View source for LC-10bW

{{Top|leg|canon=Laser-ice cutter|notoc=1}}
[[File:LukeLaserIceCutter-MOTESB.png|thumb|250px|Luke Skywalker operating an LC-10bW]]
The '''LC-10bW''', or '''laser ice-cutter''', was a [[Laser cannon/Legends|laser cannon]] used to sheer through ice with quick precision.<ref name="ITW:OT">''[[Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy]]''</ref> These cutters were used by the [[Alliance Corps of Engineers|Rebel Alliance Corps of Engineers]], alongside excavator machinery, to carve out space inside the caves of [[Echo Base/Legends|Echo Base]].<ref name="ITW:OT" /> The cutters need careful maintenance to operate in sub-freezing temperatures.<ref name="Rebel Blueprints">''[[Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition]]''</ref>

The LC-10bWs could be mounted on tripods or vehicles<ref name="Rebel Blueprints" />. On [[Hoth/Legends|Hoth]] they were mounted on [[cannon sled]] ground vehicles.<ref name="The Blueprints">''[[Star Wars: The Blueprints]]''</ref> [[Luke Skywalker/Legends|Luke Skywalker]] once manned an ice-cutter at Echo Base.<ref name="SW:BTM">''[[Star Wars: Behind the Magic]]''</ref>

==Behind the scenes==
[[File:EchoBaseHangar.jpg|thumb|right|250px|An ice-cutter (left) mounted to a Rebel cannon sled in the hangar of Echo Base.]]
This device appeared, unnamed, in [[Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back|''Star Wars'': Episode V ''The Empire Strikes Back'']], where it is briefly visible in the left corner of the frame when [[Han Solo/Legends|Han Solo]] rides into a hangar.<ref name="Episode V">{{Film|V}}</ref> It is mounted on a vehicle named a "cannon sled" in original production blueprints.<ref name="The Blueprints" /> The vehicle, complete with the laser cutter, can be briefly glimpsed near the Rebel defenses outside of Echo Base.<ref name="Episode V" />  On set footage of the vehicle was included in the rarely seen documentary by [[Michel Parbot]], ''[[The Making of "The Empire Strikes Back"]]''.<ref name="Parbot">{{Youtube|YeB-uXGGaEU|The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot (1980)|channel/UCrGFZ8Ke27YWT8mfy2i0_NQ|Adywan revisited|archivedate=20210311215817}}</ref> There were a number of publicity photos of [[Luke Skywalker]] manning the laser cutter which, according to [[Lucasfilm Story Group]] executive [[Pablo Hidalgo]], were not deleted scenes but rather on-set photos taken with the prop.<ref name="Pablo tweet">{{Twitter|pabl0hidalgo|status/1432779261304258563|[[Pablo Hidalgo]]|quote=You may occasionally find photos of Luke in his snowspeeder pilot manning the guns online labeled as a 'deleted scene'. It's not. It's more like a photo opportunity, as this prop / vehicle was on set that day|archivedate=1432779261304258563}}</ref>

The [[2005]] reference book [[Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy]] seems to identify the entire cannon sled vehicle as the "laser ice-cutter,"<ref name="ITW:OT" /> but [[2010]]'s ''[[Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition]]'' refers to the laser ice-cutter as the LC-10bW and suggests that it is only the name of the laser cannon itself, which is mounted onto the separate vehicle.<ref name="Rebel Blueprints">''[[Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition]]''</ref>

==Appearances==
[[File:Laser_ice-cutter_SW_Complete_Locations.jpg|200px|thumb|LC-10bW mounted on a cannon sled in Echo Base]]
*''[[A New Beginning]]''
*''[[Classic Star Wars 18]]''
*{{Film|V}} {{1st}}

==Sources==
*''[[Star Wars Technical Journal of the Rebel Forces]]'' {{Po}}
*''[[Star Wars Technical Journal]]'' {{Po}}
*[[Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back (Second Edition)|''Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back'' (Second Edition)]] {{Po}}
*''[[Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition]]'' {{Po}}
*''[[Star Wars: Behind the Magic]]'' {{Po}}
*''[[Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy]]''
*[[Star Wars: Complete Locations (2005)|''Star Wars: Complete Locations'']]
*''[[Star Wars: The Blueprints]]''
*''[[The Making of The Empire Strikes Back]]''
*''[[Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition]]'' {{1stID}}
*{{FFGTCG|set=The Battle of Hoth (Force Pack)|cardname=Snowspeeder Launch Bay}} {{Po}}
*''[[Strongholds of Resistance]]''

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Youtube|YeB-uXGGaEU|The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot (1980)|channel/UCrGFZ8Ke27YWT8mfy2i0_NQ|Adywan revisited|archivedate=20210311215817}} {{C|Behind the scenes footage and interviews including the cannon sled}}

[[Category:Cutting tools]]