SP.9 Anti-Infantry Artillery Vehicle

"So, what's being stored in Zila?"
"Weapons systems."
"What do you mean? Like SP.9s?"
"Think big, Haslip. We're not just talking anti-infantry here."

―Dair Haslip and Nilo^[4]

The SP.9 Anti-Infantry Artillery Vehicle was a self-propelled artillery piece manufactured by Golan Arms.

Characteristics

Manufactured by Golan Arms, the SP.9 Anti-Infantry Artillery Vehicle was a self-propelled^[2] artillery piece that incorporated twin, fast-firing^[1] DF.9 laser cannons^[3] based on SoroSuub Corporation's heavy repeating blaster, mounted on a turret with a hundred and eighty degree firing arc. The guns were fed from a light ion unit that had been specially designed for use with the SP.9; The ion unit also powered the repulsorlift chassis, which was armored with a one-inch thick hull. The internal power unit could supply the twin guns with virtually unlimited ammunition.^[1]

The SP.9 had an open turret, which caused it to have a vulnerability in close combat. The unit was also awkward to maintain, as to access the engine, the entire turret had to be removed. Despite these deficiencies, the SP.9 boasted the lowest mechanical failure rate of any self-propelled gun in Imperial service.^[1]

History

The SP.9 was designed to assist in the suppression of indigenous populations on low-technology planets. Imperial garrison units were issued the SP.9 as standard. While the SP.9 was designed to act as a long range anti-infantry platform, it was found that the weapon was effective against medium armored vehicles in the field, and even some heavily armored craft.^[1] The SP.9 was not commonly used by Alliance to Restore the Republic forces due to the amount of cargo space the weapon took up, but it performed effectively when deployed.^[2] A variant design, based on the Twin DF.9, was the Twin SP.9.^[5]