Seriously, this whole Mars Mission series is quite cool for a modern LEGO theme. I liked the 90's themes better, but this series has some awesome models with it!

And this is DEFINITELY one of them!

First of all, this thing is HUGE! The massive wheels are bigger than any I had in my collection till now! The shooter is quite cool and has a very long range, even more than the spring-loaded shooters from the MX-81 for example! You have to be a little more careful, since the spheres you can shoot are solid, not made of rubber, like the arrows from the other shooters...

The ADU features something I love most in special LEGO sets: It is separable!!!! A medium-sized aircraft is carried in the back of the vehicle, and this aircraft carries another small planetary rover. It's like a craft in a craft in a craft - LEGOception!!
The drilling arm is very large, too and extends to almost every direction!

The build of this set is quite challenging! The internal structure is almost completely built from TECHNIC elements, which make it very sturdy. The suspension of the wheels gives the ADU the chance to drive over some difficult terrain, and even to drive almost one half of it over an abyss! The rear wheels still hold it on the ground.

But, as always, there are some cons.
First, it is the small rover. As stated in other reviews, it has no visual engine, no controls, nothing.
Next, the landing platform for the aircraft is always a bit loose and tends to shake, when driving the ADU.

And third, and biggest flaw: That stupid alien-fightercraft!!!! Good grief, what did LEGO have in mind, when they put such a cheap and loveless designed piece of junk to an awesome model like the ADU?!? They could have just left it, or even put in a cool alien ship, like withe the MX-81 or the MX-71!

Overall opinion

All in all, this is still a great set and an absolute must-have for every true fan of LEGO! I know no bigger ground-vehicle than this one. It would have been a none-plus-ultra set, if the alien fighter was designed better!
But nevertheless: thumbs up!!

The Drill...

Box/Instructions

Great, flip-up box, eye catching.

Parts

Great parts.

Minifigures

Crystaliens Suck, Astros are great.

The build

Two-Three hours of fun

The completed model

Great, sturdy build

Overall opinion

10/10

This set is incredibly durable and the suspention is awesome. The wheels are HUGE and i mean it. The little alien space craft is pretty ok and the miner is just completly awesome. The deployable ship is cool. Buy this set! the wheels are aweosme!

As said by previous reviews, the whole set is Fantastic... so i'll kepp it short...

I just want to emphasized that the Alien Craft is MISERABLE! Its like leftovers being made into soemthing and then.. "Lets call it the Alien Badguy"

I took the Alien Craft apart and use most of its part to make the already Awesome ADU.. even more Awesome!!

Just a truly spectacular set - I'm a big fan of Lego Space and was keen to check out the Mars Mission sets of which I have the Recon Dropship and Astro Fighter. The Armoured Drilling Unit has kept me spell-bound for months in the Lego Catalogue - in fact the picture of it in the catalogue is the best of it - alot of the pictures of this set online *do not* do it justice nor do they convey the scale of the beast! For UK readers, the picture of it on the Argos website is pretty good.

I took the plunge and got this set today and if you are into Mars Mission/Space, then please grab this set at your earliest opportunity - the build is quite lengthy coming in at (well) over two hours (incl. stickers!) with two books and as you go you realise that you are constructing something pretty special (and destruction-proof!) Hint - do keep a very close eye on the cockpit instructions for both the dropship and rhino itself. Also, when building the suspension, there are two grey axles that stick out enough to touch the wheels either side (rear set of two wheels) when they are turning (especially over undulating terrain) - this does make it sound like it's rumbling and it's quite possible it is supposed to be like this, but if you'd rather not have it, make sure the axels are pushed in 3/4s of a unit and you should have enough clearance.

The "drop nose" design of both the Recon Dropship and this appeal to me massively and are bit of a change for Lego. What is as refreshing as ever is TLCs ingenious design and build technology that will have you smiling with appreciation numerous times as you savour the construction of the set.

A invaluably worthy addition to any Mars Mission fleet and the Armoured Drilling Unit looks absolutely stunning upon completion - I can't stop looking at it or rolling it around and launching the dropship off the back with the trike - So, so good. If you display your sets, try placing something under the odd wheel to get the suspension shown off to great effect!

Utterly unmissable and truly essential - pick it up while you can. Rating it - well it blows any scale into oblivion!