When I watched Attack of the Clones again, one thing really stood out. Obi-Wan shows up on Kamino, and there’s this huge clone army, fully armed and trained, ready for war. But the Republic never officially ordered it – or paid for it. So how did Kamino cover all that upfront?
Table of Contents
The Sith Were Secretly Paying for It
Kamino didn’t pay for the army themselves. The Sith had been bankrolling the whole operation behind the scenes. Darth Plagueis (under the name Hego Damask) was a rich and powerful figure in the Intergalactic Banking Clan. He helped fund the project through his company, Damask Holdings. After he died, Count Dooku (aka Darth Tyranus) kept the money flowing.
We know from The Clone Wars and the novel Darth Plagueis (Legends) that Sifo-Dyas ordered the army around 33 BBY, but the Sith killed him and took over the plan. Dooku handled the payments and pretended to be Tyranus when dealing with the Kaminoans.
Kamino Didn’t Build the Ships or Heavy Weapons
The Kaminoans focused on cloning and training. They didn’t manufacture tanks or starships. That part was handled by companies like Rothana Heavy Engineering, which was connected to Kuat Drive Yards (KDY). These companies designed things like the Acclamator-class assault ships and sent them over to Kamino.
It was all coordinated in advance. The Sith made sure everything worked together: the ships, the armor, the weapons. Kamino’s exports even included covert tech and military hardware, so they were used to working on these kinds of projects.
Kamino Had Other Clients Before the Republic
Kamino wasn’t new to cloning. Before the Grand Army of the Republic, they were already making clones for private buyers – like people who wanted workers or private guards. That gave them steady income.
In Legends, they even did custom cloning for exotic animals and labor forces. They had the infrastructure, the technology, and the staff already in place when the Sith showed up with a big contract.
In a nutshell, the Kaminoans didn’t shoulder the financial burden alone. The Sith orchestrated the entire operation through secret funding, corporate contracts, and wartime manipulation. By the time the Jedi began to uncover the truth, the clone army was already deployed and entrenched in battle.
