Ion cannon

From SGCommand

"We are not a warring people, but our defensive technology is far more advanced than that of the Goa'uld."

—Narim

Ion cannons were powerful Tollan weapons used for planetary defense against an incoming orbital attack.

[edit] Overview

"The ion beam technology is very advanced. Unfortunately, it's so advanced that backward engineering one of these things for mass production is well beyond us."

—Samantha Carter

While the Tollan are not a militaristic people, they are also not pacifist and will destroy any vessel that poses a threat to their planet. Tollana was protected by a planetary network of cannons, which automatically tracked and destroyed threatening ships in orbit. They could also be operated manually, using a small control panel on the side of the weapon.

These giant weapons fire charged particle streams into space from their location on the surface of the planet with deadly accuracy, and were able to destroy most Goa'uld spaceships in one or two shots until Anubis used Ancient technology to upgrade his shields, making them completely resistant to an ion cannon. The targeting ranges of these weapons intentionally had slightly overlapping fields, so that they could provide additional protection in the event that a single cannon was either disabled or destroyed. (SG1: "Pretense")

[edit] History

"The ion cannons are useless if they won't defend against Goa'uld motherships anymore."

—Samantha Carter

While these weapons were originally able to destroy a Ha'tak vessel in a single shot, discouraging any attempts of attack by the Goa'uld, they were rendered useless after Anubis upgraded his shields with the limited Ancient knowledge he possessed. (SG1: "Between Two Fires")

[edit] References and notes

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Stargate SG-1: The DVD Collection 19