- "Rogue Group, use your harpoons and tow cables. Go for the legs. It might be our only chance of stopping them."
- ―Luke Skywalker
The power harpoon, commonly referred to as a harpoon and tow cable, was a weapon system.
Alliance to Restore the Republic tactician Beryl Chiffonage, in conjunction with Commander Luke Skywalker, developed an offensive use for the power harpoon to combat All Terrain Armored Transports. The tactic was used prominently during the Battle of Hoth.
Operated by the gunner onboard a snowspeeder, the harpoon, tipped with a fusion disk, would be fired at the leg of an Imperial AT-AT walker. The pilot of the snowspeeder would then make several rotations around the walker to wrap the flexisteel cable around its legs. The walker would then become ensnared and fall over, effectively neutralized. Harpoons and tow cables were able to bring down a few AT-ATs at Hoth and were the Alliance's most effective method of dealing with the lethal Imperial walkers.
Besides the harpoon and tow cables themselves, there were also some types of weapons, such as the tow-cable bomb, that were developed specifically for power harpoons in mind.[1]
It was employed by the Galactic Empire as a boarding weapon, employed by assault shuttles to immobilize starships in preparation for a boarding action conducted by Zero-G assault stormtroopers.[2]
Appearances
Sources
- Assault on Hoth
- Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back
- Rebel Alliance Sourcebook
- Heir to the Empire Sourcebook
- Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition
- Dark Empire Sourcebook
- Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, Second Edition
- The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
- Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised
- Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Hoth Limited (Card: Power Harpoon) (backup link)
- Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook
- The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Limited Collector's Edition
- Star Wars Trading Card Game — The Empire Strikes Back (Card: Go for the Legs) (backup link (http://www.wizards.com/swtcg/swtcg_autocard.asp?name=Go%5Bfor%5Bthe%5BLegs) not verified!) (Picture only)
- Star Wars Trading Card Game — The Empire Strikes Back (Card: Lieutenant Wes Janson) (backup link (http://www.wizards.com/swtcg/swtcg_autocard.asp?name=Lieutenant%5BWes%5BJanson%5B(A)) not verified!)
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 115 (HAR1-2, Power Harpoon)
- Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 10
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide
- Star Wars Illustrated: The Empire Strikes Back (Card: Rogue Flight's Attack)
- Star Wars Illustrated: The Empire Strikes Back (Card: Rogue Leader)
- Star Wars Illustrated: The Empire Strikes Back (Card: The Great Harpoon Plan)
- Star Wars Illustrated: The Empire Strikes Back (Card: Walker Down!)
- snowspeeder in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)