Nuclear bomb Nuclear bombs were powerful explosives capable of ruining neighborhoods or cities and left residual radiation after their detonation . Description . The nuclear weapons used by the Mandalorians during the Mandalorian Wars were silver missiles with long , tubular bodies and red nose cones . On the aft end of their silver bodies , they had four fins . The destruction capable by these weapons varied , but almost any nuclear missile could level a city . Most had a blast radius of 30 kilometers , and could deal heavy radiation damage up to a 100 kilometer radius . The bomb was detonated using nuclear fission . Most nuclear weapons used a radioactive substance known as uranium because of its large and unstable nucleus . History . In 3963 BBY , after Mandalorian Neo - Crusaders invaded Galactic Republic space and initiated the Mandalorian Wars , the Mandalorians procured a supply of nuclear missiles . On the eve of the Battle of Serroco , several Force - sensitives across the galaxy experienced visions of a Mandalorian bombardment that would devastate the planet of Serroco ' s surface . A former Padawan , Zayne Carrick , who was actually on that world when he saw this stowed away aboard a Republic ship and announced that he was a Jedi so he would be taken to their flagship , the " Courageous " . However , upon discovering that Carrick had been accused of perpetrating the Padawan Massacre of Taris the commander of the Republic fleet , Saul Karath became convinced that he was misleading them on behalf of the Mandalorians . Nuclear weapons were also used during the Battle of Jebble by Cassus Fett to completely wipe out the Rakghoul plague that had spread to many of the Mandalorians there . This led to a sudden and severe melting of the ice that covered the planet . It was said that HAVw A6 Juggernauts could produce heat levels approaching that of a nuclear bomb . In 33 BBY , the Sith Lord Darth Sidious ( alter ego of Senator Palpatine of Naboo ) orchestrated the execution of a complex plot involving the procurement of a proscribed nuclear weapon to assassinate his own Sith Master Darth Plagueis ( alter ego of IBC kingpin Hego Damask ) . To accomplish this , he covertly solicited , then manipulated the services of some of the galaxy ' s most feared crime lords and organizations , including Black Sun overlord Alexi Garyn and notorious gambler Gardulla Besadii the Elder , all of whom , in some way , held Damask in contempt . Foremost among them was King Ars Veruna of Naboo , who felt Damask was working to undermine his wealth - building ventures and remove him from the throne ; Sidious led Veruna to believe that the King himself was the originator and organizer of the nuclear - weapons plot ( indeed , it was Veruna who would issue the actual order ) to kill Damask . Meanwhile , Sidious sent his Zabrak assassin - apprentice Darth Maul to infiltrate the ' gambling prison ' Cog Hive Seven , the nuclear device from the prison ' s enigmatic recluse Iram Radique , and deliver the bomb to Komari Vosa and her Bando Gora terrorists — who would then deliver it to its target : the obscure moon Sojourn , Plagueis ' private outpost . The mission failed , however , and Damask survived to mete out on those responsible . Sidious , of course , oversaw most of the avenging missions , as his master , in the end , did not hold him suspect as one who would eliminate him by nuclear blast ( such as was Veruna , whose final fate Plagueis attended to himself ) . An Imperial nuclear warhead was captured by the Rebel Alliance from the freighter " Gafra " during Operation Strike Fear . The warhead was then smuggled onto the Star Destroyer " Invincible " , destroying it from the inside . By the time period shortly following the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY , nuclear weapons were usually found only in the Outer Rim Territories or beyond . Leia Organa believed the planet Shiva IV to have been the setting for a devastating war in which nuclear bombs had been used . Imperial General Bentilais san Sk ' ar later tried to bombard the planet with anti - matter bomb s , but was stopped by the Rebel Alliance .