L17-E Squad Transport Unit

L17-E Squad Transport Units, L17-Es, or Canned Droids in Clone Trooper slang, were small flying vehicles used by the CIS during the separatist crisis and the clone wars.

Early design
When L17-Es were first made, they were basically boxes of 2.05 metres in height and 3 metres in length. They also had short, flexible legs of 10cm to reduce the impact to the passengers when the Unit landed. The exhaust ran along the entire back wall. It was 5cm tall and 10cm long. The controll panel was merely a small box with a hole. Both B1 and B2 battle droids could controll the Unit by inserting their ‘hand’ into the hole. The only defence that the early L17-Es had was small openings in the walls which passengers could fire out of. These could be closed if nescessary.

Later improvement
After the separatist crisis, L17-Es were adapted, aquiring several weapons. These included: 2 ‘chin’ blaster rifles; 3 blaster rifles at the back (one pointing straight, the other two diagonally); a chaingun at the front; and a rocket on the right hand side. Another adaptation was the addition of a more advanced control panel so that organics could operate L17-Es. L17-Es were never able to exit a planet’s atmosphere, so always had to be transported using larger ships.

Inside
The basic layout of the inside of an L17-E was: a door on the left; six seats at the back; a collapsable driver’s seat in front of the controll panel; and several small openings to shoot out of.

Use and Strategy
L17-Es were designed to carry up to seven troops (including the pilot) quickly around battlefields. After their weapons had been added, they were sometimes used to pick off small sets of Clone Troopers, though this was very rare. A popular strategy among CIS commanders, particularly and Unit 933, was to deploy 10 at a time in the same place. As this technique added up to 70 Battle Droids to the field very quickly, it could be used to get the upper hand in an even battle, secure victory in a winning battle, or even out the odds in a losing battle.

Notable Pilots

 * Unit 933
 * Azz'gabat
 * Azz'gabat