Orbital bombardment

Orbital bombardment

Orbital bombardment, also known as anorbital strike, was amilitary strategy, wherecapital ships (such asStar Destroyers) would fire their maincannons fromorbit to the surface of aplanet, causing heavy damage to the designated target and its surrounding area. This strategy was used mostly to wipe targets that were in close proximity, like regular groundtroops, or was used to easily deal with large heavy targets. However, the tactic was imprecise, especially if the target was moving.^[7]

While orbital bombardment could be used to devastate a planet, likeBase Delta Zero,^[8] it was more commonly used for military strikes to decimate a target area, and not an entire planet.^[6]Base Gamma One was a code in theImperial Navy for a bombardment.^[9]

History[]

The High Republic[]

During theHigh Republic, threeNihil vessels, including theCacophony bombarded from orbit a settlement on the planetRibento, before getting interrupted by theRDC vesselTractate.^[10]

The Nihil had also bombarded the planet ofIsolt, nearly destroying all life on the planet and causing at least one major volcanic eruption.^[11]

Clone Wars[]

During theClone Wars,GeneralGrievous ordered hisProvidence-class Dreadnought todestroy theJedi Temple onLedeve with a bombardment.^[12] Grievous also used the tactic againstMaul and theShadow Collective bybombarding theBlack Sun base ofOrd Mantell before landing histroops on theplanet. However, the Shadow Collective managed to capture both Grievous andCountDooku.^[1]

After the causalities its forces endured in its failedassaults on the planetXorrn, theGalactic Republic elected to deploy the9th Engineering Battalion andFerra sector fleet to simplybombard its surface.^[13]

Imperial Era[]

It was standard procedure for theGalactic Empire to conduct an orbital bombardment of a planet first before launching an invasion, barring exceptions when this was not possible such as in theMimban Campaign.^[15]Imperial Star Destroyers were often used to carry out orbital bombardments, as each ship was capable of reducing cities to steaming craters and laying waste to entire continents on their own.^[16] Bombardments could also be carried out for non-military purposes: the planetsSamovar andWadi Raffa were devastated by orbital strikes in preparation for their being strip-mined to support the construction of theDeath Star.^[17]

In the immediate aftermath of theClone Wars, aninsurrection on Haruun Kal broke out which required Imperial intervention. After heavy fighting, theImperial Navy conducted a Base Gamma One bombardment to claim victory. While the victory helped to grow the fledgling Navy's reputation, the bombardment had been fired when there were stillground troops on the planet.^[9] Likewise at some point shortly after the Clone Wars ended, the EmpireattackedCount Dooku's homeworld ofSerenno, where at leastone of its major cities was destroyed by orbital bombardment.^[18]

Sometime in18 BBY,^[19] the Empire conducted a Base Delta Zero on theImperial medical laboratory on theplanetSetron after theirscientists lost control of theirslither vines experiment. The bombardment destroyed the Imperial facility but failed to fully exterminate the slither vines.^[20]

When agroup of insurgents overranScrim Island onBatonn,Thrawn was able to overcome its defenses by having theChimaera conduct an orbital bombardment with itsturbolasers on the surrounding ocean. The resultingtsunamis swamped the island's defenses and led to its recapture.^[21]

During theGalactic Civil War, the Empire conducted many orbital bombardments against theRebel Alliance and other enemy combatants. WhenAgentKallus found theGhostcrew on the planetSeelos,AdmiralKassius Konstantine proposed tokill all the rebels with anorbital strike. Agent Kallus however preferred to operate aground attack, usingAll Terrain Armored Transports.^[22] During theBattle of Atollon,Grand AdmiralThrawn deployed an orbital strike againstChopper Base.^[2]

Later during the war both Rebels and Imperials ordered orbital strikes against each other's forces on planets likeHoth,Tatooine,Sullust,Endor,^[7] andJakku.^[23]

This tactic was to be used during theBattle of Hoth by the Imperial Navy.LordVader had planned to surprise attack the Rebel Alliance by jumping in to theHoth system fromhyperspace secretly and destroying thebase via orbital bombardment, but failed to do so when AdmiralKendal Ozzel jumped too close to thesystem. This alerted the Rebels, who in return activated theirshield generator, causing the anger of Vader, who blamed Ozzel for stupidity andForce choked him upon GeneralMaximilian Veers reporting the blunder. Afterwards he promotedFirmus Piett to the rank of Admiral. Due to the failed attempt of bombing the rebel base, Veers landed AT-ATs,AT-STs, and other ground troops to take care of the shield generator from inside it.^[24]

On the same day as theBattle of Endor, a trio of Imperial Star Destroyers appeared above the outskirts of the industrial center onDurkteel. Operating on rumors of a secret Rebel meeting, the Star Destroyers jammed all transmissions and began anorbital bombardment. Thirty years later, anexcavation of the area revealed a buried chamber filled with dirt and other artifacts, including anarmored case filled with Rebel intelligence files.^[25]

After the death ofEmperorSheev Palpatine,Messengerdroids were sent to numerousImperial officers bearing ahologram of the late Emperor, who commanded them to execute his final command,Operation: Cinder,^[26] an orbital bombardment campaign^[27] that ordered the purging and destruction of multiple targeted worlds.^[26]

During theLiberation ofKashyyyk,Grand MoffLozen Tolruck ordered threeImperial-class Star Destroyers to bombard the surface of the planet and wipe out all life on it once he realized the planet'sWookiee rebellion had gotten out of hand. While they caused some damage to the planet's surface, they were ultimately stopped by the Rebels before the order could be completed.^[6]

First Order-Resistance War[]

During the outbreak of theFirst Order-Resistance War, theFirst Order launched anattack on theResistance base onD'Qar. AMandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought, theFulminatrix, opened fire on the evacuated base from orbit with itsorbital autocannons, completely destroying it.^[4]

Sometime later, the First Order deployed afleet consisting of severalResurgent-class Star Destroyers and oneMandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought toTah'Nuhna after following the remnants of theResistance there. While the Resistance had already left the planet,GeneralArmitage Hux nonetheless ordered the fleet tobombard the planet to set an example.^[28] Likewise, while the First Order was inpursuit of thesupertankerColossus, a fleet of fourteenResurgent-class Star Destroyers initiated abombardment of the planetAeos Prime in retaliation for providing refuge for theColossus and her crew.^[29]

During35 ABY,^[30] shortly afterAllegiant GeneralEnric Pryde pledged the First Order's allegiance to the revived Darth Sidious and hisSith Eternal, theXyston-class Star DestroyerDerriphan was sent toKijimi as a show of force. There itopened fire on the planet with itsaxial superlaser until the planet was ripped apart by the magnitude of the weapon.^[5]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

• Star Wars Helmet Collection: Hoth Rebel SoldierWeapons & Uniforms: Echo Base
• Star Wars Helmet Collection: Wedge AntillesWeapons & Uniforms: Chopper Base — Atollon
• Star Wars: On the Front Lines
• Star Wars: The Rebel Files
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary
• Star Wars: Destiny —Way of the ForceCard:Planetary Bombardment (backup link)
• "Imperial Troops" —Star Wars Encyclopedia
• "C-3PO" —Star Wars Encyclopedia
• "Anakin Skywalker" —Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars Day-at-a-Time Calendar 2022
• Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy
• Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
• AT-AT Walker (All Terrain Armored Transport) in theDatabank(backup link)
• Orbital Bombardment Cannon in theDatabank(backup link)
• TheFulminatrix in theDatabank(backup link)

Notes and references[]