A280 blaster rifle

"Whatever that is, it doesn't have an A-280 rifle—or know how to use it."

―Lokmarcha^[5]

The A280 blaster rifle was a type of blaster rifle mostly used by Rebel Alliance troopers^[1] and New Republic soldiers.^[4] There existed two variants of the A280 blaster, the A280C and the A280-CFE, both of which were favored by commandos and special forces of the Rebel Alliance.

Description

A Rebel soldier armed with an A280 blaster rifle.

The reliable A280^[6] was highly effective in piercing through armor and provided more power than other blaster rifles at long range. It featured a power charge system and integrated muzzle compensator.^[1] The A280-CFE (covert field edition) was a modular version of the A280 that featured a core pistol that could be reconfigured into an assault rifle or sniper rifle.^[7]

History

Republic Era

During the Galactic Republic's final years, the A280 blaster rifles were commonly used by local planetary defense forces which made them readily available on the black market, thus the Rebel Alliance acquired them with ease,^[1] and began to utilize it throughout their fight against the Galactic Empire,^[8] who occasionally fought with them as well.^[3]

Galactic Civil War

During the Battle of Hoth, many of the rebel troopers were armed with A280 blaster rifles^[6] to hold off the incoming Imperial attackers until the evacuation transports fled away.^[8] The bounty hunter Imara Vex used a customized A280 blaster rifle known as the Firestorm Rifle,^[9] which she could even use as a sniper rifle. It possessed a black and red coloration with an orange design.^[2] Major Lokmarcha used an A280 during Operation Yellow Moon.^[5] The second Death Star's overbridge had two A280s mounted onto one of the walls.^[3]

Rebel troops equipped with A280s during the Battle of Jakku

The rifles were also heavily used by the Alliance in the Battle of Endor,^[6] where the Rebellion launched an all-out-assault on the second Death Star to destroy it and kill Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine. In the ground phase of the battle, where the A280 saw use, members of the Special Forces Trackers Unit landed on Endor with the task of infiltrating and destroying the Death Star's shield generator, thereby allowing the Rebel Alliance Navy to attack the Death Star itself.^[3] Rebel soldiers like Musmuris Reetgeet wielded A280s when they captured the Immobilizer 418 cruiser Glaciate during the Battle of Jakku.^[10]

Legacy

The pirate Hondo Ohnaka later mentioned the A280 in his book Galactic Explorer's Guide and stated it had been a common sight among the rebels on Hoth and Endor.^[6]

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Behind the scenes

The A280 blaster rifle first appeared in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, a 1980 film as a weapon prop used by the Rebel Alliance.^[8] Although the name was never given on-screen, the reference book Ultimate Star Wars published in April 28, 2015 confirmed "A280 blaster rifle" as a canon name for the weapon.^[1] In Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure, it is referred to as a A-280. Parts of the A280 resemble the real life AR-15, specifically the receiver.

In Star Wars Battlefront II, the A280 uses the StG 44 model previously associated with the A280C blaster rifle and fires a three-shot burst, while the A280C uses the AR-15 model previously associated with the A280.^[4]