IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tank/Legends

"Be careful, Mace! Their missiles are lethal!"

- Luminara Unduli to Mace Windu

The IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tank, also known as simply the Hailfire droid or the wheel droid, was a droid tank constructed by Haor Chall Engineering for the InterGalactic Banking Clan prior to and during the Clone Wars. It was highly effective against armor.

Characteristics
The Hailfire-class droid tank was a self-aware mobile missile platform capable of destroying enemy vehicles and entire platoons of enemy soldiers. It ran on large hoop-like wheels on either side of the main armored command module, which enabled it to operate on almost any terrain at impressive speed.

The Hailfire-class was well equipped, with missile launchers fitted on each side of its head, each missile rack carrying 15 guided rocket warheads powerful enough to cause significant damage to enemy targets. A well-placed shot with one of these missiles was enough to destroy a Republic AT-TE walker, and was effective against other armored units. Each Hailfire-class droid tank also had a retractable double blaster for use against infantry and other "soft" targets.

The Hailfire-class also had many different configurations that boasted various types of weapons. Some of the configurations included heavy blaster artillery, ion cannons, or anti-personnel stun weapon batteries. The wheels' inward design gave Hailfires a wider lateral range and the ability to crush tightly grouped soldiers and small vehicles.

History
"We've come to repossess the planet."

- InterGalactic Banking Clan commander Horgo Shive

Before the Clone Wars, the Hailfire-class droid was used by the Banking Clan's euphemistically named "Collections and Security Division" to punish customers which had failed to pay their debts on time. The Banking Clan pledged the droid as part of the combined arms of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, although in a non-exclusive deal.

Hailfire-class droid tanks first appeared as part of the army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Battle of Geonosis, where they disabled or destroyed numerous AT-TEs and injured or killed countless clone troopers before being destroyed by LAAT/i gunships. During the war, many Hailfire-class droids of various models and types continued to fight in battles against the Republic's army, and were used extensively during the first parts of the war.

Due to the limited supply of 30 warheads for each unit, the Banking Clan retired the Hailfire from the battlefield for some time. The Clan came up with an answer to this problem, though: air-mobile refresh droids that could resupply the Hailfire-class droids with warheads were partnered with them on the battlefield, and once again, the Hailfire-class became the scourge of slow-moving vehicles. During the Clone Wars, like many other vehicles, the Hailfire droid was re-painted in the Separatist color scheme.



Following the execution of the Separatist Council by Darth Sidious's new apprentice, Darth Vader, these units were deactivated. However, some Hailfire-class components were reactivated and used by the Wookiees against Imperial landing parties during the Empire's subjugation of the planet in 19 BBY.

In 1 ABY the Alliance to Restore the Republic used Hailfire-class droids during several attacks on cities held by Imperial forces.

Behind the scenes
In Attack of the Clones, Confederate rockets, including those of Hailfire-class droids, were keyed to leave black smoke in contrast to the white trails left by Republic missiles.

In Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns, Hailfire droids are mistakenly portrayed as strict anti-air vehicles.

The Hailfire droid had a real life counterpart, the Russian Tsar Tank, designed in 1914. It followed a similar design, with two large hoop-like wheels along with a third smaller steering wheel mounted on an axle with guns mounted in turrets in the middle. However, this tank never made it past the prototype stage, being deemed too unwieldy and vulnerable to enemy artillery fire.

Older than them both, a Korean weapon called the hwacha, designed in the mid 1500s, bears similar design and function to the Hailfire droid. The hwacha has two large wheels on each side like the droid, though they were used for adjusting angle of fire, not constant mobility. The hwacha could also fire 200 rocket arrows at once over a distance of 500 yards with great accuracy, similar to the weapons function of the Hailfire droid.

Non-canonical appearances

 * Always count your clones before take-off
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters video game