The Merr-Sonn electromagnetic pulse launcher was an ion weapon capable of disrupting Confederacy of Independent Systems battle droids. Upon impact with a solid object, the projectile would detonate, dealing ion damage to the droids circuitry. The electricity would short-circuit the droids' neural network and render the droid useless. Droids hit by a blast from an EMP launcher had a tendency to fly apart as the electromagnetic couplings for their limbs were overloaded by the pulse. The Galactic Republic's Grand Army clone jet troopers used the EMP launcher on battlefronts throughout the Clone Wars.
The EMP launcher appears in the Star Wars: Battlefront video game series, serving as the primary weapon of the jet trooper, the Republic's unit of the special class. In the first game, the weapon unleashes powerful blasts of electromagnetic pulse upon impact that can consistently destroy fully-shielded droidekas in two hits. Although it retains its name and identity as the jet trooper's primary weapon in the sequel, the ion effect was removed, causing it to function as a normal rocket launcher. It also appears in the 2004 novel Republic Commando: Hard Contact.
In the The Clone Wars Campaign Guide, the EMP launcher is listed under the weapons of the clone jet trooper as the "EMP grenade launcher". This is inconsistent with the original Star Wars: Battlefront video game, where the weapon operates like a rocket launcher instead, and the game's strategy guide describes the discharge as not a physical projectile, but a pure blast of electromagnetic energy.
- Star Wars Battlefront: Prima Official Game Guide
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Clone Wars Campaign Guide