Jetpack

"A lot of the younger soldiers thought we oughta be zipping around the battlefield on jetpacks. But one direct hit, and you're grounded. Maybe forever."

―Bren Derlin^[2]

The jetpack was an aerial personal transportation device used across the the galaxy. A jetpack offered a great degree of mobility in the air, though often at the personal risk of the user.

Characteristics[]

JangoFettJetpack-SWBC20 — Jango Fett's JT-12 jetpack

Jetpacks functioned by pulling in air from the surrounding atmosphere^[3] through an intake mechanism, and funnelling it into the pack's ignition chamber. Once in the ignition chamber, arrays of miniaturized turbines combined the atmosphere with minute amounts of fuel to produce the thrust needed for lift and maneuvering. The thrust generated by a single burst was then controlled by a series of internal regulators that were used to distribute the energy release over several seconds. A cool down time of several seconds between turbine bursts was required, but the regulation of the energy expelled by the jetpack by the regulators gave the impression that the jetpack was operating continuously.^[1]

Jetpacks were typically worn on the back, and controlled through wrist and hand controls that adjusted the angle and pitch of intake and exhaust vanes. This allowed the jetpack to achieve both horizontal and vertical flight. Jetpacks could be put into neutral hovering position by setting the exhaust vanes oppose each other. While capable transportation, jetpacks had a number of limitations, most notable being that they required atmospheric gases to operate. As such, jetpacks had difficulties operating in zero, low, or high atmosphere pressure environments,^[1] such as underwater or in the vacuum of space.^[3]

Jetpacks were typically slower than rocket packs, though were lighter in weight and quieter in operation as a result.^[1] They were considered to be impractical for civilian use due to their average weight which was around thirty kilograms, and only carrying a limited amount of fuel allowing for twenty bursts of thrust. Misfiring jetpacks were also an issue if involved in a collision or hit by blaster fire during combat.^[4] If a jetpack's intake mechanism was damaged or clogged, the pack would duffer from a sudden loss of altitude during flight due to insufficient intake pressures.^[1]

Some variants of jetpacks had attached wings for stabilization; hydraulics would swing these wings from a folded to an extended position; the clone commandos and the 2nd Airborne Company during the Clone Wars used such a variant for atmospheric insertion.^[5]

History[]

"Jetpack is useful for quick escapes. Always keep a reserve in the fuel tanks."

―Boba Fett^[6]

During the First Battle of Geonosis, a reek nearly trampled Jango Fett and had damaged his Merr-Sonn JT-12 jetpack. After Jango killed the reek, Jedi Master Mace Windu charged at Jango, who at the last second attempted to activate his jetpack, which failed to ignite. Windu quickly beheaded the bounty hunter.

Death Watch jetpacks — Members of the Death Watch using their jetpacks

Another popular model of jetpack was the Mitrinomon Transports Z-6 jetpack, used by both Jango and Boba Fett. Boba's jet pack was a combination of a rocket launcher, and a jumper pack. The latter found that his jetpack was not always reliable when it was damaged by a semi-blind Han Solo on Tatooine during the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon. The misfiring jetpack sent Fett spiraling into the belly of the Sarlacc, but it helped him escape the Sarlacc soon after. The Z-6 was fitted with a top-mounted missile launcher.

Jetpacks were also worn by Wookiee Berserkers, elite jet and blaze troopers, and Clone Commander Cody during the Clone Wars. Cad Bane also used them during the war, as well as the dreaded bounty hunter Durge. Battle droids and exoskeleton Dark troopers had jetpacks built into themselves.