Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research

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The Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research, also designated as Advanced Weapons Research division, Imperial Advanced Weapons Research, or simply as the Imperial weapons division, was a department of the Imperial Military that was responsible for weapons development for Imperial Intelligence, though it was overseen and its secrets defended by personnel from the Imperial Security Bureau. The department's projects included Project Blackwing, an attempt to unlock immortality, as well as Project Stardust, which managed the construction of the Death Star battle station. Project Stardust was part of the Tarkin Initiative, a think tank and weapons program founded and led by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin that was part of Advanced Weapons Research. The department itself was administered by Director of Advanced Weapons Research, which during most of the Imperial Era was Commander Orson Callan Krennic.

Description

Administration and organization

The Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research,^[1] also designated as the Advanced Weapons Research division,^[8] Imperial Advanced Weapons Research,^[4] or simply as the Imperial weapons division,^[12] was a department of the Imperial Military that developed advanced weaponry for the Galactic Empire's armed forces.^[1] Weapons development fell under Imperial Military Intelligence, while its sister agency,^[9] COMPNOR's^[1] Imperial Security Bureau, protected its secrets.^[9]

Although a military department, the division was also organized under the Imperial Security Bureau in the sense that its leader, the Director of Advanced Weapons Research, was part of the ISB organizational structure,^[9] even though the director worked on behalf of the military as well.^[2] The director was assisted by senior staff, including an Assistant Director. Commander Orson Callan Krennic served as the department's director for most of the Imperial Era, with Colonel Brierly Ronan as his assistant director for a time.^[3]

Despite this, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, military governor of the Outer Rim Territories, also held command and authority over components of the department, such as Project Stardust.^[4] ISB officials that assisted in protecting the division's work including those with the position of Inspector General.^[9] COMPNOR's Coalition for Progress Science bureau was tasked with managing tensions between Imperial academics and institutions with Advanced Weapons Research, as the division believed all ongoing research should be centered toward weapons development.^[13] Titles and positions used by scientists^[9] and engineers^[14] within the auspices of Advanced Weapons Research included operations manager, administrator, programmer,^[9] Engineering Operations Manager,^[14] lead scientist, and director of research.^[15]

Projects and programs

The Tarkin Initiative was a secret think tank and weapons development program within Advanced Weapons Research^[9] founded by Governor Tarkin and given oversight of Project Stardust, the development of the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station, a planet-destroying superweapon.^[4] The Initiative's Project Celestial Power, also known as the Special Weapons Group, was used to research energy sources for the battle station. The Special Weapons Group including the B'ankora division, led by a research director, and the Imperial Energy Division.^[15] As part of the Death Star's development, the Ghorman project was created and consisted of officers from the ISB, the Science and Engineering Division, the Ministry of Enlightenment, and the Imperial Navy.^[7]

Another group within the Tarkin Initiative was the Cylo Directive, a group led by Dr. Cylo who specialized in the advancement of cybernetics.^[16] Other groups within the Tarkin program was the Kyber crystal research team, composed of scientists, as well as the High Energy Concepts and Implementation Labs division, led by Administrator Rasett Milio.^[9] Hive command, led by Commander Yewl, operated the Tarkin Initiative's Hivebase-1, which stored experiments and prototypes such as Hutt clone troopers, Rathtar interrogation droids, nanoslime catapults, and Wookiee cyborgs.^[17]

Other groups within the Advanced Weapons Research Division included Project Blackwing and its Sith scientists. Blackwing was an attempt by the division to unlock the secrets of immortality.^[8] Capitalizing on rumors surrounding the project, the Advanced Weapons Research Division designated stormtrooper commandos with body augmentations it had created as death troopers.^[9] The division also developed the Electro-Proton Bomb/Defoliator, and utilized imperial gas canisters.^[12]

Locations

Advanced Weapons Research maintained multiple installations and was present in various locations throughout its operational history. In the Outer Rim Territories, the department maintained the Imperial Center of Military Research on Scarif, where construction of the Death Star had moved to after Geonosis.^[1] A series of installations, known as Sentinel bases, were constructed and used around Geonosis to support the Death Star's construction, including the Sentinel Base on the Sentinel moon, Desolation Station, and Rampart Station.^[18] Also in the Outer Rim, it maintained the Eadu Energy Conversion Laboratory,^[9] a Tarkin Initiative research and development base.^[19] The Tarkin Initiative utilized a space station known as Hivebase-1,^[17] as well as Research Station 9 on the Forest Moon of Endor,^[20] a base that was eventually destroyed,^[21] and was on the planet Ilum.^[22]

Also maintained was the Project Celestial Power complex and a location within the Center for Military Operations on Coruscant, a facility on Malpaz, and a secret research station on Hypori.^[15] The Narkina 5 Imperial Prison Complex supported the construction of materials and components for the Death Star,^[23] and the a lodge atop a mountain in the Maltheen Divide hosted personnel attached to the department.^[7]

History

Advanced Weapons Research was responsible for Project Blackwing, a clandestine experiment to revive necrotic tissue.^[9] To ensure the secrecy of the Death Star project, the Imperial weapons division used poison canisters to perpetrate genocide against the Geonosian species.^[12] In 2 BBY,^[24] the Spectres and Saw Gerrera discovered several of these canisters on Geonosis during a mission to investigate the disappearance of the Geonosians. Sabine Wren recognized the canisters as belonging to the Imperial weapons division.^[12]

Under the leadership of Director Orson Krennic, Advanced Weapons Research was responsible for the completion of the long-delayed Death Star project.^[2] Krennic, however, was killed on the planet Scarif during the battle where the Rebel Alliance managed to extract the Death Star plans.^[5] Despite Krennic's death, the group continued and was responsible for the construction of the second Death Star.^[25] Gideon was a member of the Advanced Weapons Research division during the Great Purge of Mandalore.^[26]

Appearances

Sources

Non-canon sources

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Notes and references