User:Master Fredcerique/Workbench

Heavy Missile Platform droid gunship "Uh-oh."

- Vilmarh Grahrk upon seeing an HMP

The Heavy Missile Platform (HMP) droid gunship, also simply known as the droid gunship, was deployed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems relatively late in the Clone Wars. It was based on the design of the older Mechanized Assault Flyer.

Characteristics
The Heavy Missile Platform droid gunship (HMP), often referred to as "droid gunship," was a heavily-shielded aerial missile platform. Designed for air strikes in planetary atmospheres, the droid gunship compensated for its sluggish airspeed with a powerful arsenal of weaponry. An HMP gunship's standard weapons configuration consisted of two laser cannon turrets, one medium laser cannon, two light laser cannons, and 14 missiles. It also had two movable metal mandibles, for an unknown purpose, at its front. The gunship's modular wings allowed the HMP to carry a wide variety of ordnance, from concussion bombs and torpedoes to electromagnetic pulse missiles. Seven missile launchers were located on either side of the gunship's main body, below the large aft-mounted disc housing the reactor core. The HMP's repulsorlift would steadily drive the gunship in flight, allowing for stable shooting in battle. The gunship ran off an especially superdense radioactive fuel supplied by Phlac-Arphocc Automata Industries. The gunships were also equipped with ray shields and vocabulators. BX-series droid commandos were capable of riding on and using the gunships as firing platforms. The ships could also be fitted with droid deployment racks for insertion and extraction into heavy combat area. The gunship also had a variant capable of short space travel.

History
"Your gunships have failed!"

- Sanjay Rash to General Kalani after the Separatist defeat on Onderon

Heavy Missile Platform gunships were developed late during the Clone Wars by the Baktoid Fleet Ordnance for the Separatist Droid Army in response to the enormous success of the Grand Army of the Republic's Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry (LAAT/i). Local dictators like Ado Eemon were often contracted to add to the production of the HMP and were usually supplied with a small percent of the production run, which was used to supplement their personal forces and help enforce their own rule.

The gunships made their first appearance in battle around 20 BBY when a quartet of gunships were deployed under the command of super tactical droid General Kalani on the planet Onderon to defeat an army of rebels that had gathered in the highlands. Although they were able to kill many rebels, they were all shot down after the rebels received a shipment of missile launchers delivered by the pirate Hondo Ohnaka and paid for by Anakin Skywalker. A crashed gunship, though, used its last energy to kill the rebel leader Steela Gerrera by shooting at Ahsoka Tano who was attempting to use the Force to save Steela from a cliff's edge. General Kalani evacuated the remaining Separatist forces from the planet after the defeat. The gunships were also used by the Separatists during the Battle of Kashyyyk in 19 BBY. The battle resulted in a defeat for the droid army. Directly after the end of the Clone Wars, a HMP was used by the Geonosian Gizor Dellso's droid forces to board an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer during the Battle of Mustafar. It was destroyed, along with the droids, by the stormtroopers of the 501st Legion.

Behind the scenes
The Heavy Missile Platform resembles an early concept of the Republic gunship unused for Attack of the Clones. The head of the HMP also closely resembles that of the early concept design of the AT-AT.

For Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the concept art was created by TJ Frame and based off the design of Trade Federation vessels from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. For the script of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Five episode Tipping Points, they were called "HMP Predators."

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Air Strike
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Republic: The Hidden Enemy
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron

Non-canon appearances

 * Kowakian Monkey-Lizard
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * Kinect Star Wars