HMP droid gunship

HMP droid gunship

TheHMP (Heavy Missile Platform) droid gunship, also simply known as thedroid gunship,Separatist gunship, orHMPPredator, was deployed by theConfederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) relatively late in theClone Wars and was based on the design of the olderMechanized Assault Flyer. Ashieldedmissile platform, the gunship was designed for air strikes inplanetaryatmospheres. Though the ship was slower and less maneuverable than smaller fighters, it made up in its heavy and powerful arsenal. HMPs were armed with twolaser cannonturrets, one medium laser cannon, two light laser cannons, and 14 missiles. The gunship was able to carry a large variety of ordnance ranging fromconcussion bombs totorpedoes andelectromagnetic pulse missiles.

Heavy Missile Platforms were developed byBaktoid Fleet Ordnance andHaor Chall Engineering for theSeparatist Droid Army in response to the success of theGrand Army of the Republic'sLow Altitude Assault Transport/infantry gunship. The gunships saw their first major Clone Wars action around20 BBY when four of them were deployed on theplanetOnderon to fight off an army ofrebels. The HMPs would later be used to escortGeneralGrievous and a boarding party to theRepublic Navy'sNegotiator. The gunships would again be used during theBattle of Kashyyyk in19 BBY. After the Republic transformed into theGalactic Empire that sameyear, the armies of the CIS were deactivated. However, aGeonosian namedGizor Dellso used one of these gunships to board anImperial I-class Star Destroyer during theBattle of Mustafar. It was destroyed by thestormtroopers of the501st Legion.

Characteristics[]

The HMP (Heavy Missile Platform)droidgunship, often referred to as "droid gunship,"^[1] "Separatist gunship,"^[13] or "HMPPredator,"^[14] was a heavily-shielded aerialmissile platform. Units ranged in length from 12.3meters^[1] to 18.2 meters^[2] and were eleven meters wide and 3.1 meters tall. Droid gunships sold for 60,000credits new and 30,000 credits used. On either side of the gunship's nose were large spherical gun turrets, mounting twin mediumlaser cannons along with their respective capacitors, as well as the targeting scanners and targeting sensor ports used to aim them. Between the two turrets were moving mandibles, a rotating mount for a medium cannon mounted on the gunship's chin, and inductors that supplied power to the gun turrets through a gap in the back of each turret, where they were hidden from external attack by the turret's armored socket. On top of the nose were twophotoreceptor eyes, long-range sensor ports, the processor for the sensors and antennae, the portside targeting processor, and the starboard deflector shield generator. On the side of the nose were the fuel tanks that were exposed in order to keep radioactive fuel particles from damaging systems located under the ship's shell.^[1]

The rear of the ship was composed of a large disc. Inside the disc were the power cells, the inner support frame,repulsorlift generator, fuel pumps, and the repulsor projector grid that applied the ship's anti-gravitational lift. On the outside of the disc were the ion drive thrusters, located in grooves on the disc surface, the cooling radiator, the waste gas vent, the shield projector, and a sponsorship emblem ofPhlac-Arphocc Automata Industries. In the center of the disc was the ship'sreactor core, and on the front of the disc were the ship's binocular range finders used to aid in long-range spatial sense and missile guidance. On the right and left sides of the disc were modular wings that could be removed or equipped with an explosive payload.^[1]

Capabilities[]

The HMP's repulsorlift would steadily drive the gunship in flight, allowing for stable shooting in battle. The gunship ran off an especially superdense radioactive fuel supplied by Phlac-Arphocc Automata Industries.^[1] The gunships were also equipped withray shields andvocabulators.BX-series droid commandos were capable of riding on and using the gunships as firing platforms.^[12] Late in the war, the gunships were also modified to carry twelveB2 super battle droids in ventral deployment racks located under the disc.^[8][15] The gunship also had a variant capable of shortspace travel.^[10] The HMP had a maximum acceleration of 100G and could reachatmospheric speeds of up to 14,200 kilometers per hour^[1] or fiftymegalights per hour (MGLT).^[6] The ship was not equipped with ahyperdrive.^[3]

Ordnance[]

Designed for air strikes inplanetary atmospheres, the droid gunship compensated for its sluggish airspeed with a powerful arsenal of weaponry. An HMP gunship's standard weapons configuration consisted of two laser cannonturrets, one medium laser cannon, two light laser cannons, and 14 missiles. The gunship's modular wings allowed the HMP to carry a wide variety of ordnance, fromconcussion bombs andtorpedoes toelectromagnetic pulse missiles. Seven missile launchers were located on either side of the gunship's main body, below the large aft-mounted disc housing the reactor core. The ships could also be fitted with droid deployment racks for insertion and extraction into heavy combat area.^[8]

History[]

Heavy Missile Platform gunships were developed late during theClone Wars^[8] byHaor Chall Engineering^[2] andBaktoid Fleet Ordnance for theSeparatistDroid Army in response to the enormous success of theGrand Army of theRepublic'sLow Altitude Assault Transport/infantry (LAAT/i).^[4] Local dictators likeAdo Eemon were often contracted to add to the production of the HMP and were usually supplied with a small percent of the production run, which was used to supplement their personal forces and help enforce their own rule.^[1]

The gunships made their first appearance in battle around20 BBY^[9] when a quartet of gunships were deployed under the command ofsuper tactical droidGeneralKalani on theplanetOnderon todefeat an army ofrebels that had gathered in the highlands. Although they were able to kill many rebels, they were all shot down after the rebels received a shipment of missile launchers delivered by thepirateHondo Ohnaka and paid for byAnakin Skywalker. A crashed gunship, though, used its last energy to kill the rebel leaderSteela Gerrera by shooting atAhsoka Tano who was attempting to usethe Force to save Steela from a cliff's edge.General Kalani evacuated the remaining Separatist forces from the planet after the defeat.^[12] During anattack on thestarfleet ofJediObi-Wan Kenobi, droid gunships were used to deploy battle droids in an effort by GeneralGrievous to board theNegotiator, Kenobi's flagship. The ship self-destructed, however, as Kenobi and the survivingclones evacuated viaescape pods.^[16] One gunship during theBattle of Ringo Vinda was used to ambush aNu-class shuttle carrying an aberrant clone,Tup.^[15] At one point, gunships were also used during the Separatistinvasion ofScipio to deploy agarrison of battle droids.^[7] The gunships were also used by the Separatists during theBattle of Kashyyyk in19 BBY.^[17] One gunship shot down thestarshipInferno owned by theDevaroniansmugglerVilmarh Grahrk. TheInferno crashed intowater, but the gunship was destroyed as it was moving in to finish the ship off.^[11] The battle resulted in a defeat for the droid army.^[17] Directly after the end of the Clone Wars, a HMP was used by theGeonosianGizor Dellso'sforces to board anImperial I-class Star Destroyer during theBattle of Mustafar. It was destroyed, along with the droids, by thestormtroopers of the501st Legion who later destroyed the droid factory and killed Dellso and his enforcers.^[10]

Behind the scenes[]

In the2005video gameStar Wars: Battlefront II, HMPs serve as the Separatist space transport unit, and for gameplay purposes are piloted by droid characters although other sources such asStar Wars: Complete Locations say the gunships have an integrated droid brain.

ForStar Wars: Episode IIIRevenge of the Sith, the concept art was created byT.J. Frame and based off the design of Trade Federation vessels fromStar Wars: Episode IThe Phantom Menace. At one point, these droids were to be seen during theBattle of Coruscant before they were ultimately deemed to be atmospheric craft seen during theBattle of Kashyyyk.^[18]

For the script of theStar Wars: The Clone WarsSeason Five episode "Tipping Points," they were called "HMPPredators."^[14]

LEGO created 3 sets of the Droid Gunship. One was designed forStar Wars: The Clone Wars, and the other two were designed forRevenge of the Sith. All three LEGO sets have a cockpit for a battle droid pilot, despite the fact the gunships have an integrated droid brain.

Appearances[]

I find your lack of sources disturbing. This article needs to be provided withmore sources and/orappearances to conform to ahigher standard of article quality.

• Plug it in and Play: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith(Non-canonical appearance)
• Star Wars: Battlefront II
• Air Strike onStarWars.com(backup link) (original site is defunct)(Non-canonical appearance)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Deserter"(Mentioned only)(Referred to as Separatist gunship)
• Kinect Star Wars
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Tipping Points"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Bound for Rescue"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Unknown"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Crisis at the Heart"
• Star Wars: Episode IIIRevenge of the Sith(First appearance)
• Republic 82
• Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
• Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader(andunabridged audiobook)
• Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron

Non-canon appearances[]

• LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game(As a mini-kit model only)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga(As a mini-kit model only)
• "Kowakian Monkey-Lizard" onLEGO'sofficial website(backup link) (original link is obsolete)(Posted on StarWars.com)
• LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

Sources[]

Explore all of Wookieepedia'simages for this article subject.

• Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections(First mentioned, simultaneous withThe Visual Dictionary and movie novels)
• Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary(First mentioned, simultaneous withIncredible Cross-Sections and movie novels)
• "Ground Assault: The Vehicles of Episode III" —Star Wars Insider 83
• Starships and Vehicles ofRevenge of the Sith onWizards.com(original site is defunct)
• Star Wars Battlefront II: Prima Official Game Guide
• Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary
• Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• droid gunship in theDatabank(original site is defunct)
• "Tipping Points" –The Clone Wars Episode Guide onStarWars.com(original link is obsolete)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic 6.46
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Episode Guide
• Star Wars: Complete Vehicles
• LEGOStar Wars(Set:75042 Droid Gunship)
• The Official Star Wars Fact File Part 10HMP 1-2: HMP Droid Gunship
• droid gunship in theEncyclopedia(original site is defunct)
• "An Old Friend" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars onStarWars.com(backup link)
• "Crisis at the Heart" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars onStarWars.com(backup link)

Notes and references[]