Star Citizen Ironclad Cargo Guide: 2,200 SCU, Loading & Tractor Beams

The Drake Ironclad is built around one of the largest enclosed freight spaces available on a flight-ready cargo ship. Its Alpha 4.10.0 vehicle-data snapshot totals 2,200 SCU across nine cargo grids, while CIG separately publishes a 2,204-SCU specification for the ship. The reason for the four-SCU difference has not been established, so this cargo guide uses the version-locked 2,200-SCU grid total when discussing loading workflow.

The capacity is only half of the Ironclad's cargo story.

The standard Ironclad also combines a large main ramp, a retractable roof, and multiple tractor beams positioned to approach freight from different angles. CIG's DefenseCon 2956 Q&A says the tractor beams are the same size but differ in position and can move to provide multiple loading and unloading angles.

That gives the ship more cargo-access options than a freighter dependent on a single ramp.

It also creates a much larger handling job.

Moving 2,000-plus SCU manually is very different from loading a medium freighter. The Ironclad is most efficient when its crew plans container placement, freight-elevator positioning, tractor coverage, and unloading order before the hold is full.

This page focuses specifically on that cargo workflow. For the ship's broader crew, combat, Command Module, price, and ownership context, see the Star Citizen Ironclad Guide.

Ironclad Cargo Capacity at a Glance

The Alpha 4.10.0 vehicle record enumerates nine separate cargo grids:

Cargo grid	Capacity
Front Left	720 SCU
Front Right	720 SCU
Rear Left	360 SCU
Rear Right	360 SCU
Secure Front Left	8 SCU
Secure Front Middle	8 SCU
Secure Front Right	8 SCU
Secure Rear Left	8 SCU
Secure Rear Right	8 SCU
Total	2,200 SCU

The four primary grids account for 2,160 SCU, while the five smaller grids add another 40 SCU.

This arrangement matters because the Ironclad is not simply one undifferentiated 2,200-SCU rectangle.

A crew can separate different loads between forward, rear, and smaller storage areas rather than treating the entire hold as one commodity pile. That can make unloading easier when several deliveries or cargo types are involved.

The five 8-SCU grids are particularly useful for separating smaller amounts of cargo from the main freight mass, although this guide does not assume that every possible commodity or mission container behaves identically on every grid.

Why the 2,200 vs 2,204 SCU Difference Matters

CIG's published Ironclad material lists 2,204 SCU.

The Alpha 4.10.0 vehicle-data snapshot totals 2,200 SCU when its nine enumerated cargo grids are added together.

These should remain separate source claims.

There is no need to invent an explanation for the four-SCU difference, and a cargo-loading guide benefits more from the enumerated grid total because it shows exactly how the current version-locked cargo space is divided.

For practical loading discussion in this article:

2,200 SCU = current version-locked cargo-grid total.

2,204 SCU = CIG's separately published specification.

Neither needs to be silently rewritten to match the other.

The Retractable Roof Is the Ironclad's Biggest Loading Advantage

The Ironclad's retractable roof changes how crews can approach a large cargo operation.

Instead of forcing every container through the main ramp, the crew can expose much of the cargo area from above and move freight directly into or out of the hold.

CIG's original Ironclad Q&A confirms that the base ship uses a retractable roof and describes the cargo bay around cargo metrics rather than standardized hangar dimensions. It also notes that the roof does not retract over the full internal volume.

For freight operations, the important point is access.

A conventional rear-ramp workflow tends to move containers along one direction: elevator to ramp, ramp to hold, then progressively deeper into the ship.

The roof allows a crew to approach freight from another axis.

That can reduce how often already-loaded cargo must be moved simply to reach empty space elsewhere in the hold.

The roof does not make loading automatic

Opening the roof gives the crew access; it does not move the cargo.

The ship still needs to be positioned sensibly relative to the freight elevator or external loading area, and containers still need to reach the correct cargo grids.

The best loading method therefore depends on where the Ironclad is parked and which tractor position has a clear line to the containers.

The roof is most useful when the crew treats it as one element of the loading plan rather than assuming that opening it instantly solves a 2,200-SCU freight operation.

How Many Tractor Beams Does the Standard Ironclad Have?

The Alpha 4.10.0 vehicle record includes three Size 2 SureGrip tractor-beam entries among the Ironclad's remote hardpoints.

CIG's DefenseCon 2956 Q&A describes the Ironclad's multiple tractor beams as the same size but positioned differently and able to move, giving the crew multiple angles for loading and unloading.

For cargo operations, the useful distinction is their placement rather than simply counting them.

A May 22, 2026 community loading discussion described the three practical positions as:

• Beam 1: forward tractor position;
• Beam 2: internal cargo-area tractor position;
• Beam 3: upper / roof-mounted tractor position.

That discussion describes one player's loading experience and naming convention rather than redefining the official hardware configuration. The version-locked vehicle record remains the source for the three Size 2 SureGrip tractor-beam entries.

The exact usability of those positions has changed across builds, which matters more to a cargo owner than the hardware count alone.

Tractor-Beam Placement Changes How You Park the Ship

The Ironclad's tractor beams do not remove the need to think about ship placement.

A tractor can only be useful if its firing arc can reach both the cargo source and the part of the hold where the container needs to go.

A May 13, 2026 PTU discussion criticized the bow and top tractor-beam geometry. The player reported limited bow coverage and said the upper rail-mounted tractor could not aim far enough down or up to reach freight elevators conveniently from normal hangar parking positions.

That is a historical community report, not an official current-version benchmark.

By June 21, players reported that the top tractor beam had received a wider vertical aiming range in Alpha 4.8.2, including better downward and upward coverage. The same discussion continued to describe the forward beam as more restricted.

These dated reports illustrate an important Ironclad loading principle:

Parking position is part of the cargo workflow.

A theoretically ideal place to land the ship may not be the ideal position for the tractor beam that needs to reach the freight elevator.

A Practical Ironclad Loading Workflow

There is no single official best way to load 2,200 SCU, but the cargo layout supports a sensible sequence.

1. Decide the unloading order before loading

Cargo that needs to leave first should not be trapped behind freight intended for a later stop.

For a single commodity shipment, this is less important.

For multi-stop hauling, contracts, or mixed cargo, it can determine whether the unloading process requires moving large portions of the hold twice.

Using the separate front, rear, and smaller grids gives the crew a way to divide shipments physically rather than relying only on memory.

2. Position the Ironclad for the freight source

Before opening the roof or moving containers, determine which tractor position has the best line to the freight elevator.

A ship parked for convenient cockpit access may be badly positioned for cargo handling.

If the current top tractor implementation cannot reach the desired area cleanly, the crew may need to orient the ship around another loading method rather than trying to force the same workflow.

3. Use the roof for direct access when it actually helps

The roof is valuable when freight can be moved directly into the relevant section of the hold.

There is less benefit if every container still needs to be transferred through several intermediate positions before reaching its grid.

A large cargo crew can also divide work between external movement and internal placement instead of asking one operator to handle every step.

4. Preserve movement space until the end

Filling the easiest-access section first can create a wall of cargo that makes later placement harder.

Leaving an access lane while loading can reduce unnecessary reshuffling, especially when vehicles or irregular cargo are mixed with standard containers.

The Ironclad has enough capacity that sacrificing a small amount of temporary packing density during loading can be preferable to repeatedly moving already-positioned freight.

5. Finish the least accessible positions last

Once the main workflow no longer requires regular movement through a particular section, the crew can close remaining gaps and complete the load.

This approach prioritizes workflow over maximum instantaneous packing density.

For a 2,200-SCU freighter, that trade can matter more than squeezing every container into the earliest available slot.

Large Containers Reduce Handling Events

The Ironclad's capacity makes container size important.

Moving 2,000 SCU as many small containers creates far more individual handling events than moving the same amount in larger boxes.

The exact container sizes available depend on the commodity, mission, freight system, and current gameplay implementation, so this guide does not assume that every load can always be converted into 32-SCU containers.

The broader principle remains useful:

Fewer large containers generally mean fewer individual tractor operations than the same SCU divided across many small boxes.

That is especially important for a solo operator, because every additional container is another object the same person must manipulate.

Manual Loading vs Autoloading

The Ironclad's tractor equipment exists to support physical cargo handling, but manual loading is not the only workflow players have reported using.

A May 12, 2026 community report described purchasing roughly 2,000 SCU of commodities at a Lagrange station and using the available autoload option, with the terminal displaying a loading timer of approximately 28 minutes.

That report is useful evidence of one player's commodity workflow at that time.

It is not a universal Ironclad autoloading benchmark, and it should not be interpreted as proving that every cargo contract, location, commodity, or Alpha 4.10.1 transaction supports the same behavior or timing.

The ownership decision is therefore less about declaring manual or automatic loading universally superior and more about recognizing their different trade-offs.

Manual loading gives the crew direct control over cargo placement and can turn freight handling into multicrew gameplay.

Where autoloading is available, it can reduce the amount of repetitive container movement at the cost of waiting for the service rather than actively loading the ship.

Is the Ironclad Efficient for Solo Cargo?

The Ironclad can be used solo, but 2,200 SCU is an enormous amount of freight for one person to manage physically.

The pilot can move the ship and perform cargo work sequentially. What a solo player cannot do is fly, position freight, operate another loading station, and prepare cargo elsewhere at the same time.

That means the loading advantage of a multicrew group comes primarily from parallel work.

One person can move containers from the elevator while another organizes them inside the hold. Another can prepare the next section or monitor the ship.

For solo use, a smaller shipment may be more practical even when the ship technically has room for much more.

A July 23, 2026 community discussion highlighted exactly this disagreement. The original post argued that pilot-accessible Ironclad cargo controls make it unusually solo-friendly, while other participants argued that they would rather switch seats on a smaller freighter than manually handle roughly 2,000 SCU from one position.

Neither side establishes a universal optimum.

The Ironclad is solo-capable; its full capacity is simply much easier to exploit when cargo work can be divided.

Multicrew Loading Is Where the Layout Makes More Sense

The standard Ironclad gives several people enough physical space and equipment to work simultaneously.

A practical cargo group might split jobs between:

• ship positioning;
• external tractor work;
• internal cargo placement;
• shipment organization;
• preparing the next containers.

That is an editorial workflow example, not an official minimum crew recommendation.

The advantage comes from concurrency.

If one container operator is waiting for another task to finish, the crew has gained little from adding more people. If several parts of the loading chain can remain active at once, a multicrew group can make better use of the Ironclad's scale.

This is why crew quality and organization can matter as much as raw headcount.

Current 4.10-Era Tractor-Beam Feedback Is Mixed

The Ironclad's tractor implementation has continued to change after launch.

An August 28, 2026 player report described completing several large Pyro cargo contracts successfully and specifically praised the upper tractor beam and its control from the Operations pilot position. The same discussion also included complaints about tractor positioning and later cargo-related issues.

More recently, a September 22, 2026 community thread reported that the top tractor turret was no longer moving along its track as expected, with players describing workarounds and saying the issue had persisted across recent builds.

These are individual community reports, not an official Alpha 4.10.1 Known Issue entry cited by this article.

They should therefore be used narrowly.

They show that tractor usability remains version-sensitive and that an Ironclad cargo guide should not promise a fixed loading workflow based solely on an earlier patch.

Before committing to a very large manual load, owners should check whether the tractor position they intend to use behaves correctly in the current build.

The Assault Is Worse for Manual Cargo Handling

The Ironclad Assault retains substantial cargo capacity but does not share the standard ship's onboard tractor-beam setup.

CIG's original Ironclad Q&A explicitly stated that the Assault trades its tractor beams for additional firepower and that crews wanting to move cargo aboard it should use FPS tractor equipment or a tractor-capable ship.

That makes the standard Ironclad much more naturally aligned with manual freight operations.

The Assault's 1,440 SCU remains useful for supplies, vehicles, and cargo, but its value is centered on vehicle support and combined-arms operations rather than maximizing freight-handling convenience.

If you are deciding between the two hulls, the Ironclad vs Ironclad Assault comparison covers the broader role trade-off.

For the Assault's Ship Hangar Services, vehicle operations, small-craft support, and Fabricator boundaries, see the Star Citizen Ironclad Assault Guide: Cargo, Crew, Combat & Price.

Cargo and Vehicles Need Different Loading Priorities

The standard Ironclad can carry suitable ground vehicles and small craft, but a vehicle-focused load should not be planned like a commodity run.

Cargo containers can be packed tightly because they do not need to drive out.

Vehicles require clearance.

A vehicle trapped behind hundreds of SCU of freight may technically fit inside the Ironclad while being operationally useless until much of the cargo has been moved.

The same applies to small spacecraft.

The original Ironclad Q&A confirmed that the bay can be used in a mini-carrier role but emphasized that it is designed around cargo metrics rather than standardized hangar dimensions. CIG gave then-current maximum cargo-bay dimensions of approximately 40 × 21 × 7.5 meters while warning that roof coverage limits usable length and that dimensions could change during production.

That 2024 figure is historical design context, not a replacement for current physical testing.

The useful principle is simpler:

Physical fit does not guarantee an efficient cargo or vehicle workflow.

Secure Grids Are Useful for Separating Small Loads

The Alpha 4.10.0 data lists five separate 8-SCU grids in addition to the four large freight grids.

Together they provide 40 SCU of the Ironclad's version-locked 2,200-SCU total.

Their value is organizational rather than numerical.

Forty SCU is a tiny fraction of the ship's total capacity, but separating small cargo from the main freight mass can make it easier to avoid burying a low-volume delivery behind hundreds of containers intended for another destination.

This becomes particularly useful during mixed or multi-stop operations.

The Ironclad's enormous hold rewards crews that think about where cargo needs to leave, not only how much can be put aboard.

Is 2,200 SCU Always Better Than a Smaller Freighter?

No.

The Ironclad carries far more freight than many conventional cargo ships, but every additional SCU is useful only when there is cargo to fill it and a practical way to load and unload it.

A smaller freighter can be more efficient for short runs, limited commodity availability, or sessions where the player does not want a large physical cargo-handling workload.

The Ironclad becomes more compelling when:

• the shipment is genuinely large;
• fewer trips materially improve the operation;
• loading tools are working well enough for the planned workflow;
• multiple players can divide the work;
• the crew benefits from an enclosed hold rather than a more specialized bulk-cargo system.

LTI Hangar's broader Best Cargo Ships in Star Citizen comparison places the Ironclad in the heavy-freighter category specifically because its 2,200-SCU capacity comes with a large protected cargo space and a correspondingly substantial logistics workload.

Best Use Cases for the Ironclad Cargo Hold

The Ironclad's cargo design is most convincing in three situations.

Large single-destination freight

A large shipment headed to one destination minimizes the need to preserve complex unloading order.

The crew can focus on filling the large grids efficiently and then unloading the entire shipment at the destination.

Multi-stop hauling with planned grid separation

The separate grids allow a crew to dedicate different parts of the ship to different deliveries.

This does not automate unloading, but it reduces the risk of burying the next stop's containers behind freight intended for later.

Mixed logistics operations

The enclosed hold can combine commodities, equipment, and suitable vehicles.

This is less space-efficient than pure freight, but it uses the Ironclad's flexibility rather than treating its SCU figure as the only reason to own it.

Final Verdict

The Ironclad's 2,200-SCU cargo grid is valuable because it is paired with multiple access routes and dedicated tractor equipment, not simply because the number is large.

The Alpha 4.10.0 data divides that capacity across four major grids and five smaller grids. CIG's design gives the standard ship a retractable roof and multiple tractor positions intended to provide different loading angles.

Those systems make the Ironclad well suited to organized heavy freight.

They do not make 2,200 SCU effortless to handle.

Loading efficiency still depends on ship placement, tractor coverage, container size, unloading order, current implementation quality, and whether the crew can perform several cargo tasks simultaneously.

Community reports across 2026 also show that tractor-beam usability has changed between builds, so this guide does not treat any one reported loading method as a permanently verified Alpha 4.10.1 workflow.

For a group regularly moving very large shipments, the standard Ironclad's cargo layout gives its 2,200-SCU capacity a clear purpose.

For a solo player or smaller freight run, the better question is not whether the Ironclad can carry the cargo.

It is whether using a 117-meter heavy freighter actually reduces the total work required to deliver it.

FAQ

How much cargo does the Ironclad carry?

The Alpha 4.10.0 vehicle-data snapshot totals 2,200 SCU across nine cargo grids. CIG separately publishes 2,204 SCU. The reason for the four-SCU difference has not been established.

How are the Ironclad's cargo grids divided?

The Alpha 4.10.0 data lists two 720-SCU grids, two 360-SCU grids, and five 8-SCU grids, totaling 2,200 SCU.

Does the Ironclad have tractor beams?

Yes. The Alpha 4.10.0 record includes three Size 2 SureGrip tractor-beam entries, while CIG says the ship's multiple tractor beams use different positions and movement to provide several loading and unloading angles.

Does the Ironclad have a retractable roof?

Yes. The standard Ironclad uses a retractable roof to provide additional access to the cargo area. The roof does not retract over the entire internal volume.

Is the Ironclad good for manual cargo loading?

Its roof access and onboard tractor equipment are specifically useful for manual freight operations, but loading efficiency depends on cargo volume, ship placement, tractor behavior, and crew organization. Current community feedback on tractor usability is mixed and version-sensitive.

Can you load an Ironclad solo?

Yes. A single player can load and operate the ship, but manually handling a large portion of its 2,200-SCU capacity is a substantial sequential workload. Multicrew loading can divide those tasks between several people.

Can the Ironclad be autoloaded?

Players have reported using commodity autoloading with the Ironclad at supported locations. A May 2026 report described roughly 2,000 SCU receiving a 28-minute autoload timer. That is a dated individual report, not a universal Alpha 4.10.1 timing or guarantee for every cargo type and location.

Does the Ironclad Assault have the same tractor beams?

No. CIG's Ironclad Q&A states that the Assault trades the standard ship's tractor-beam setup for additional firepower. Cargo aboard the Assault therefore relies more heavily on other tractor equipment or tractor-capable support craft.

Can the Ironclad carry vehicles?

Yes, suitable vehicles can use the cargo space, but they compete with commercial freight for physical room and need clear deployment routes. Vehicle fit should not be inferred from SCU alone.

Is the Ironclad better than the Hull C for cargo?

They solve different freight problems. The Ironclad emphasizes a very large enclosed hold and flexible physical loading, while the Hull C is a higher-capacity dedicated bulk freighter with an external cargo system. Which workflow is more useful depends on the route and cargo operation rather than SCU alone.