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- "A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set up a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes."
- ―General Jan Dodonna briefs Rebel pilots on the attack on the Death Star
Proton torpedoes were used by Luke Skywalker to destroy the first Death Star.
Proton torpedoes were a type of explosive ordnance used throughout the galaxy. Upon impact with a target, the proton warhead would release clouds of high-velocity proton particles in a focused explosion.[2][3]
Proton torpedoes were capable of incredible maneuverability, such as making a 90-degree turn within a turning circle of one meter.[4] They could penetrate ray shields but were stopped by particle shields.[3] High-yield proton torpedoes, likes those carried on Acclamator-class assault ships, could be used to conduct Base Delta Zero bombardments.[3]
They were used by the Royal Naboo Security Forces during the Invasion of Naboo, in which Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Trade Federation command ship with proton torpedoes.[5]
Decades later, proton torpedoes were used by TIE bombers to bomb a carrier stolen by the Spectres. Later, they were used by the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Battle of Yavin. After examining stolen plans for the Death Star, a planet-destroying space station operated by the Galactic Empire, the Alliance determined the Death Star would get destroyed if proton torpedoes were fired into the exhaust port which led down into the reactor core. Red Leader Commander Garven Dreis attempted to fire his torpedoes down the shaft, but instead the torpedoes missed the target, impacting on the surface. Using the Force, Anakin’s son Jedi Lieutenant Luke Skywalker successfully destroyed the station and killed Governor Wilhuff Tarkin and most of the Empire’s best forces at his hands using proton torpedoes from his T-65B X-wing starfighter during the Battle.[1]
Around 30 years after the destruction of the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station, the Resistance used miniaturized MG7-A proton torpedoes[2] during their bombing run on Starkiller Base's thermal oscillator.[6]
