such large scale planet spanning warfare is no longer feasible.
And while this had indeed worked in making all Infantry Regiments or units highly mobile  on par with the Imperial Panzers. In some cases, it is still not enough. Especially for when fighting across vast distances that will take far longer for mechanised or motorised forces to traverse, or areas in which those types of forces are simply no longer able to operate, such as jungles and such.

For this reason, should the Kovenant Imperial Army ever need it, than they can request the Luftwaffe to go and provide them with adequate air mobility and air support.

For example:
Should an Infantry or Panzer Regiment ever need to be transported somewhere as rapidly as possible and that their normal ground vehicles cannot accomplish that, than they may request the support of the Luftwaffe to send them Dropships to pick up all the men, vehicles, ammunition, equipment and all other things to the next grand battlefield.

NOTE: In this instances, the Dropships or Helicopters (in the case of Volksgrenadiers and second line formations)
Are operated, maintained and guarded by Luftwaffe personel that had been assigned, as they were the only ones qualified to even pilot or for that repair them...
As such there was a common dynamic in which Luftwaffe Pilots would typically take orders Imperial Army Commanders as part of their assignment, atleast temporarily.
And yet, they were still members of the Luftwaffe.

Another thing to Note:
Other branches such as the  famous and praised Palantina Guard had their own pilots. For the Palantina Guard this are typically former Luftwaffe pilots being reassigned to them...
However this force is so specialised, that they require their own pilots rather than having to rely on the Luftwaffe.
This is not the case for the Regular Imperial Army, since the nature of their operations were so different from the Palantina Guard. Thus not necessitating dedicated pilots.

...

The Most Common form of air transport that the Luftwaffe would be lend out to the Kovenant Imperial Army, would be the Messerschmidt ME-99 Dropship.

The ME-99 Dropship is a versatile and ever beloved piece of military hardware.

It was often used as a troops transport, because of the fact that it can carry in upwards of 120 men each, alongside virtually all their equipment and munitions quickly and easy.
This meant that the ME-99 can carry an entire Platoon of 100 soldiers and yet still have room for another 20 more passengers on board, giving it a wide range of mission profiles that it can fulfill with ease.

Another wonderful feature is that it can be used to transport 4 Panzers as well by equipping the ship with special magnetic locks that hold the Panzers and other vehicles secure during the course of travel.
All while not sacrificing troop transport capabilities.

Additionally, it was also heavy armed and armoured.
It was equipped with its own set of miniature void shields, which, allows it to enter and exit Athmosphere into the void of space and back again without suffering any kind of damage upon exit and re-entry. Additionally the Voidshields also protects it from all types of fire unless it is overloaded...
For weapons the ME-99 Dropships also have 4 high caliber Auto cannons that fire 40mm rounds on automated firing balls across the Dropship.
It also has no less than 10 Missiles pods carrying 24 high explosive missiles each, which can also be used againts both air and ground targets.
It may also be equipped with Plasma cannons, which would have been mounted on the Hull of the vessel itself and can be used to destroy buildings, groups of enemies and even enemy Armoured units in the ground with ease.

Other armaments include 2 side mounted twin precision mini Railguns, which can be used to destroy enemy armour and target installations with ease and from a safe enough distance so as to not be immediately spotted. It was also equipped with advanced radar, target acquisition systems and a targeting computer.

Thus, it can not only act as a reliable troop transport, but it may also be called upon to act as air support and be used as a Gunship. Using its weapons to dominate the skies.

Additionally, extra weapons can be mounted on the vehicle to match certain mission profiles.

And for armour, it was made completely out of Ceramite and flew and levitated off the ground using Helium-4 Anti Gravity projectors for flight and movement...
However to supplement the shield, the Dropship was also equipped with active protection systems. Such as using its Helium-4 reserves to crush any and all incoming projectiles by creating a gravity field around them so intense that they'd be crushed instantly.
As well as having more conventional protection such as flares and using small projectiles to intersept enemy missiles.

Void and Air Mobility during planetary Invasions.

During a planetary invasion, the Luftwaffe would commonly be the ones to provide the means by which the army descends upon a planet.
You see, the Luftwaffe also operates in space as well typically to provide the Kriegsmarine with Bomber and Fighter support.

As such, the Luftwaffe would also have its Dropships and transport craft in planetary assault ships, where in the Luftwaffe operated Dropships will go back and forth, back and forth numbering in the tens of thousands to ferry troops, vehicles, supplies, Commanders and other heavy hardware from the ships to the surface of a planet.
Often following up only after the Luftwaffe had achieved temporary air superiority on the world.

Once the Regiments, their equipment, Panzers and others have been transported to the ground, than the Luftwaffe will use its Dropships to act as air support, using them as gunships to provide support for ground troops.
All the while running multiple sorties again and again.

And than once a landing zone has been secured, than the Luftwaffe will use its larger mass transports (Even larger versions of the ME-99 Dropships)
To start coming down to bring down all other forces and equipment that had been waiting in orbit of a world.

Soon followed by the Kriegsmarine, who brought down their mass troop transports, gargantuan ships that can carry 7 Entire Regiments alongside all their equipment and Panzers to land and start off loading their cargo and passengers.

Air Mobility and Air support on a planet.

Once a landing zone had been secured, and once they had established a foot hold upon a planet and the campaign on the surface of a planet begins, than the Kovenant may still call upon the Luftwaffe to provide air mobility for the troops should they ever need it. Such as the example given earlier.

However the Luftwaffe may also respond to requests for their Dropships to once again act as gunships to support ground troops.
As such when using Dropships as transports, it is also common for the transports to stick around and act as close air support for the men.

This, combined with ground forces such as Infantry, Panzers and Artillery, as well as the ever present nature of the Luftwaffe launching fighter and bomber sorties to dominate the skies, makes it a very deadly combination.

This fact is key as to why the Imperial Army, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine is such a deadly combination, as all 3 branches are extremely familiar with working with one another, to the point that it had almost become second nature. Thus, the war machine functions flawlessly.

This fact also applies to the defence of a planet, where the Luftwaffe and ground forces cooperate to a large degree to defend the planet.