 |  |
- "We count thirty Rebel ships, Lord Vader, but they're so small they're evading our turbolasers."
- ―An Imperial Lieutenant, to Darth Vader, during the Battle of Yavin
An XX-9 heavy turbolaser battery on the Death Star
A turbolaser was a powerful variant of the laser cannon turret usually installed aboard capital ships as well as space stations. While their firepower made them very capable against other capital ships, turbolasers were less effective against smaller and nimble starfighters.[1]
Features[edit | edit source]
- "The items include TRL-44 cylinders, Klymtra spark collimators, Boorian synchronization grids, thorilide shock absorbers—"
"Wait a minute. Thorilide shock absorbers are—no. You're wrong."
"Do you recognize those elements, Assistant Director?"
"They're components for point-defense turbolaser batteries." - ―Lieutenant Eli Vanto, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Assistant Director Ronan
A turbolaser's effectiveness was weakened drastically as the bolt moved through layers of a planet's atmosphere, making them largely ineffective even against unshielded targets. However, this could be ameliorated by moving the ship deeper into the planet's stratosphere.[2]
Some turbolasers had a limited range of effectiveness, even in the vacuum of space; the turbolaser armaments of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Chimaera had a combat range of less than 1,200 kilometers. After said distance, they would be unable to penetrate any type of sufficient armoring.[3] Likewise, the Star Dreadnought Supremacy's heavy turbolasers were unable to cause notable damage to the shields of the Star Cruiser Raddus from a significant distance, despite their continuous barrage.[4]
Thorilide, mined from the Inner Rim moon Cynda, was a vital resource in the manufacturing of the shock absorbers of a turbolaser.[5]
By the time of the First Order/Resistance War, kyber focusing crystals were installed in the turbolasers used by the First Order to increase their firepower and improve their recharge rate.[6]
Usage[edit | edit source]
Quad Turbolaser cannons.
Variants of the turbolaser existed, such as the Quad turbolaser cannon, the Octuple turbolaser barbette, the Light Turbolaser, and the Heavy Turbolaser.
Turbolasers were the primary armament on various capital ships, most notably Star Destroyers such as the Venator-class Star Destroyer[7], the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer[8], and the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer.[9]
Other types of ships that were equipped with turbolasers included Cruisers such as the MC80 Liberty Type Heavy Star Cruisers[10], the Arquitens-class light cruiser[11], and the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser[12], as well as Corvettes such as the CR90 corvette.[13]
Turbolasers could also be found upon space stations such as the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station[1], the Golan I Space Defense Platform[14], and the Golan M3185.[15]
Examples[edit | edit source]
- DBY-827 heavy turbolaser turret
- KDD2055 short-range turbolaser rapid-fire defense battery
- MegaCaliber Six turbolaser cannon
- XX-9 heavy turbolaser battery
Appearances[edit | edit source]
Sources[edit | edit source]
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- ↑ Thrawn
- ↑ Thrawn: Treason
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
- ↑ A New Dawn
- ↑ Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Incredible Cross-Sections
- ↑ Star Wars: Complete Vehicles
- ↑ Ultimate Star Wars
- ↑ Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Incredible Cross-Sections
- ↑ Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Head-to-Head
- ↑ Rise of the Separatists
- ↑
Malevolence in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ Alderaan cruiser in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ Starships and Speeders
- ↑ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
