Ultra-Light Assault Vehicles (ULAVs) were small, fast repulsorcraft. Symmetrical in design and equipped with a repulsorlift, the assault vehicles had a tan-colored hull; air intakes on either side of the nose; and tinted, wedge-shaped windscreens. Some Ultra-Light Assault Vehicles also had fins on opposite sides of the frame.
As assault vehicles, each ULAV was armed with two forward-facing laser cannons; a rotating, rear-mounted blaster cannon; and a concussion missile launcher. The blaster cannon was operated by a single gunner, and the craft was flown by a single pilot.
The Ultra-Light Assault Vehicles were used by the rebellion against the Empire led by Senator Mon Mothma.
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Senator Mon Mothma led a rebellion against the Empire which utilized Ultra-Light Assault Vehicles to support slower rebel soldiers in battle. Between 3 BBY and 2 BBY, General Pitt Onoran—with insights from Lieutenant Taidu Sefla—sent a report to Mothma which listed Ultra-Light Assault Vehicles among the rebellion's available ground forces. By 4 ABY, Onoran's assessment was collected by archivist Hendri Underholt for the compilation of non-electronic documents known as The Rebel Files.
Decades later in 34 ABY, after The Rebel Files were discovered during an excavation on the planet Durkteel, Resistance Major Caluan Ematt made annotations on the document. Ematt noted that the Resistance was "alarmingly under equipped" when it came to ground forces, and that he would "give anything" to have a repulsor pool at the Resistance base on the planet D'Qar with any of the vehicles—including the Ultra-Light Assault Vehicle—within it.
Star Wars: Galactic Defense marked the Ultra-Light Assault Vehicle's first appearance in the current canon.
In the current Star Wars canon, Ultra-Light Assault Vehicles first appeared in the tower defense game Star Wars: Galactic Defense, which was released in 2014 and shut down in 2016. In Star Wars Legends, ULAVs were first mentioned in the 1990 roleplaying book The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, written by Paul Murphy. The first Legends appearance of ULAVs came in the 1998 novel X-Wing: Wraith Squadron.
In Galactic Defense, ULAVs were a type of enemy unit in the "Dark Side" missions, appearing in original trilogy–themed levels recreating the Battles of Hoth and Endor. In these levels, players utilized defense towers and Imperial forces, such as riot troopers, to defend against waves of rebel units; successfully destroying a ULAV awarded the player with "Scrap," a point standard used to upgrade or purchase towers. While descriptions and lore within Galactic Defense were canon, the actual gameplay was not; consequently, the presence of ULAVs on the planet Hoth and the moon Endor is considered non-canon.
- Star Wars: The Rebel Files