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==Overview==
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}}. 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 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}}.
