Laser cannon/Legends
- "Target, maximum firepower."
- ―Maximilian Veers
A laser cannon was the standard weapon for use by most starships and other vehicles. The amount of destruction a laser cannon could do depended on its wattage. Cannons on the famous X-Wing ranged from 126 terawatts to 500 terawatts. Turbo laser cannons on Imperial Star Destroyers were upwards of 3,000 terawatts. It existed in a myriad of forms, from the huge versions used by starships, through medium-sized turret-mounted variants, to the much smaller personal cannons sometimes carried by infantry. Although they were capable of causing a considerable amount of damage, they were no match to some of the more advanced beam weapons such as turbolasers and superlasers.
Description
Though based on the same principles, with their beams having a nearly identical nature, laser cannons were more powerful than similarly-sized blasters. Laser cannons were originally used by starships to blast debris, such as asteroids, out of their way. These cannons were both incredibly destructive and very accurate.
History
Starships, such as the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer and the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate, began using laser cannons as anti-starfighter defenses. These weapons were later engineered to fire beams with sufficient accuracy and power to intercept enemy missiles from long range: the point-defense cannon, mounted on Zann Consortium Crusader-class corvettes, was an example.
Eventually, laser cannon technology was so refined that ground-based vehicles such as the AT-AT could use them. D'harhan, a cyborg bounty hunter, sported a laser cannon that had been surgically attached to his body, replacing his head.[2] Around 4 ABY, Holowan Laboratories created the IG-88 assassin droid series that featured a repeating laser cannon mounted along each arm.
