Grand Army of the Republic Special Forces
The unofficial guide to SPECFOR clone troopers
While many have written about
the numbers and operational organization of the GAR, this site will devote much time to the gear, armor, and weapons used
by the Special Forces against the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars.
Here you will find detailed information
about the Advanced Recon Commandos’ improvised armory. From the cannibalized
Super Battle Droid blasters to captured anti-armor weaponry, it can be found here.
The Genetic Template
While some argue the motivation
behind the choice, few argue that Jango Fett was the perfect donor for the GAR’s clone forces. From the standard troop up to the Black-Ops Null-ARCs, Fett’s legacy will not easily be forgotten. A lot has been written about Jango and his life, so there is no need for me to elaborate
past the fact that he was “one man, but the right man for the job”.
ARC Trooper Armor
ARC trooper armor was originally
a modified Phase 1 shell. ARC troops were personally trained by Jango Fett and
celebrated the Mandalorian heritage Fett shared with them. Although the first
version of the armor was identical among the ARC troops, ARCs had a habit of personalizing it to each one’s own taste-
a habit frowned upon by the Kaminoans but encouraged by the template.
For example, the Alpha program
was color-coded by Jango with a blue hue that matched his own uniform; but several ARCs adopted other colors and even differentiated
the paint schemes on the armor. It was not unusual to see a red- or green-striped
ARC. Some accounts have noted full color-changes, such as deep battleship blue
or all white armor, though accounts like this are usually dismissed as exaggeration.
The helmet is a phase 1 bucket
with a rangefinder rotating from the right earpiece.
The kneepads and elbow pads are
reinforced slightly.
The boots and shin guards are
the prototypes for the all-terrain boots that would see wide use on Kashyyk and Mygeeto.
ARCs had the option to use gauntlets
that were basically modular weapons systems. Generally one gauntlet was used. This was a sleeker version of Fett’s infamous grappling-hook attachment. It clamped over the clone armor, and had quick-release fittings for flamethrower and
blaster attachments.
Here is an ARC that has mounted
a super battle droid’s wrist blaster to his gauntlet.
Some ARCs replaced an armor forearm
with a traditional Mandalorian gauntlet. These almost always contained vibroblade
attachments of some kind. One account told of the gauntlet being made of Cortosis,
as the witness watched an ARC trooper save several wounded soldiers and Jedi from a lightsaber-wielding General Grievous using
that gauntlet to block the lightsaber, buying enough time for reinforcements to drive the General away. This picture shows the long-blade version.
The Kama is another nod to heritage, as Mandalorian warriors wore them.
Made of thick leather-like material, this flexible armor accessory protected a soldier’s legs from shrapnel,
debris, and jetpack downwash. Early GAR Kamas also acted as a type of utility
bag, allowing larger and heavier satchels to be carried around the waists of the ARCS.
A popular style among the ARCs was to attach the bottom edges of the kama to the sides of their boots. Although visually intimidating,
later generations abandoned the practice. The Kama was at first discouraged by the Senate because of its’
association with Mandalorian and Thyrsus Sun Guard lore. Once it was determined
that the well-respected and heralded native republic forces on Rotas V wore them, the Kama was recognized as a positive symbol of GAR achievement.
The WESTAR M-5
and other small arms
The standard ARC sub-blaster
was a WESTAR M5 modular weapon system, a devastating body armor-shredder with a seemingly unlimited supply of power. The M5 was developed at the request of Jango Fett to assure that his Alpha-class troopers
had a weapon that could be depended on in the field. During the Confederate Uprising,
the M5, nicknamed the “dub” by the troopers, was used as a testbed for many weapon systems. The popular A270 was based on its’ chassis and the Dark Trooper program attempted to adapt the design
on numerous test runs.
The M5 was known for its’
extremely fast rate of fire. WESTAR’s reputation was built on its ability
to create weapon systems built to exacting specifications. Using the DC-15 that
was being contracted for infantry units as a standard, the new M5 was to be a third lighter, three times as fast and have
the modular versatility that the DC-17 weapon system that was under development for the clone commando units. For the most part, WESTAR delivered.
Starting with a breech-type receiver,
the WESTAR team created a kinetic charging mechanism. The frame was built around
a “drum” that served multiple purposes. The drum served as the hinge
for the breech mechanism, housed the light-beam diffuser and charge capacitor, and acted as the mount for the optional projectile
launcher. The frame rail on top of the weapon allowed several optical focusing
devices to be mounted, and the rear stock was interchangeable among several designs.
The barrel housing also lended itself to the modular aspects of the overall weapon system.
Upon delivery of the 200 units,
the rifle was 55% of the weight of the DC-15, 60% shorter in length, had four times the rate of fire, 40% more accurate (due
to the beam diffuser and stable charging module) and, using the attachments provided, could act as squad support, sniper,
infantry and/or close combat weapon. The only drawback was that the modular system
required a total takedown of the breech/drum assembly, which was difficult to perform in the field. Clone commando units needed a quickly-adaptable system, so the much larger DC-17 contract was completed
as agreed for the commando units.
ARCs fit these sub-blasters with
an array of attachments from fore grips to retractable stocks. WESTAR included
instructional documentation allowing each soldier to create a weapon that was perfectly suite to his taste. The diffuser could be adjusted to higher rates of fire, the barrel could be shortened or lengthened, and
the handgrips replaced. It was the perfect weapon for the highly-individualized
ARCs. Today, WESTAR M5 rifles demand high prices from weapons collectors. It is rare that any two look alike, and many were destroyed during the war. It is believed that there are around forty-five in the hands of collectors and at least 23 are known to
be used to this day by individuals.
The ARC handgun was a streamlined
DC-17 as developed fro the Clone Commando forces. Several ARCs wielded two of
them in place of the M5. When carried in tandem, the DC-17 is usually balanced
and tweaked to maximum power shots, depending on the alternating trigger pulls to sustain a higher rate of fire. There is evidence that there were two barrel housing developed, the standard rectangular and a cylindrical
version closely resembling the DC-15 blaster, as shown in this picture.
Later versions of the DC-17 abandoned
the barrel housing completely, adopting a shorter, more maneuverable handgun. As
with the WESTAR M5, the DC-17 series (pistols and the commando modular rifle) are a high-dollar collectable and very few still
see combat duty.
Squad Support
ARC Troopers had a tremendous
arsenal of specialized and heavy firepower at their disposal. Merr-son built two highly-publicized support weapons, the Reciprocating Quad Blaster and the Z-6 Rotary
Blaster. The Reciprocating Quad Blaster, or “Cip Quad”, was an experimental
test bed that utilized a ship-based anti aircraft design mounted onto a harness. Merr-Son
records show that only a handful of prototypes were built, and all were purchased for the GAR program. From Senate files-
“The quad
blaster is mounted on an articulated and powered harness, fitted with microrepulsorlift buoyancy cells that help reduce the
overall weight of the heavy cannon. The four twin-barreled cannons draws power from a heavy duty backpack-mounted power cell.
The sleeved barrels vent excess heat with each recoil, drawing coolant from a built-in tank with each barrel's return. Each
double-barrel fires one at a time, or two at a time, following a rotation pattern selected by the gunner.”
The Z-6 was one of the last multi-barreled
rotary cannons designed for infantry use and is lauded as being the final evolution of a weapon system that has its’
roots in ancient projectile technology. There is much more written about the
Z-6 because it actually saw limited production numbers. Again from Senate files-
The Z-6 uses a rotating multiple barrel assembly
to bypass the refresh lag inherent in the galven circuitry that lines the barrels of blaster weaponry. Galven circuitry collimates
the excited plasma charging through a blaster. The conductive circuitry refines the plasma into the discreet "bolts" that
emerges from the barrel. Galven circuitry has practical limits to its exposure to energetic plasma, which dictate a weapon's
fire rate. Too much exposure leads to damaged circuitry, resulting in entire barrels needing to be replaced after overheating.
The Z-6 works around this limitation by incorporating
six barrels in rapid rotation, each with alternating galven channels, with the whole assembly wrapped around a coolant-lined
core. The alternating galven channels result in longer barrels, but only half of that barrel length has its galven circuitry
active with each shot. Furthermore, the time it takes for a barrel to make two rotations is enough to allow the galven circuitry
to cool to acceptable levels. This means the Z-6 has a tremendous rate of fire, maxing out at a tremendous 166 rounds per
second.
The Z-6 has several notable drawbacks. Its
high rate of fire means a high rate of ammunition consumption. An armored disk of blaster reactant gas is housed behind the
barrel of the cannon. The lasing process and the electromotors that spin the cannon are powered by chained energy cells that
give the Z-6 its common nickname, the "chaingun." The gun is heavy and also suffers from recoil. While Merr-Sonn has experimented
with gyroscopic mounts and repulsorlift-powered load balancers,
such accessories make the already mechanically-intricate weapon exceedingly complicated and prone to breakdowns, particularly
in remote operations with unforgiving natural elements.
The use of portable projectile missile/rocket launchers was widespread during
the Separatist Conflict. Again, Merr-Son came through with a contract to build
the perfect weapon for the job, the PLX series. The PLeX-1 was loved by beancounters
and troops alike. It was agile, lightweight, adaptable, and incredibly durable. The Senate briefing on the PLEX reads as follows-
"The launcher is an over-the-shoulder device
operated by one person. It fires "dumb" rockets in a line-of-sight attack, or can program and fire the smart GAM (gravity-activated
mode) guided missile especially designed for the weapon. The Plex chambers one projectile, and holds a second in reserve.
A
clone trooper selects the guided missile tracking mode with the push of a firing stud on the launcher housing. The two modes
are EPR, which homes in on intense infrared sources such as vehicle exhaust, and GAM, which targets repulsorlift signatures
coupled with specific vehicle silhouettes. A GAM missile can pursue a target for 40 kilometers before its fuel expires"
In Closing
This is a small sampling of what
was available to ARC Troopers during the Conflict. ARCs were given free reign
to choose the right weapon for the job at hand. Sometimes, gear and weapons were
confiscated from Separatist forces. In other cases, Republic armories custom
built the needed accessories.
In the second half of the war,
many ARC Troopers switched over to Phase II armor. Some used the change as a
chance to streamline. Phase II armor offered more protection that phase 1 armor,
so the Kama became
more of a statement than a necessity. ARC-trained Commanders wore the kama as a badge of accomplishment for completing
the training process. The pauldron design changed briefly during the end of the
war, but Imperial forces would later readapt the classic ARC pauldron. The use
of gauntlet-mounted weapon systems eventually faded, as with the war over, the military took more of a police role. The need for excessive gadgetry was not appreciated.
-to be continued
