Best combat Loadout for a Federation Dropship

[EDDr0p]

Since most topics on this subject are at least a year old, anyone can help me with a good combat loadout for a dropship?
Just bought one and don't have rank for a FAS, so got this one.

[Agony_Aunt]

The Dropship is not an ideal combat ship, but i have seen it used to good effect.

Its has a good hull, and a plenty of module slots, but lacking in shields, so you probably want to rely more on hull than shields.

Its also not got great speed of manouverability. This means you either have to consider turrets, be good with FA off, or other good flight skills... or just fly backwards :D

What is your budget?

[Caramel_Clown]

If you actually fly and fight in a wing FDS might be a decent choice. Good firepower, the rest doesn't matter. For solo work it's very suboptimal. FAS or even FGS would be better in that regard.
I can try to put something on paper, but I can't guarantee it will work for you. I've flown FDS very long time ago, and never used it for combat for any reasonably long periods of time.

[Caramel_Clown]

http://coriolis.io/outfit/federal_dropship/26A6A5A5A6A4A4C0v0s0s27270404000kB12d2d2b292927.Iw18aQ==.Aw18aQ==?bn=123

Ideally you want something like this. You can save some money on lower rating internals, but this is your pefect build without looking at a price.
I can explain my choices as a person who used FAS and FGS for quite a bit - similar ships.
Bi-weaves for fast recharge. No reason to stack shields with such low base value(WARNING, might change in 2.1). Just slap bi-weaves. Few boosters or no boosters - makes very little difference.
Armor. Ideally you want all the armor you can get. You might change some internals for fuel scoop or quality of life items like scanners/FSD interdictor. But ideally - anything goes to armor. Bulkheads - secondary priority, but in perfect build mandatory. HRPs provide way more for so much less.
Beams. Use beams. Yes they drain capacitor quickly, but with that maneuverability often you will have very little time on target. You need to maximise your damage output in short bursts. Beams are best at that. Burst lasers are acceptable alternative, they are very nice at shooting out modules.
A rated life support and sensors - because you can. You have fantastic power plant. Plus, being a hull tank there's always risk of your canopy being blown off into space. A-rated life support will let you fly with comfort and not worry about running like crazy towards closest port.

I hope I've covered most questionable points here. Really federal ships are easy to understand. ♥♥♥♥ shields, good armor, good weapons.Build it from there.

P.S. What I would do - I'd slap 3 PAs on it, just like my FAS :D Rest 2 Beams. For maximum fun. Although, it's not recommended if your aim isn't very good. It might severely reduce your damage output.

[EDDr0p]

http://coriolis.io/outfit/federal_dropship/06C6D5A5D6B4D4C2b0t0t7j7j0505000505f54cf4v52u2f.Iw18aQ==.IwBj4zOUg===?bn=Dropship

this is the actual loadout.
as for budget..... well, it was 10million , but now is 3 plus what i can get from sell of the equipped items.

[Caramel_Clown]

Well, that is one potentially dead FDS. Not much armor, no shields, and no speed.
I will stick to my philosophy - if you can't affor to A rate it just get a cheaper ship. Fully outkitted Vulture will be a much safer choice IMO, even though personally I don't like Vulture.