Interdictor-class cruiser

The Interdictor-class was 600 meters long and featured a hull that split into two structures, one dorsal and one ventral. The ship was propelled by three main thrusters and four auxiliary thrusters, similar to the Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Each ship was commanded from a sternward tower.

The Interdictor-class cruiser was armed with 5 medium Turbolaser cannon batteries, 6 light point-defense cannon batteries, 3 tractor beam batteries, and 4 gravity well projectors. The infamous Interdictor-class cruiser and Sith warship, the Leviathan was equipped with 20 quad laser cannons, 4 turbolaser cannons, 2 ion cannons and a tractor beam projector.

The Sith warships made by the Star Forge rivaled Star Destroyers of the Imperial Period.

The class name "Interdictor" was first proposed by Admiral Jimas Veltraa. When Veltraa was killed in the Mandalorian Wars, some proposed that the name of the class be changed to honor him, but this was overruled by the Supreme Chancellor. In 3963 BBY, construction on the Interdictor-class was approved.

The original prototype Interdictors were manufactured by Republic Sienar Systems. Like the Inexpugnable-class command ships, the Interdictor-class cruisers were built at Corellian shipyards, though many more would be constructed by the Star Forge to fuel the growing warfleet of the Sith Lord Darth Revan.

The most notable Interdictor-class Cruiser was the Leviathan, a Galactic Republic warship that was said to be the only vessel in the class that came out of the shipyards in a space-worthy state. It was commanded by Admiral Saul Karath, who defected with the ship to join the Sith Lords Revan and Malak. The ship was duplicated in the Star Forge and produced by the hundreds. The Leviathan itself continued to serve as Karath's flagship up until his death.

Malak, in the Leviathan, brought a fleet of Interdictors to Taris and positioned them around that world in an attempt to stop the Jedi Knight Bastila Shan from escaping. Frustrated that the search for the missing Jedi was taking too long, he ordered his fleet to bombard Taris with their turbolasers, turning the Upper City into slag. Some time later, a number of Interdictors participated in the Battle of Rakata Prime, which bore witness to the destruction of the Star Forge and the mass production of Interdictor-class ships and Sith fighters.

Despite that, many of the remaining Interdictor-class cruisers were later used to form the core of Darth Nihilus's Sith battlefleet and were seen in action at the Battle of Telos IV.

Millennia later, the overall design principles survived in the Galactic Republic and later in the Galactic Empire, in the form of the Star Destroyer line of warships. Sienar, known under the Empire as Sienar Fleet Systems, went on to make the Immobilizer 418 cruiser, which was equipped with a superior form of gravity well projector.

According to the Knights of the Old Republic: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, the Interdictor-class was built by Sienar Fleet Systems, a company which would not exist until the formation of the Galactic Empire. The company at the time of the Mandalorian Wars was still called Republic Sienar Systems.

The 1998 PC program Star Wars: Behind the Magic includes a glossary entry for the "Interdictor-class cruiser." However, as this entry notes, the term is intended to apply to the Immobilizer 418 cruiser and should not be confused with the Interdictor-class cruiser of the KotOR series. The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia mistakenly refers to an Interdictor type of ship, misusing an early name for the class that appeared in strategy guides and walkthroughs for Knights of the Old Republic.

• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
• The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
• Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Legacy Era Campaign Guide
• Galaxy of Intrigue
• The Essential Guide to Warfare