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In the final parts of A New Hope, the Death Star is attacked (and destroyed) by a small team of rebel starships.

The Death Star is very lightly defended, it just features a few defense towers with light fire and a few imperial TIE fighters.

Considering that the Death Star is a huge space station, why it don't feature better defenses? Also, considering that it is a mass destruction weapon built to detonate entire planets (which would probably at least try to defend theirselves), it would be expected to be heavily defended.

To see how badly it is defended, the Millenium Falcon was able to came down unnoticed to do a surprise attack to Vader's squad.

Why was the Death Star so badly defended? Why it was built almost defenseless?

Note: I am aware of this similar and related question. However, this question is different. That other question asked why they didn't send more TIE fighters after the rebels arrived. What I am asking is why it was built almost defenseless.

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    I think the answer in-universe is probably connected to the question of why the Death Star had such an obvious vulnerability to begin with. If they didn't notice the vulnerability or didn't think enough of it, why would they otherwise bother to defend it? Other than that one vulnerability that we know of, it was pretty invulnerable.
    – Phyneas
    Jan 29, 2016 at 23:42
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    Also the rebels noted that the Death Star's defenses were designed for large frontal assaults - presumably things like capital ships, not single seater snub fighters.
    – phantom42
    Jan 29, 2016 at 23:45
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    It has tens of thousands of canons on the surface. Any ship of any size approaching it would be shredded instantly. Small ships should be no threat whatsoever even if they sit outside firing continually until their batteries run dry. It's not poorly defended, it's well-nigh impregnable.
    – Valorum
    Jan 30, 2016 at 0:03
  • @Richard If any ship of any size would be shredded instantly, why this didn't happen to the rebel fighters? Also, if this is the case, how could the millenium falcon come unnoticed? At least, somebody should report about it's approach.
    – Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia
    Jan 30, 2016 at 0:09
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    @VictorStafusa - I'm actually leaning more toward that your question is largely a dupe of this one. The simplest answer is that it isn't lightly defended at all, as evidenced by the vast number of turbolasers and the impregnable armour.
    – Valorum
    Jan 30, 2016 at 0:18

1 Answer 1

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Overconfidence is the Empire's weakness

It seems that the Empire was counting on people being too afraid to even try anything. Even after the Rebels stole the Death Star plans, the Empire was doubtful there would even be any weaknesses to find. They seemed confident that the Death Star's superlaser was sufficient.

MOTTI: Dangerous to your starfleet, Commander, not to this battle station. [...]

TARKIN: The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.

TAGGE: And what of the Rebellion? If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical reading of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, they might find a weakness and exploit it.

VADER: The plans you refer to will soon be back in our hands.

MOTTI: Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they have obtained. This station is now the ultimate power in the universe. I suggest we use it. [...]

TARKIN: This bickering is pointless. Lord Vader will provide us with the location of the Rebel fortress by the time this station is operational. We will then crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke.

General Dodonna, the Rebel leader giving the mission briefing, says the Empire doesn't consider the Rebel attack to be a threat.

DODONNA: The Empire doesn't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defense

This is backed up by the fact that initially they didn't even send out any fighters to take out the Rebel ships, figuring the turbo lasers were sufficient.

ASTRO-OFFICER : We count thirty Rebel ships, Lord Vader. But they're so small they're evading our turbo-lasers!

VADER : We'll have to destroy them ship to ship. Get the crews to their fighters.

Even after being told that there indeed is a danger, Tarkin is confident the Rebels don't actually pose any threat.

TARKIN : Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances!

It seems Luke was right when he confronted the Emperor in Return of the Jedi

LUKE: Your overconfidence is your weakness

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  • I'd also mention the quote about the rebel ships being so small that they were evading the turbolasers
    – phantom42
    Jan 30, 2016 at 0:30
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    Good points, but I think it's not purely that they're relying on fear, but also that the Death Star's superlaser actually does make it quite strongly defended against the types of larger ships that they think would be the only ones that would have a chance in a frontal assault (as demonstrated by Return of the Jedi where the second Death Star easily took out the rebels' capital ships). This relates to their overconfidence in that they didn't scrutinize the plans closely enough to realize there was a weakness a smaller ship could potentially exploit.
    – Hypnosifl
    Jan 30, 2016 at 0:30
  • @RedCaio Since the Empire wasn't... dressed in pink? Playing kazoos? Riding unicycles? Eating sushi? Dancing? Sucking toes? Having a donut balancing contest? I must know!
    – Politank-Z
    Jan 30, 2016 at 0:41
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    Overconfidence is the Empire's weakness? Well, your faith in your friends is yours.
    – Wad Cheber
    Jan 30, 2016 at 1:26
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    @Null Thank you very much.
    – RedCaio
    Jan 30, 2016 at 3:02

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