Immobilizer 418 cruiser/Legends

Interdictor cruisers are 600-meter-long cruisers built on the standard Vindicator-class heavy cruiser hull. They are a valuable addition to the Imperial Navy.

The Interdictor Cruisers were first manufactured by Sienar Fleet Systems two years before the Battle of Yavin though these costly cruisers were produced in very limited quantities prior to the Battle of Hoth. Interdictor cruisers, also known as Immobilizer 418 cruisers, have the appearance of small Star Destroyers.

However, they have four large globes that house Gravity well projectors which mimic a large mass in space, restricting hyperspace travel. Other ships which which make use of gravity well projectors are the Star Destroyer Dominator, the Eclipse-class and Sovereign-class Star Dreadnoughts. Nearby vessels are automatically prevented from engaging Hyperspace engines, and any ship passing through the area via hyperspace are forced into realspace.

Immobilizers are also equipped with 20 quad-laser cannons for short range combat against other ships. The Interdictor's hull is nearly identical to that of the Vindicator-class heavy cruiser and can support several additional weapons depending on mission profile. Enemy fire is absorbed by more than a dozen shield generators.

Since they were rare and costly to produce, Imperial tacticians often placed them on the edge of a battle area to prevent enemy ships from escaping. The Interdictors were also used to blockade planets or moons, such as Yavin 4. The only opportunity to evade them is in the minute or so it takes for the gravity well projectors to recharge, though this was rarely enough time for an entire fleet to make the jump to hyperspace. Producing an entire fleet of such cruisers proved a time-consuming and delicate project and by the time of the Battle of Endor, Sienar Fleet Systems had manufactured only a few Interdictors which were mainly under the command of Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Outer Rim.

These vessels would not realize their potential until several years after the Empire's death, when they became a key component in Thrawn's attempt to defeat the New Republic. The Grand Admiral would deploy such ships to ambush New Republic forces. He once used an Interdictor in conjunction with his flagship the Chimaera, in an attempt to capture Luke Skywalker. However, the Jedi eluded capture, by reversing his X-wing's acceleration compensators and firing two proton torpedoes, confusing his pursuers. With the Chimaera's tractor beams focused on the incoming torpedoes, Luke made a quick jump into hyperspace, eluding Grand Admiral Thrawn.

After Thrawn's defeat, the New Republic confiscated the remaining ships. New Republic technicians redesigned the Interdictor's gravity-well projectors, improving both their range and recharge rate. These new Interdictors, designated "Immobilizer 418A", became one of the key components of the New Republic Defense Fleet's navy during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. During the Battle of Fondor, the New Republic supplied 4 Interdictors to the Hapan fleet.

Known Ships

 * Aggregator
 * Black Asp
 * Constrainer
 * Corusca Rainbow
 * Sentinel
 * Wrack

Appearances

 * Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * The Thrawn Trilogy
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin

Behind the Scenes
In the upcoming game Empire at War, Immobilizer cruisers are designated as 'Frigates'. This may be an attempt to link the ships with a classification system more based on conventional naval classification (using the terms Frigate/Destroyer/Cruiser/Battlecruiser/Dreadnought with a 'Star' prefix).