A trio of missiles
An explosive projectile, sometimes referred to as a rocket, known as a missile, was launched from a missile launcher. These missiles saw action in both ground-based conflicts and battles in space. Various vehicles and starships were outfitted with missile launchers, including the droid gunship and the Republic Attack Gunship. Battle droids, clone troopers, and Mandalorian warriors also employed them. Examples include proton torpedoes, concussion missiles, and discord missiles.
Due to their distinct qualities, missile-based weaponry was regarded as a supplement to blasters and other energy-based weapons. Missiles possessed the capability to lock onto a target, maneuvering around any obstacles in their path to ensure a direct hit. Missiles could endure turning accelerations reaching 10,000 G, such as executing a 90-degree turn within a one-meter radius, due to the implementation of acceleration compensators and tensor fields. They could strike targets obscured by the horizon when launched from a planetary surface. Furthermore, missiles had the ability to adhere to a pre-set course or obtain updated targeting data through encrypted guidance signals transmitted by orbiting vessels or forward observers.
However, compared to blasters, missiles presented a greater challenge to successfully deploy, and were susceptible to being intercepted. Certain missiles employed intentionally erratic flight patterns or leveraged their maneuverability to evade interception. A variety of electronic countermeasures also posed a threat to missiles, including sensor jammers, seeker warheads, chaff, and sensor inverters.
Missiles could be equipped with a diverse selection of warheads, such as proton, EMP, antimatter, or intense radiation warheads, contingent on the specific mission requirements. The explosive yield of missile warheads could be adjusted, and the resulting blast could be either focused in a specific direction or spread out in all directions. For example, the missiles used by Republic attack gunships concentrated their explosive force within a narrow, two-degree cone.
A missile being fired from a missile launcher
Missiles varied in size, which correlated with variations in their potential for destruction. A B-wing could be armed with missiles potent enough to generate shock waves that could dislodge entire groups of starfighters from the sky when deployed within an atmosphere. Capital ship-grade missiles, such as those carried by Imperial-class Star Destroyers, had the capacity to trigger explosions of sufficient magnitude to vaporize lakes or topple factories the size of a mountain, whereas proton torpedoes, like those equipped on Acclamator-class assault ships, were employed in Base Delta Zero bombardments capable of melting a planet's uppermost crust. During the Battle of Umbara, the Umbaran Militia made use of long-range missiles boasting 100-megaton warheads (provided by the Separatists) to safeguard their capital from the forces of the Grand Army of the Republic.
