Aquatic assault stormtroopers, also known as seatroopers or aquatic troopers, were a specialized branch of the Imperialstormtroopers. They were used by the Galactic Empire to maintain a presence on the many aquatic worlds under its rule.
Many of the standard technologies employed by the Imperial military were modified for aquatic use, including specialized aquatic garrisons, custom TIE fighter boats, and powerful AT-AT swimmers. The armor of the seatrooper was based on the lightweight scout trooper design. It was worn over a two-piece environmental body glove that provides protection from uncomfortable temperature extremes, or toxic-water environments.
A seatrooper armor.
Designed specifically for engagements on Dac and Tibrin, the seatrooper's armor was pressure-sealed to a maximum of ten atmospheres and included a rebreather that allowed to stay underwater for more than a hour.[1] The armor was more flexible than standard stormtrooper designs, preserving and even increasing a trooper's underwater dexterity. Supplementing a soldier's swimming skills are a back-mounted propulsion unit, and a pair of propulsion boots with snap-down flippers. Since blaster ranges are often adversely affected by underwater use, the seatroopers carried a blaster rifle/speargun hybrid as a standard weapon.
The standard seatrooper utility belt includes high-tension wire, grappling hooks, spare blaster power packs, ion flares, concentrated rations, spare comlink, medpacs, rebreather filters, and a compressed air inflatable bubble tent.
A variation was seen on the planet Iskalon some time after 3 ABY. This variation consisted of a regular stormtrooper helmet and upper body armor over heavy white coveralls. The back-mounted propulsion unit also incorporated an air supply, but the propulsion boots did not have flippers.[2] Thousands of aquatic stormtroopers were used by the Empire to conquer Manaan.[3]