R3-series astromech droid

The R3-series astromech droid was an astromech model developed and sold by the droidmaker Industrial Automaton (IA). The R3 came at the heels of IA's blockbuster launch of the R2-series astromech droid as the company rushed to capitalize on their new dominance of the maintenance and repair droid market. The R3's designers copied the R2's general aesthetic, including the bright, contrasting color trim on a white metal chassis. The obvious difference in the factory unit was its head: the R2's opaque dome was swapped for a clear dome of plastex or transparisteel. The transparency gave the droid's internal sensor package greater range and showcased the R3's other major distinction, its newly updated Intellex V computer brain. Over time, however, some units' original domes were replaced with opaque ones or painted over carelessly.

Unlike its predecessor, the R3 was designed specifically for use by militaries and high-tech government agencies—IA developed another product, the R4-series agromech droid, to appeal to a broader clientele. The R3's Intellex V was capable of housing an immense amount of data; those units bought by the Galactic Republic had a database of detailed specifications on every vessel in the Republic Navy. Armed with this information, the R3 worked in cooperation with gunnery crews, security troopers, and naval chiefs of operation aboard capital-scale warships and at battlestations. Though its primary function was as a capital ship astromech, it could still operate as a plug-in droid for starfighters, holding up to five hyperspace jump coordinates in its astrogation buffer. The R3 had a genial and chummy personality, which allowed it to coordinate easily with large crews of organic sentients.

Due to the sensitive nature of the R3's programming, the rather expensive model was sold only to recognized government organizations like the Galactic Republic which purchased 125 million of the droids during IA's initial production run, and later the Galactic Empire that used R3s aboard its Star Destroyers and Death Star battle stations. Nevertheless, despite the restrictions R3 units found their way into the hands of pirates, private spacers, the Rebel Alliance, and other groups through various black market channels. Following the fall of the Empire, in an effort to maintain friendly relations with the New Republic, Industrial Automaton's policy restricted it from knowingly selling to the Imperial Remnant or known Imperial factions.

Text and facts from the “R3-series astromech droid/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.