Self Propelled Heavy Artillery - Turbolaser (SPHA-T walker)

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Weapon:
  Heavy turbolaser cannon, 12 antipersonnel blaster cannons

• Affiliation:
  Galactic Republic

• Type:
  walker

• Manufacturer:
  Rothana Heavy Engineering

• 

From the Movies

The sudden storm of Republic forces on Geonosis consisted of more than clone infantry. The white-armored troopers were augmented by advanced armor airdropped into the battlefield.

An armored juggernaut with incredible firepower, the SPHA-T is a self-propelled laser artillery piece. Rather than having a rotating turret, the entire vehicle can reposition itself by means of twelve articulated legs. Considerably larger than the AT-TE walker, the SPHA-T provides long-range surface-to-surface and surface-to-air fire, coordinated by a crack team of clone troopers. A battery of SPHA-Ts were responsible for shooting down the immense Trade Federation core ships that attempted to escape the first battle of the Clone Wars.

From the Expanded Universe

Developed by the engineers of Rothana, technological partners of the Kaminoans, the SPHA-T stands for "self propelled heavy artillery -- turbolaser." The vehicle's central cannon is modular, allowing different artillery units to be fitted with different weapon types, such as ion cannons, anti-vehicle laser cannons or concussion missile launchers. The turbolaser assembly was designed first, and it being the most power-intensive, dictated the design specifications of the walker carriage assembly. The prolonged blast stream of this turbolaser design necessitated a gargantuan reactor core. The cannon's power and support equipment requirements are so robust that it prevented its use aboard large starships.

The articulated leg design offers traction and stability over a wide variety of environment types, and cannot be defeated through anti-repulsorlift electromagnetic attacks the way speeders can. The SPHA-T requires a crew of fifteen clone troopers to operate. Some models are equipped with 12 retractable antipersonnel blasters which necessitate a gunnery crew of ten.

Behind the Scenes

The SPHA-T was designed in concept sketches by Erik Tiemens, Concept Design Supervisor. His initial concepts had the self-propelled cannon be mounted on treads, but George Lucas instead suggested that it be a walker like its AT-TE cousin. During production, the SPHA-T was called "Clone Tank A."