Battle Tanks (AATs)
Armored Assault Tanks
(Text from Star Wars: Episode I Incredible Cross-Sections, annotated by the webmaster.)
Designed and built by the Baktoid Armor Workshop for the Trade Federation secret army, the AAT (battle tank) carries a crew of four battle droids into combat, presenting the enemy with a heavily armored facade and a blistering hail of assault fire...Their deployment on Naboo is their first use in open combat (WEBMASTER: Note that it says open combat...keep in mind that means that they could have already been used in more clandestine circumstances!), but the tanks have seen considerable training action, leaving them scarred and weathered. The AAT is designed for head-on combat in formal battle lines and is accordingly very heavily armored up front. In fact, the nose of the AAT is almost solid armor, designed to crash through heavy walls with impunity.
Inside the Cockpit
A droid pilot guides the AAT and provides targeting information to the two gunners (WEBMASTER: According to the schematics in the book, each gunner runs all the weapons on one side of the tank, and the commander--NOT the pilot--runs the main cannon.). The pilot uses a stereoscopic camera which relays information into a periscope scanner.
Motorvation
The reactor and key power and communications gear are kept to the rear for protection. Heavy-duty repulsors (both disc and coils) keep the AAT just off the ground and propel it forward.
Energy Shells
The AAT's six shell launch tubes can be equipped with a range of ammunition types. As they are launched, the shells are cocooned in high-energy plasma, which dramatically improves the shells' penetration power and speeds them on their way, reducing friction. The AAT can be prepared for specialized missions with particular shell loads.
Explosive Combination
The three ammunition types carried as standard issue ordnance on the AAT (battle tank) include "bunker buster" high explosives, armor-piercing shells, and standard high-energy shells for anti-personnel and anti-vehicle use.
Energy Shell Magazines
The AAT's energy shells cannot be replenished by the droid crew on board. Instead, the shells are reloaded when the tank returns to a landing ship or battleship, where mechanical facilities take the entire inside of the "foot" off the tank from below. A loaded replacement is then installed in its place.