All Terrain Scout Transport/Legends

The All Terrain-Scout Transport, or AT-ST was a bipedal walkers used by the Galactic Empire in ground battles such as the Battle of Hoth and the Battle of Endor. The AT-ST was viewed by Imperial commanders as a highly versatile weapon, excelling against infantry and light armored vehicles, but also useful for protecting vital units and patrolling hostile areas.

Also known as a "chicken walker" because of its shape and walking motion, the AT-ST was a heavily armed light ground combat vehicle. It was equipped with a chin-mounted double medium laser cannon, a concussion grenade launcher on the left side of its head and a blaster cannon on the right. The chin guns had an effective range of 2 kilometers and were used for anti-vehicle attacks, while the blaster and grenade launcher provided close-range protection.

The bipedal propulsion system was also one of the primary weaknesses of the AT-ST. While on even terrain the walker could achieve over 90 kilometers per hour, on uneven or shifting terrain a walker could easily become unbalanced enough to fall over. This was demonstrated during the Battle of Endor when Ewoks released a large pile of logs and stones to roll down the hill into the path of an AT-ST. The walker was unable to handle the rapidly shifting ground, and despite attempts by the pilot to stabilize the vehicle, it fell on its side and was destroyed. At the Battle of Hoth several AT-STs were deployed to provide cover for the larger AT-AT walkers. These were of a different model than the more regular AT-ST seen on Endor. The chin-cannons had longer barrels, the "head" of the walker was more rounded, and it had longer legs, making it taller than the stock-version. It is possible this model was more specialised for escort/assault missions, although not as heavy as the 10 meter tall AT-ST/A.

The earliest models saw action during the infamous Clone Wars, the same conflict that saw the debut of several other bipedal walker-designs, like the AT-XT, AT-PT, AT-RT and AT-AP.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, novelization, Matthew Stover, Del Rey Books, 2005.