AT-TE
this immense, six-legged vehicle was the forerunner of the Imperial AT-AT. Known as an All-Terrain Tactical Enforcer, the AT-TE provided the Army of the Republic with a formidable vehicle for bringing troops into the midst of battle. The original designs for the AT-TE were developed as a mining vehicle, but it was swiftly adapted to military uses. Measuring 12.4 meters in length and standing just over five meters tall, the AT-TE was armed with six anti-personnel laser turrets and a heavy projectile cannon. It could transport twenty clone troopers into battle, and carried an IM-6 medical droid for remote battlefield treatment. The crew of an AT-TE was made up of a pilot, a spotter, four interior gunners and a gunner for the exterior projectile launcher. The armor plating of the AT-TE was shielded from ion attack by built-in electromagnetic shields. Capable of speeds near 60 kilometers an hour over ground, the AT-TE was deployed onto the battlefield by an LAAT/c gunship. The AT-TE was commisioned by the Kaminoan cloners who were employed by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, so that their clone troopers could safely be deployed into battle. The Kaminoans contracted Rothana Heavy Engineering to build these vehicles, steering clear of any corporation with ties to either the Trade Federation or the Separatists. Due to the timing of the clandestine development of the clone troopers and the development of the AT-TE, the armor design created for the clone troopers produced by the Kaminoans was not finalized when the AT-TE was first developed. Thus, the driver and spotter working in the AT-TE were forced to squeeze themselves and their armor into the cramped cockpit. In the wake of the Battle of Geonosis, when the AT-TE series first saw duty, they were often deployed in swarms to take out as much of the enemy's holdings as possible in a short period of time.