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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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Originally designed to get through the 'Ring of Death' surrounding the city of [[Aries Primus]] on [[Mars]], the standard Land Raider at the time could not transport Terminators{{Fn|1}}. The design is based off the famous [[Land Raider]].{{Fn|2}}
The original Spartan had the standard [[Land Raider]] armament of the day, two [[twin-linked]] [[lascannon]]s (heavy bolters were not standard then) but also mounted either a [[heavy bolter]] or [[flamer|heavy flamer]] on a turret on top. It was widely spread after the Heresy, but disappeared when the standard Land Raider was re-designed to carry [[Terminator]]s.{{Fn|1}}Such were lethal the ''Ring of Death'' plasma defence systems, that even with use of the Spartans, only the fraction of Terminator's squad survived the advance. {{Fn|4}} The Spartan design used today features the twin hull-mounted heavy bolters seen on contemporary Land Raider designs, as well as a pair of sponsons fitted with a quad-lascannon battery each. It is able to transport 25 Space Marines in [[power armour]] and has the largest transport capacity of any dedicated transport vehicle used in the Imperium save the [[Gorgon Armoured Assault Transport|Gorgon]]{{Fn|3}}. Additionally, it is considerably faster than other Land Raider variants despite its increased size, due to its reactor-driven motive drive systems{{Fn|2}}.
Many Space Marine [[Chapter]]s still maintain these huge war machines as part of their arsenals and deploy them into warzones where even the mighty Land Raider would be torn asunder. The mostly Spartans popular in such a Chapters who possess many Terminator suits, such as the [[Minotaurs]].{{Fn|4}} [[Chaos Space Marine]] warbands still operate Spartans that date back to the [[Great Crusade]], with most belonging to the original [[Traitor Legion]]s.{{Fn|5}}
