All Terrain Scout Transport/Legends

"AT-ST's will no longer be deployed on planets with an abundance of trees or other known obstacles such as rock-wielding primitives."

- AT-ST service manuals, post-Battle of Endor

The All Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) was a bipedal walker used in rudimentary form by the Galactic Republic during the late Clone Wars and, later and more extensively, the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War.

Characteristics


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 starboard side of its head, and a blaster cannon on the port side.

The chin guns had an effective range of two kilometers and were used for anti-vehicle attacks, while the blaster cannon and grenade launcher provided close-range protection. AT-STs were piloted by a crew of two drivers. It had medium armor, enough to protect it from infantry guns.

The bipedal propulsion system was 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 quickly become unbalanced enough to fall over.

History


Early on in the Clone Wars, engineers at Rothana were busy developing a new bipedal walker, known as the All Terrain Scout Transport, following their construction and testing of the AT-XT. The AT-XT enjoyed moderate success during its somewhat brief operational time, but was rarely used during the war.

The earliest models would be deployed by the Grand Army of the Republic during the latter stages of the Clone Wars. The conflict would also see the debut of several other bipedal walker designs, like the AT-RT.

Under the Empire, Balmorra was the center of AT-ST production. The AT-ST was later viewed by Imperial commanders as a highly versatile weapon, excelling against infantry and lightly armored vehicles, but also useful for protecting vital units and patrolling hostile areas.

At the Battle of Hoth, several AT-STs were deployed to provide cover for the larger AT-AT walkers sent to destroy the Rebel power generator. These were of a different model than the more regular AT-ST seen on Endor. The chin cannons had longer barrels, the light blaster cannon was a different model, the "head" of the walker was not as blocky and it had longer legs, making it slightly taller than the stock version.



It is possible this model was more specialized for escort/assault missions, although not as heavily as the 10 meter tall AT-ST/As. The walker was also a specially-modified model for polar climates, as were all the vehicles used on Hoth.

In the Battle of Endor, AT-ST's were deployed by the Empire against the Rebel and Ewok ground troops. The walkers were very effective against these troops, until many of them were destroyed by Ewok traps and another AT-ST hijacked by Chewbacca with the help of some Ewoks.

The AT-ST's problem with shifting terrain 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. The Ewoks also used strategically-positioned logs hanging from trees to eliminate several other walkers.

The Imperial Remnant would go on to use AT-STs, though not as extensively.

Behind the scenes
An early scout walker concept was used in the Revenge of the Sith comic adaptation. This was derived from Episode III concept art made by Ryan Church.

The RotS script referred to the AT-RT walker as a "modified scout walker", which may imply that this two-man design was the basis.

More scenes with the AT-ST were filmed for the original trilogy movies, but George Lucas decided that the AT-ATs would be more impressive and that the AT-ST would look better in close quarters.

The AT-ST model received some cosmetic changes for its extensive appearance in Return of the Jedi, thus explaining the minor differences in the models used for the two films.