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Aplanetary-basedion cannon atEcho Base on the planetHoth
Anion cannon was a weapon which fired highly ionized particles or highly ionized plasma.
Description[]
Ion cannons were energy weapons that were similar tolaser cannons. Instead of firing destructive blasts, the energy bolts disabled all electrical andcomputer systems aboard a target. Instead of causing direct physical damage to astarship, the ion cannon blast overloaded and fused circuitry, computers, flight control systems,sensors,shields, weapons, communications, andlife-support systems.[3]
Low-powered ion cannon blasts could produce small, localized effects and cause minor system failures, while higher-intensity blasts were capable of crippling starships completely for severalminutes. Ion cannon blasts were not stopped byray shields unless the shields were reconfigured to counter them. However, if shields were reconfigured to stop ion cannon shots, then they would be ineffective against regular laser blasts.[3]
Ioncannons fired particles that seriously interfered with the operation of electronics and computer systems, shorting circuits and often disabling them outright, in much the same manner as anelectromagnetic pulse. The actual physical damage would sometimes result in fused joints on machines, due to the heat produced.[4] Ion cannons could also slow down malfunctioning door shutters or otherwise disable shield generators, as evidenced by theFondor shipyard assault and theBattle of Dubrillion, respectively.[1]
The ion cannon was not without its weaknesses, however. For instance, it lacked tight-beam accuracy, to the point that a ground-based ion cannon might hit the defender's own battle stations as well as its intended targets.[5] Moreover,capital ships would have crewmen that could repair any damage done, which would allow the vessel to continue fighting.
History[]
- "Order the defense towers to fire ion cannons and turbolasers at will!"
- ―QueenAmanoa, ordering the ground-side defensive cannons during theBattle of Iziz[6]
TheMalevolence fires itsion pulse cannon.
They were often used on capital ships, such asStar Destroyers, to facilitate the capture of enemy vessels or disable them to allow safe close-range fire. They also helped to drop shields prior to destroying enemy vessels. Fighters such as theB-wing,Y-wing,TIE/D Defender,TIE Hunter and theRazor fighter in some cases, were also equipped with ion cannons, of much smaller size. Ships owned bybounty hunters were sometimes modified to use ion cannons, such asBoba Fett'sSlave I.
A more powerful form of the ion cannon, the massiveion pulse cannon, was used in theClone Wars, mounted on theConfederacy of Independent Systems ship theMalevolence. It could disableVenator-class Star Destroyers and stop entire fleets in their tracks with a single shot. The weapon overloaded near theBalmorra Run thanks to the efforts ofAnakin Skywalker,Ahsoka Tano, and MasterPlo Koon. TheMalevolence's sister ship, theDevastation, was even larger and more powerful than theMalevolence. The ship's ion cannons were as powerful as a shot from theDeath Star'ssuperlaser, and could destroy any capital ship or even a planet. They were so powerful because theDevastation's pair of ion cannons and the Death Star's superlaser ran on the same type of power source:Force crystals.
They could also be planet-based weapons, as seen in theBattle of Hoth, where theRebel Alliance used a stolen V-150 Planet Defender to disable theStar DestroyerTyrant, allowing a transport to escape through theImperial blockade.
A Y-wing fighter firing its ion cannon
Certain types of ion cannons were meant to do more physical damage with electrical disruption as a plus. These types of ion cannon, however, had a low firing rate and were often just replaced with heavyturbolasers.
One type of ion cannon was thev-200 ion cannon, used to break through shielding and bring down heavily armored vehicles. There was also a specialized version for taking down the heavily armored spacetroopers.
The Galactic Empire experimented with ion cannons by modifyingAT-ATs to become All Terrain Ion Cannons, or AT-ICs, effectively creating a mobile ion cannon. The AT-ICs saw limited action during theGalactic Civil War.
Behind the scenes[]
Due to their unique mission profile as a disabling weapon, ion cannons have been popular in franchise video games, particularly theStar Wars: X-Wing andStar Wars: Rogue Squadron series. Ion cannons play a significant role in starfighter combat in these games, in contrast to the films, where starfighters are never seen to fire ion weapons. In theX-Wing series, a few seconds of sustained fire from a single fighter's ion cannons can permanently disable any capital ship that has lost shields, while it might take several minutes to destroy the same ship using lasers.
In another departure from the movie appearance, the discharge of an ion blast was colored cerulean blue in both series (all of which predate the blue laser bolts seen inStar Wars: Episode IIIRevenge of the Sith).
Despite the real-world physics of spaceflight, disabling a craft with ion cannons in theX-wing series of games had the effect of stopping it dead in space rather than simply crippling its flight control system.[7] Contradictorily, the use of aY-wing starfighter's ion cannons to disableKasan Moor'sTIE/IN interceptor just above the surface ofGerrard V in a cutscene appeared to disable the Imperial craft's flight-control systems, but not itsengine system, resulting in the interceptor flying in a straight line without being able to deviate from its course.[8]
Appearances[]
Sources[]
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Notes and references[]
- Related categories:
- Ion cannons
- Related Categories:
- Ion cannons