Sentinel-class landing craft/Legends

Sentinel-class landing craft The Sentinel-class landing craft was a transport used by the Empire to carry troops or supplies.

Description
With its folding wing configuration and matching cockpit module, the Sentinel was similar to the Lambda-class shuttle. Both vehicles shared the same manufacturers.

The landing craft's exterior, however, was encased in armor plating 25% heavier than the armor of a Lambda. The landing craft was equipped with four deflector shield projectors. Despite its size, the Sentinel was fast and agile due to its Cygnus HD7 engine array.

The Sentinel relied on a pilot and a sensor officer along with the three gunners to pilot it. The vehicle's sensor suite which was located in the cockpit allowed navigation in nearly all conditions and featured infrared imaging, motion detectors and life-form indicators. The vessel's computer also had an automatic mapping function and a rudimentary autopilot that could pilot the vessel towards an Imperial garrison or starship or homing beacon during emergencies and featured powerful communication arrays which enabled contact with all Imperial starships and garrisons within a given system.

In its usual configuration, it could carry approximately six stormtrooper squads or 54 stormtroopers, 12 E-Web repeating blasters and 6 74-Z speeder bikes. When its seats were removed and it was converted to carrying supplies, it could carry 36 74-Z speeder bikes or 12 compact assault vehicles like AT-STs and AT-PTs. Its total cargo capacity was 180 metric tons.

The landing craft's weapons complement consisted of 8 laser cannons, 2 concussion missile launchers, 1 retractable ion cannon and 2 rotating repeating blasters. Three gunners were responsible for manning these weapons, which were all linked to the shuttle's precise targeting computers. Since the Sentinel was heavily armed, it also served as a combat support vehicle.

History
It was introduced before the Battle of Yavin and became the main troop transport in the Imperial Navy. The Sentinel was often used to transport troops between Star Destroyers/Cruisers/Star Dreadnoughts and planets.

The vehicle also made an excellent atmospheric transport and many Imperial garrisons had one of these vehicles. Several Sentinels were used on the desert world Tatooine, where they deployed sandtroopers and their Dewback mounts to search for the missing Death Star plans.

Sentinels were also used in conjunction with larger Y-85 Titan dropships or AT-AT barges for joint infantry/armor assaults. However, because of their popularity, they were used by other groups including the Rebel Alliance, the New Republic, Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, mercenary groups, and the Imperial Remnant.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Rebels used a fleet of captured Sentinel landing craft as support ships. The Alliance logo was painted on their central wing, to help tell them apart from the Imperial ships. The New Republic also developed its own unique replacement for the Sentinel-class. The New Republic's Bantha-class assault shuttle featured much heavier armor than its Imperial counterpart.

Behind the scenes
Several sources list the Sentinel-class as being 20 meters long, the same length as the Lambda-class shuttle. Based on the vessel's similarity to the Lambda-class and other craft in the same family (especially the Kappa-class shuttle), a more realistic length would fall somewhere between 29 and 45 meters. The space combat simulator Star Wars: X-wing Alliance, however, depicts the Sentinel at a length of 38 meters. It is unclear which is the official length, but 20 meters has been used due to the fact that it has been officially stated the most.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Empire 6: Princess... Warrior, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (video game)
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: Force Commander
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * X-wing: Solo Command
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * Planet of Twilight
 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee