Ion cannon/Legends

An ion cannon was a weapon which fired high-energy ionized particles. These particles did little physical damage, but seriously interfered with the operation of electronics and computer systems, often disabling them outright. As a result, ion cannons were the weapon of choice for subduing, rather than destroying, enemy starships, vehicles, shields, or droids.

They were often used on capital ships, such as Star Destroyers, to facilitate the capture of enemy vessels. Fighters such as the B-wing and the Y-wing were also equipped with ion cannons, of much smaller size.

They could also be planet-based weapons, as seen in the Battle of Hoth, where the Rebel Alliance used a stolen v-150 Planet Defender to disable the Star Destroyer Tyrant, allowing a transport to escape through the Imperial blockade.

However, there are certain types of ion cannons which are meant to do more physical damage with electrical disruption as a plus. These types of ion cannon, however, have the drawback of low firing rate and are often just replaced with heavy turbolasers.

One type of ion cannon was the Kuat V-200, used to break through shielding and bring down heavily armored vehicles. There was also a specialized version for taking down the heavily armored spacetroopers.

Appearances

 * Cloak of Deception
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Jedi Trial
 * Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike