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We never have actually seen it but we've heard of the destructive power of the detonators exactly how strong is it? Leia had one in Jabba's palace in ROTJ but she didn't make it blow up every one was scared so it probably would have reached a 30x40 radias of the palace but how strong is it?

According to EGWT, it has a blast radius of 10 meters inside which everything is vaporized. One or two detonators dropped at the base of a skyscraper on coruscant were able to level the building by destroying the foundations (Shadows of the Empire).

Video game thermal detonators seem to be about as powerful as hand grenades, and sometimes less, but this is probably just a game mechanic.

Thermal detonators are a very weird weapon. Some explanations paint them as handheld fusion bombs, some as a kind of fission bomb, some as a funky chain reaction bomb, and some as a conventional grenade with a nasty fragmention layer.

The NJO book Star by Star described them as vaporizing everything with in a sphere arround the det, but not damaging anything close by.

Ofcourse there is also grades of Thermal Detonators, the ones used to destroy that building in SotE were apparently top grade, while the ones described in SbS were probably a lower grade for anti-personnel purposes.

The one in SOTE was explicitly described as a Class 1-A Thermal detonator for widescale destruction. We also know other TD's are very small localised weapons designed for demolitions work.

But most sources appear to agree that they are weapons that inside a sphere completly destroy everything and leave nothing behind, but don't touch anything outside it.

Ofcourse there is also grades of Thermal Detonators, the ones used to destroy that building in SotE were apparently top grade, while the ones described in SbS were probably a lower grade for anti-personnel purposes.

Wait, didn't the ones in SbS vaporize areas 100 feet in diameter? I always thought those were they high-grade ones, like the artillery types mentioned in the EG: Weapons and Technology.

IIRC 4 thermal detonators from the Medstar novels had a combined yield of about half a kiloton.

tie-bomber mounted thermal detonators had something in the kiloton-range IIRC, but they were considerably bigger than personal detonators I believe.

The idea that thermal detonators only cause damage within a certain radius was previously discussed here. It's ridiculous. All that energy has to go somewhere once the initial detonation effect is over, you can't contain it in an arbitrary radius.

I find the skyscraper demolition in SotE a bit hard to swallow. I have doubts that even a starfighter sized proton torpedo or concussion missile could so easily destroy a Coruscanti skyscraper; the structural requirements of such a building would require that the materials used be of incredible strength. That a device held in one hand could accomplish the task (and without pinpoint placement, at that) seems a bit odd.

Though attributable to game mechanics, there is no definite contradiction with higher sources in the case of the various video games; apparently the thermal detonators featured in games are of a lower "class" or yield rating, only having a casualty radius similar to a hand grenade.

Nevertheless, judging by the reaction of the seasoned combatants (bounty hunters and such) in the room, apparently the one with which Leia threatened Jabba's court could potentially engulf that entire room.

I agree that he detonator could not level a building on coucsant but my brother, being better than me at Star Wars, said that bounty hunters and storm troopers each carry off a different type of detonator. The bounty hunter's have a bigger bang but only have stand by mode in which case if it were to feel the least amont off shock it would explode. The storm troopers don't pack as much of a punch but are communicators and they have a timer. The bounty hunters give a radius of 50-60 ft. The Troopers give a radius of 20-30 ft. I go with the bounty hunters but you have to buy it off the black market and must be a bounty hunter. The storm troopers are more lame but all you have to do is join the Imperial Navy! So like I said Bounty Hunters rock!

Cykeisme wrote:The idea that thermal detonators only cause damage within a certain radius was previously discussed here. It's ridiculous. All that energy has to go somewhere once the initial detonation effect is over, you can't contain it in an arbitrary radius.

*cough, cough* Seismic charges.

Cykeisme wrote:The idea that thermal detonators only cause damage within a certain radius was previously discussed here. It's ridiculous. All that energy has to go somewhere once the initial detonation effect is over, you can't contain it in an arbitrary radius.

It largely depends on the mechanism by which it operates. Remember that there are technologies that impart energy without emitting heat themselves (lightsabers, seismic charges.)

The "contained within a limited area of effect" Thermal detonator is less an explosive weapon than it is an incendairy (it lasts for a given duration, then burns out.)

http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=68420

More learned individuals than I made more detailed descriptions on this thread. Check it out.

Cykeisme wrote:http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=68420

More learned individuals than I made more detailed descriptions on this thread. Check it out.

Hey thanks but does that mean there going to lock this up? But that really helps thanks again!