Stormtrooper Armor

August 2, 2008

Stormtrooper armor is very distinct and once you have stared down the business end of a stormtrooper then you will never forget it. The armor consists of a very distinctive white body armor over a sealed black body glove. The armor worn by Imperial stormtroopers appeared to be quite similar to their earlier clone trooper armor predecessors.

Stormtrooper armor consists of a set of eighteen pieces that would completely encase the body and typically had no method to distinguish individuals other than a rank insignia. In many ways you could easily mistake a stormtrooper for some form of battle droid, however that would be a disservice.

The stormtrooper armor offered all sorts of various protections against various maladies that might inflict harm on its occupant. The armor was designed to protect the stormtrooper from both projectile and kinetic energy style weapons as well as any harsh environments the stormtrooper might find themselves doing battle in.

The body glove had a number of protections that would allow operation in both hot and cold climates and really even more than that. The armored suit was so well designed that in various forms it could protect the trooper from virtually any environment, from the total vacuum conditions of space or the frigid, icy conditions found on Hoth.

Battlefield Protection

As you could expect, the most significant level of protection offered by the stormtrooper armor would be protection on the battlefield. The armor, combined with the body glove, was designed to be able to withstand the kinetic energy of a blaster bolt and protect the trooper from harm. What might have been a fatal blow without the armor, could be nothing at all thanks to the armor.

Standard armor lacked the necessary durability to immunize the trooper to direct blaster fire, it was able to deflect the lower powered bolts and stun shots. It also served well in the event of an explosion and could easily protect the trooper against the resulting shrapnel. The armor was good enough that it was virtually impossible to penetrate with a slugthrower type weapon unless it was a specially designed slug of some kind.

Stormtrooper armor was impervious to both chemical and biological attack thanks to the sealing and filtration systems built into the armor. An oxygen tank mounted on the back of the armor was good for 20 minutes of oxygen in the event of loss of O2.

Some of the other features of Stormtrooper armor included:

The power gloves were powered up during close quarter hand to hand combat.
The stomach armor contained a Manual Suit Seal and environmental controls.
The thigh armor had a reinforced alloy plate ridge.
The lower right side, near the knee contained the suits system power cells.
The left upper side of the shin armor had a sniper position knee protector plate.
IFF circuitry was in the back of the suit for identification and command purposes for identifying each other.
Wrist comlink.
A Proper Resonator to open secure doors

Stormtrooper Armor Improves

Like anything else in the galaxy, over time improvements in technology provide upgrades to virtually every system known and stormtrooper armor was no different. By 130 ABY, stormtrooper armor had been improved to the point that it was able to absorb and diffuse direct hits from a blaster. While the stormtrooper might survive the ordeal, it was still quite common for a direct blaster hit to take a stormtrooper out temporarily and render them unable to continue the fight. They would live to fight another day but the fight was over for the time being when hit with a blaster shot.

Various modifications were continually made to stormtrooper armor over the years and various incarnations exist. The only thing that was consistent from day one, is that the Stormtrooper was a powerful adversary, no matter which incarnation of armor they were wearing at the time.