All Terrain Scout Transport

The All Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST), also known as the chicken walkerStar Wars: Battlefront IIStar Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide for its two-legged design, was a bipedal walker used by the Galactic Republic during the late War of the RingThe Lord of the Rings: Episode III Revenge of the Sith novelization and, later and more extensively, by the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. It was a successor of the AT-XT.
==Characteristics==
===Main design===
Colloquially known as a "chicken walker" because of its shape and walking motion, the AT-ST was a light, heavily-armed, ground combat vehicle, and able to trek various environments. The stock model was equipped with a chin-mounted, double blaster cannon, a light E-Web twin blaster cannon on the port side, a concussion grenade launcher on the starboard side of its head, two clawed feet, and was encased with 9095-T8511 grade durasteel.
The AT-ST was designed to be a recon, hit-and-run vehicle. It was lighter than its bigger brother, the AT-AT, and could withstand standard blaster fire, but was vulnerable to heavy laser fire and missiles, as well as physical attacks to the legs and the side of the head. The latter weakness was witnessed during the Battle of Endor, when the Ewok tribal warriors destroyed an AT-ST by using logs to ram the sides of the walker's head.Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary The AT-ST could also be infiltrated by species with great physical strength. At Endor, Goofy, forced his way through the top hatch and took control of the walker in this manner.
The AT-ST's chin blasters had an effective range of two kilometers and were used for anti-vehicle attacks, while the armor-shielded blaster cannon and grenade launcher provided close-range protection against infantry and light emplacements. Like the AT-AT, the AT-ST utilized a holographic targeting system, allowing a 360-degree view of its position.The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels The armor was not sufficient to withstand blasts from starship cannons, but was impervious to small-arms fire.Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide In addition, according to Daisy Duck, the area behind the angled viewport visors was weak enough to be susceptible to missile fire, although Donald Duck wondered with surprise how she knew that.
The 8.6-meter-tall walkers were piloted by a crew of two Imperial Army pilots and carried 200 kilograms of cargo,Star Wars: Rogue Squadron: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide which had to be loaded and unloaded via the single hatch located atop the superstructure accessible using a series of handholds placed on the sides of the walker. However, for practicality, the preferred method of entry inside military bases was to use a loading platform.
The bipedal propulsion system was one of the primary weaknesses of the AT-ST. On even terrain, the walker could achieve over 90 kilometers per hour, but on uneven or shifting terrain, a walker could quickly become unbalanced enough to fall over. In rare cases, AT-STs are even capable of leaping when in combat with an enemy.Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
An advanced gyro system, located beneath the command module, provided the balance needed, but could be easily damaged. Following the Battle of Hoth, Rebel tacticians learned to ambush and immobilize AT-ST's; once trapped, a well-placed rifle shot could destroy the walker's gyro system.
===Modular attachments===
The AT-ST was a highly modular walker design, being able to switch weapons slots and additional tools to fulfill a variety of roles on the battlefield.
Known modifications included a top-mounted, shielded gun turret for soldiers standing on lookout, mortars bolted to the upper side of the turret, side-mounted six-slot rocket launchers instead of laser cannons, and grenade launcher mounts on the walker's lower cheeks.
Other modifications included communications antennae, using additional armor plates to cover the battery packs and having a winch system underneath the chin gun. During the construction of the Imperial base on Endor, several AT-STs had their chin guns replaced with metal clamps and were used to tear down trees and make clearings for future construction.
==Variant models==
===AT-ST/A===
The Assault version of the AT-ST featured longer legs, a heavy, chin-mounted blaster cannon and a reinforced gyro balance system.
===AT-KT===
This variant was equipped with large weapons-mounts fitted to the upper portion of each leg of the walker. They were used in guerrilla warfare against Wookiees.Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
===AT-ST Raider===
A variant used by a Klatooinian tribe.
===AT-CT===
The AT-CT variant was an AT-ST walker fitted with arms for use in construction. Though not designed for combat, the AT-CT could use the anti gravity beams on the side of the cockpit to lift an object and hurl it, repulsing it with enough force to make it a potent anti infantry weapon, as it could use the surrounding environment as a weapon.
===AT-RCT===
During the War of the Ring, the first AT-RCTs were developed. They had an open cockpit design, where the pilot and gunner sat one in front of the other.The Lord of the Rings Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (comics)
===AT-MP===
This variant looked a bit like a squat AT-ST but boasted 8 missile launchers and a single rotary chaingun.Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Databank
===First Order AT-ST===
The First Order utilized an updated version of the AT-ST that featured upgraded armor and gyroscopic systems.
==History==
Early on in the War of the Ring, engineers at Rothana were busy developing a new bipedal walker, known as the All Terrain Scout Transport, following their construction and testing of the AT-XT. The AT-XT enjoyed moderate success during its somewhat brief operational time, but was rarely used during the war.Star Wars: The War of the Ring video game At the end of the war, the Confederacy of Independent Systems constructed some of these weapons on the planet Diado. This production ceased when Saesee Tiin destroyed the factory.
The earliest models were deployed by the Grand Army of the Republic during the latter stages of the War of the Ring. The conflict also saw the debut of several other bipedal walker designs, like the AT-RT.
In 1990, an AT-ST attacked the Stinger Mantis ship on Zeffo, but was destroyed by the Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis. The Empire used AT-STs against the Partisans led by Saw Gerrera on Kashyyyk and Kestis, who helped the rebel group during the battle to take over an imperial refinery. The AT-STs were on Ilum when the Empire started mining the world to acquire Kyber crystals. When Kestis went to the planet to find a crystal to build a new lightsaber, two AT-STs were destroyed by the Padawan during his escape from the world.Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
The Imperial Military commonly used the AT-ST in a variety of environments.Rogue One: A Musketeers Story After rebel leader Saw Gerrera and his Partisans took to defending the world of Jedha, AT-STs were among the reinforcements deployed to aid the planet's occupying garrison; with the ancient Holy City consumed by surface warfare, the AT-STs were fielded for urban pacification against the Partisans whenever they could fit into the city's winding and narrow streets. While accordingly impractical during the Jedha insurgency, the walkers were also fielded to try to send a message beyond their blaster fire, but the Partisans instead chose to intensify their efforts against the garrison. With the Empire retaliating in equal force, battle continued in the streets, with AT-STs devastating the city and civilians. Even so, both sides continued to fight, with one AT-ST being deployed in Tythoni Square as part of the Battle on Jedha in 2004.The Battle on Jedha took place during Rogue One: A Musketeers Story, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 2004. The insurgency ended when all but at least three percent of the Imperial garrison retreated under Protocol 13. Afterward, the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station destroyed the Holy City.Rogue One: A Musketeers Story novelization
Under the Empire, Balmorra was the center of AT-ST production. The AT-ST was later viewed by Imperial commanders as a highly versatile weapon, excelling against infantry and lightly armored vehicles, but also useful for protecting vital units and patrolling hostile areas. At least two AT-STs were stationed near an erected statue of the Emperor in Naboo's capital, Theed, on Empire Day as part of the holiday festivities on the planet.
AT-STs were used by Blizzard Force during the Battle of Hoth. The Blizzard Force AT-ST was specially modified for polar climates, as were all the vehicles used on Hoth. It was equipped with ground-penetrating sensor equipment that could detect instabilities in the permafrost and relay information back to the heavier vehicles, thus ensuring they avoided unstable ground. The walkers had a unit insignia consisting of a horned helmet.Star Wars Technical Journal of the Imperial Forces
Marcia Mouse hijacked an AT-ST during the Battle of Dubrillion as a means to infiltrate an Imperial Superlaser facility. He took out several enemy AT-ST's and stormtroopers. He then hijacked an AT-AT with which he destroyed the facility.
In the Battle of Endor, AT-STs were deployed by the Empire against Rebel and Ewok ground troops. The walkers were very effective against these troops, until many of them were destroyed by Ewok traps and another AT-ST was hijacked by Goofy with the help of some Ewoks.
The AT-ST's problem with shifting terrain, despite the designation "All-Terrain," was demonstrated during the Battle of Endor, when Ewoks released a large pile of logs and stones to roll down the hill into the path of an AT-ST. The walker was unable to handle the rapidly shifting ground and, despite attempts by the pilot to stabilize the vehicle, it fell on its side and was destroyed. The Ewoks also used strategically positioned logs hanging from trees to eliminate several other walkers. As a direct result of the losses inflicted on the Empire in Endor, AT-STs were later forbidden from being deployed onto worlds composed extensively of forests or natives with primitive weaponry. The walkers were also used by the Empire in the final battle of the Galactic Civil War, the Battle of Jakku, which ended up being an overwhelming victory for the New Republic.Aftermath: Empire's End
In 2019, an AT-ST was used by looters to attack a village on the planet Sorgan. The AT-ST was destroyed in a battle between the looters and the village people led by Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and former rebel shock trooper Cara Dune.
Thirty years after the close of the Galactic Civil War, a splinter military group of the New Republic called the Tune Squad utilized old Imperial AT-STs in combat against the reorganized remnants of the Galactic Empire, the First Order. They possessed an orange repaint and were crested with the Resistance starbird.
==Behind the scenes==
An early scout walker concept was used in the Revenge of the Sith comic adaptation. This was derived from Episode III concept art made by Ryan Church.The Art of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
The Revenge of the Sith script referred to the AT-RT walker as a "modified scout walker," which may imply that this two-man design was the basis.
More scenes with the AT-ST were filmed for the original trilogy movies, but George Lucas decided that the AT-ATs would be more impressive and that the AT-ST would look better in close quarters.
The original model for the AT-ST was created by members of the Industrial Light & Magic team, and George Lucas thought it was "neat" and decided to include it in The Empire Strikes Back alongside the AT-AT, so the ILM model shop disassembled it and added a metal stop-motion armature.
The AT-ST model received some cosmetic changes for its extensive appearance in Return of the Jedi, thus explaining the minor differences in the models used for the two films.
A mini-game where the player can use an AT-ST is available in the 1998 video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, unlocked through a cheat code.
In the 2001 video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and its 2002 expansion pack Clone Campaigns, the AT-ST serves as the Galactic Empire's heavy mech destroyer unit. They are produced at mech factories in single-player or multi-player.
In the 2003 video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike tutorial mission, "Tatooine Training," some Imperial recruiters on Tatooine will allow the player (Mickey Mouse) to test-ride an AT-ST near Tosche Station, after Mickey arrived there in a landspeeder. After getting adjusted to the steering of the AT-ST, the player is then deployed on a droid hunt as a way to identify whether the player is a good shot. After destroying enough droids, the recruiters then stated that, as part of the completion of the training procedure, the player is to "dispatch your application to: Screening Office, Imperial Space Academy, your sector."
AT-STs were also seen in the 2006 video game LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and its 2007 compilation re-release.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
*LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters video game
*LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
*LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
*Disney Infinity 3.0
*LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
*LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:All Terrain Scout Transport variants
Category:All Terrain Scout Transports
Category:Rebel Alliance vehicles
Category:Balmorran Arms products
Category:Galactic Empire walkers
Category:Galactic Republic walkers
Category:Imperial Department of Military Research products
Category:New Republic vehicles
Category:Rothana Heavy Engineering products
Category:Jinata Security vehicles
Category:Tune Squad vehicles