The v-150 Planet Defender which appears in The Empire Strikes Back defends the Rebel base on Hoth.
Jawas use scrap-built ionization blasters to disable droids as seen in A New Hope.
Īnother common type of DEW in the Star Wars universe is the ion cannon, which background literature describes as firing powerful bolts of ionized energy designed to overload electrical systems or fuse mechanical components, disabling a target without causing lasting damage. Turbolasers require large crews and power generators to function but are effective against other capital ships and planetary targets. The most powerful type of these weapons are referred to as turbolasers, commonly found on Star Wars capital ships. Blaster cannons and laser cannons are more powerful types of these weapons commonly found on Star Wars vehicles, starfighters and other spacecraft, with laser cannons generally considered superior of the two. Small-arms blasters come in many types, from pistols to rifles, with accuracy and range improving as barrel length increases.
The in-universe description for how these weapons function is that a high-energy gas is charged by a power cell and converted into plasma, which is fired as a coherent energy bolt at the enemy via magnetic bottle effect. Directed-energy weapons (DEW) figure prominently in the Star Wars franchise, with the most common type referred to as lasers or blasters.
