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- "The Y-85 Titan dropship deploys AT-AT walkers from Imperial naval warships down to planetary surfaces."
- ―Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide
The Y-85 Titan dropship, colloquially known as the walker dropship, was an important dropship used to deploy AT-ATs, prefabricated garrison bases and AT-STs onto planetary surfaces.[1]
Contents
Characteristics[edit | edit source]
The Y-85 could accommodate four AT-ATs in addition to four AT-STs. Walkers were held by cranes, clamped along the sides, in battle-ready configuration, and could be quickly deployed via drop-down floor hatches. The Y-85 was armed with two forward twin laser cannons for defense.[1] The walker dropship could also be used to deploy AT-AT swimmers and TIE fighter boats straight into any body of water.
Because of the Y-85's size, it could only fit inside larger Imperial ships. The launch bays of smaller vessels, like Star Destroyers, could only hold landers like the Theta-class AT-AT barge due to their smaller hangar apertures.[1]
History[edit | edit source]
The Y-85 was only reluctantly used by Imperial forces because it was manufactured by the Incom Corporation, a company that also built the Rebel Alliance's X-wing starfighters.[1]
The Executor relied on these dropships to deploy its garrison bases when necessary. The Y-85 was credited with delivering walkers to the Hoth surface before the assault on Echo Base.[1]
Some of these dropships were also used by the United Warlord Fleets in the attack on the Jedi Praxeum in 12 ABY.
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
Early Expanded Universe sources claimed that an Imperial-class Star Destroyer carried 12 "landing barges" of unspecified class. It was stated that these barges were each capable of holding 4 AT-ATs or 8 AT-STs, as well as 1,000 troops.[2]
The author Curtis Saxton found it doubtful that such a large craft could fit inside the hangar of a Star Destroyer. He later served as a consultant during the writing of the book Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy. This book was not only the first official source to fully depict and name the Y-85, but also confirmed that Imperial-class Star Destroyers only have hangars large enough for single-walker landing barges.
An earlier nonfiction book, Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections, by David West Reynolds, had also portrayed a single-walker barge inside the hangars.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Darksaber (First appearance)
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
- Star Wars: Complete Locations
"Imperial Officers Field Guide"—Star Wars Insider 96- Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 4
- Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook
- Star Wars: Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide
