DC - 17m Interchangeable Weapon System The DC - 17m Interchangeable Weapon System ( DC - 17m ICWS ) was a configurable combat weapons system used by the clone commandos of the Galactic Republic . Designed by BlasTech Industries to be able to meet the demands of the Grand Army of the Republic ' s elite special forces soldiers , the DC - 17m became the unique weapon of the Republic commandos throughout the Clone Wars . An adaptable weapon , the DC - 17m was capable of fulfilling multiple combat roles due to its ability to reconfigure into either a standard blaster assault rifle , a compact sniper rifle , or an anti - armor grenade launcher , depending upon the needs of the user . These traits made the DC - 17m invaluable to its clone commando owners , and the DC - 17 proved a dangerous weapon against the Confederacy of Independent Systems on countless battlefields across the galaxy , from the deserts of Geonosis , to the cityscape of Coruscant , and the forests of Kashyyyk . Description . A product of BlasTech Industries , the DC - 17m Interchangeable Weapon System was a lighter and more versatile version of the DC - 15 blaster issued to the clone trooper infantry of the Grand Army of the Republic . Manufactured to a higher level of specification , the DC - 17m ' s design ensured that it never jammed in the presence of excessive heat , cold , dust , or grime , though it required periodic calibration . The DC - 17m shared many of its internal parts and components with the smaller and similarly designated DC - 17 hand blaster . Unlike the blaster pistol , the DC - 17m was , at its root , a base stock which could be configured several different ways depending upon the needs of the user by way of numerous attachments : a standard blaster rifle , a high - powered sniper rifle , and an anti - armor grenade launcher . For the clone commandos for whom the rifle was standard issue and who trained with the DC - 17m from a young age , changing the attachments was no more difficult than changing out a spent ammunition clip , and they appreciated the reduction in load the DC - 17 afforded them by combining three weapons on one platform . The DC - 17m stock was sturdy enough to be used as a melee weapon in close combat , and the rifle had a safety setting to reduce misfires . Each DC - 17m cost around 4500 , and Republic Procurement was continuously seeking new add - ons for the weapon during the course of the Clone Wars . Blaster . Perhaps the most often used attachment , the blaster rifle attachment , made the DC - 17m a powerful , rapid - firing ion pulse assault rifle . Drawing its power from side - loaded power pack clips , the DC - 17m blaster could fire a maximum of sixty shots before requiring a reload ; commandos typically carried ammunition for up to three - hundred rounds on their person . The cross - trained commando , Corr — having served previously as a clone trooper in ordnance disposal prior to learning commando skills — found the left - mounted energy clip on the DC - 17m ' s blaster to be a hindrance when holstering for beings that favored their right hand . First generation commandos that had been trained with the weapon since youth found no such complaint with the DC - 17m , though they did note the oddity of the layout once the point was raised . Sniper rifle . The second attachment for the DC - 17m allowed the blaster to convert into a long - range sniper rifle with a electromagnetic targeting scope . The rifle fired projectiles encased in blaster energy , similar to the quarrels used by Wookiee bowcasters . Ammunition magazines for the sniper attachment carried five quarrels each . The electromagnetic scope had two levels of zoom , adjusting the range between 10x and 20x magnification . The sights also provided an effect similar to an x - ray at close range . A well - placed shot from the DC - 17m ' s sniper attachment was known to be capable of killing many types of enemies , from droids to several species of organics . The sniper attachment was the preferred DC - 17m configuration of the clone commandos Sev and Fi , both of whom trained intensively as snipers . Anti - armor . A third configuration for the DC - 17m was made possible by an attachment that transformed the rifle into an anti - armor grenade launcher . The launcher was loaded , one at a time , with dumb - fire grenades that could be launched several feet away from the user , and detonated on impact with any hard surface . Though the grenades were especially effective against heavily armored targets , the wide blast radius of the explosion made them good for damaging or destroying small enemy formations . Each grenade cost four hundred credits , and due to the size of the grenades , commandos typically carried only around four on their person . However , a number of individual clones chose to equip their armor with additional holsters for carrying extra anti - armor rounds . One such clone was the Delta Squad commando Scorch , who favored the explosive power of the grenade launcher attachment in battle . Additional attachments . By the time of the second anniversary of the Battle of Geonosis , a fourth attachment to the DC - 17m had been introduced to the Grand Army ' s clone commandos : the non - lethal Pulsed Energy Projectile — or " PEP " — laser . Originally a tool of galactic law enforcement agencies , the PEP laser was effective in riot and crowd control , or any other situation where death was undesirable . The weapon utilized a deuterium fluoride laser to stun targets into submission without inflicting permanent harm , although severe bruising and lingering pain were among potential side effects . The PEP laser attachment produced a powerful shockwave of both light and sound when it was discharged , and the impact from the device was described by one clone user as similar to being hit with a flash - bang grenade and struck in the chest by several plastoid rounds at the same time . In the third year of the Clone Wars , the Merr - Sonn Munitions corporation released a fifth attachment for the DC - 17m , this time a rapid - entry breaching grenade . While similar to the anti - armor attachment in many ways , the Merr - Sonn breaching grenade was specially designed to blow open sealed doors and hatch es from a safe distance , and was fired from a stand - off rod placed at the end of the DC - 17 ' s muzzle . The breaching grenade drew a few small criticisms from the soldiers who used it : one clone commando stated that the stand - off rod made the DC - 17 unwieldy and could potentially impair aiming , while another believed that it was too blunt of an instrument and an insult to their years of elite training . In spite of these minor complaints , the attachment proved itself to be a useful tool in executing door breach maneuvers where a potentially dangerous and hostile force could be waiting on the other side . History . The DC - 17m Interchangeable Weapons System was one element of the standard issue equipment provided to all clone commandos in the Grand Army of the Republic ' s special forces division , and their primary weapon in combat . Growing up on Kamino , the clones were educated from a young age in how to utilize the advanced blaster rifle , first by Kaminoan flash training simulation programs , then by the " Cuy ' val Dar " sergeants recruited by Jango Fett to further train the commandos . Live - fire exercises in the clone military education complex of Tipoca City honed the clones ' skill with the DC - 17m , and while each commando held a their preference for the individual attachments and configurations , by the start of the Clone Wars , the commandos were capable of wielding the DC - 17m blaster with incredible efficiency . As the weapon of choice for the Republic ' s clone commandos , the DC - 17m made its mark on numerous fields of battle across the galaxy . On the red desert plains of Geonosis during the war ' s first battle , ten thousand clone commandos brought their DC - 17s against the forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems . Notably , the commandos of Delta Squad wielded their rifles with deadly effectiveness in the destruction of a Geonosian droid foundry and a raid on a Confederacy " Lucrehulk " - class Core Ship . The DC - 17m would further prove its worth on the Mid Rim world of Qiilura , where the Omega Squad ' s elite commandos destroyed a Confederacy bioweapon s facility and captured the CIS scientist , Ovolot Qail Uthan . The DC - 17m enjoyed continued use during a Republic covert strike on the snow - covered planet Fest , a multi - squad undertaking to destroy a Jabiimi terrorist cell operating on Coruscant , the hunt for the rogue Kaminoan cloner , Ko Sai , and the battle of Haurgab . Clone commandos relied on their DC - 17m blasters during the attack on Coruscant orchestrated by General Grievous , Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies of the Confederacy , late in the war . The specialized assault rifles were also instrumental to the commandos of Delta Squad during their assigned mission to the arboreal homeworld of the Wookiees , Kashyyyk , and in the subsequent battle that erupted between the Confederacy and Republic shortly after . Hondo Ohnaka ' s pirates also made use of these weapons . After the transformation of the Galactic Republic into the new Galactic Empire , the clone commandos that had formerly served in the Republic Grand Army ' s Special Operations Brigade were reassigned to the Imperial Commando Special Unit — a new special operations division within the Imperial Army ' s 501st Legion , under the command of Darth Vader . Despite the changes to their serial numbers , their armor , and the names of their squads , the commandos were allowed the retention of their DC - 17m rifles . Commandos from Imperial Squad 40 used their DC - 17s in a confrontation with former Jedi Master Iri Camas , and to hunt down the Jedi Knight Borik Yelgo , missions that both ended with the targets ' death . Behind the scenes . The DC - 17m Interchangeable Weapons System first appeared in the 2004 novel , " " , by author Karen Traviss as a tie in to the subsequent 2005 video game , " " , for which the weapon was created and prominently featured . The DC - 17 , as the blaster used by all the clone commandos , would go on to make appearances in every novel in the " Republic " and " Imperial Commando " series . The 2008 reference book , " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " , featured a brief informational entry for the DC - 17m .