Vince (BlasTech.info)

So apparently a couple of new-canon books now claim the light ball turrets on AT-TE and AT-DP combat walkers are "heavy laser cannons". "Maad 21 heavy laser cannon" and "maad 38 heavy laser cannon" respectively. What were the writers thinking? This initially makes no sense though I come up with a possible solution later on below. The cross-sections classification as anti-personnel cannons makes sense, as they're powerful enough to destroy heavy infantry like droidekas, produce blasts with limited casualty radii or to inundate light-armoured vehicles. In the Rebels TV show, the AT-DP cannon requires multiple direct hits to overwhelm the armour of a fellow AT-DP. They can't penetrate the armour in "one-shot". The AT-DP cannon also couldn't penetrate the front armour of an RTT (Recon Troop Transport) even with multiple direct hits. This is despite what Piers Roddance claimed about "a single shot penetrating medium armour". I have never seen the AT-TE light guns destroy a medium tank. On a STAR WARS battlefield these are the 'light guns' so "maad heavy laser cannon" is misleading terminology, to say the least. Even the sponson-guns on an AT-AT which dwarf these ball turrets are considered "medium" weight cannons. Sources Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide Star Wars: Rogue One: AT-ACT Deluxe Book and 3D Wood Model A semantical attempt to make sense of "maad heavy laser cannons" "maad" = "Manned-Anti-Assembly-Defense" ? Assembly in this sense refers to groups of enemy personnel & light-armoured vehicles. Anti-personnel weapons are often considered "defensive" systems on armoured vehicles, like point-defence. A "heavy" anti-personnel laser cannon, as opposed to a "light" anti-personnel cannon, retains some effectiveness against light-armoured vehicles, can produce blasts with a casualty radius & can easily destroy the heaviest infantry including shielded droidekas with a single shot. Light-anti-personnel laser cannons might still produce limited casualty radius but are ineffective against light-armoured-vehicles, they are more akin to a personal infantry blaster set to full-power (like a light-repeater, and an example might be the concealable blaster on Poe Dameron's X-wing). But using the light vs heavy laser cannon terminology for anti-personnel cannons is extremely misleading when the term anti-personnel is omitted, as they are all "light guns" in contrast to true "medium" & "heavy" anti-tank guns or artillery. Light-through to heavy anti-personnel laser cannons are equivalent to real-world ballistic autocannons as opposed to full-scale tank guns or artillery.