The LC-10bW, or laser ice-cutter, was a laser cannon used to sheer through ice with quick precision.[1] These cutters were used by the Rebel Alliance Corps of Engineers, alongside excavator machinery, to carve out space inside the caves of Echo Base.[1] The cutters need careful maintenance to operate in sub-freezing temperatures.[2]
The LC-10bWs could be mounted on tripods or vehicles.[2] On Hoth they were mounted on cannon sled ground vehicles.[3] Luke Skywalker once manned an ice-cutter at Echo Base.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
This device appeared, unnamed, in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, where it is briefly visible in the left corner of the frame when Han Solo rides into a hangar.[5] It is mounted on a vehicle named a "cannon sled" in original production blueprints.[3] The vehicle, complete with the laser cutter, can be briefly glimpsed near the Rebel defenses outside of Echo Base.[5] On set footage of the vehicle was included in the rarely seen documentary by Michel Parbot, The Making of "The Empire Strikes Back".[6] There were a number of publicity photos of Luke Skywalker manning the laser cutter which, according to Lucasfilm Story Group executive Pablo Hidalgo, were not deleted scenes but rather on-set photos taken with the prop.[7]
The 2005 reference book Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy seems to identify the entire cannon sled vehicle as the "laser ice-cutter,"[1] but 2010's Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition refers to the laser ice-cutter as the LC-10bW and suggests that it is only the name of the laser cannon itself, which is mounted onto the separate vehicle.[2]
Appearances[]
- "A New Beginning"
- † Classic Star Wars 18
- Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (First appearance)
Sources[]
- Star Wars Technical Journal of the Rebel Forces (Picture only)
- Star Wars Technical Journal (Picture only)
- Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back, Second Edition (Picture only)
- Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition (Picture only)
- Star Wars: Behind the Magic (Picture only)
- Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
- Star Wars: Complete Locations
- LEGO Classic Star Wars (Set: 8083 Rebel Trooper Battle Pack)
- Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition (First identified as LC-10bW)
- The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
- Star Wars: The Blueprints
- Star Wars: The Card Game — The Battle of Hoth (Card: Snowspeeder Launch Bay) (Picture only)
- Strongholds of Resistance
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Star Wars: The Blueprints
- ↑ Star Wars: Behind the Magic
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
- ↑ The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot (1980) on the Adywan revisited YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ Pablo Hidalgo (@pabl0hidalgo) on Twitter: "You may occasionally find photos of Luke in his snowspeeder pilot manning the guns online labeled as a 'deleted scene'. It's not. It's more like a photo opportunity, as this prop / vehicle was on set that day" (backup link)
External links[]
- The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot (1980) on the Adywan revisited YouTube channel (backup link) (Behind the scenes footage and interviews including the cannon sled)