Ion cannon/Legends

"A weapon that neutralizes all power to our ships, leaving the targets defenseless."

- Plo Koon

An ion cannon was a weapon which fired highly ionized particles or highly ionized plasma. These particles did little physical damage (the plasma did more), but seriously interfered with the operation of electronics and computer systems, shorting circuits and often disabling them outright.

Large negative-ion pulses were charged in a turbine generator then channeled into a plasma charge or released as a large pulse towards a target. As a result, ion cannons were the weapon of choice for subduing, rather than destroying, enemy starships, vehicles, shields, or droids.

History
"We'll never make it through unless the fighters can eliminate the ion cannons on the Star Destroyers!"

- Admiral Ackbar



They were often used on capital ships, such as Star Destroyers, to facilitate the capture of enemy vessels or disabling them to allow safe close-range fire. They also helped to drop shields prior to destroying enemy vessels. Fighters such as the B-wing,Y-wing, and the TIE/D Defender in some cases, were also equipped with ion cannons, of much smaller size.

A more powerful form of the ion cannon was used in the Clone Wars, mounted on the CIS ship, the Malevolence. It was capable of stopping Venator-class Star Destroyers and could stop entire fleets in their tracks. The weapon overloaded near the Balmorra run thanks to the efforts of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano.

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

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Saga of Nomi Sunrider
 * Tales of the Jedi (audio)
 * Darth Bane: Rule of Two
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Mark of the Crown
 * Cloak of Deception
 * Outbound Flight
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Jedi: Shaak Ti
 * MedStar I: Battle Surgeons
 * MedStar II: Jedi Healer
 * Jedi Trial
 * Boba Fett: Pursuit
 * Star Wars Republic: The Siege of Saleucami
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of The Sith
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of The Sith
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Allegiance
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Star Wars Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * One Last Night in the Mos Eisley Cantina: The Tale of the Wolfman and the Lamproid
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Dark Empire
 * Boba Fett: Agent of Doom
 * Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * X-wing: Starfighters of Adumar
 * Before the Storm
 * Specter of the Past
 * Young Jedi Knights: Shards of Alderaan
 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest
 * Dark Journey
 * The Unifying Force