List of Star Wars starfighters
Within the Star Wars setting, a starfighter is defined as a "small, fast, maneuverable, and heavily armed starship used in direct confrontations between opposing forces.
Quarrie designed the Blade Wing to be a blockade buster for the Rebel Alliance, combining aspects of previous ships built by the Verpine Slayne & Korpil corporation including the V-19 Torrent starfighter, H-60 Tempest bomber and T-6 shuttle.
Senator Bail Organa was responsible for convincing Slayne & Korpil to work with Quarrie to fix these issues and create a production model, the A/SF-01, for the Rebel Alliance.
[27][28] With its hyperdrive and five day's worth of supplies, the ARC-170 can operate deep behind enemy lines, where the variety of scanners and sensor jammers in its heavy nose help it conduct dangerous scouting missions.
[27][28] Deflector shielding protects the fighter from enemy attack and allows it to achieve hypersonic speed in an atmosphere by dispersing the heat created from air friction.
Like the X-wing, the ARC-170 features S-foils, which open during combat to shed waste heat, enlarge the starfighter's deflector shields, and function as stabilizer surfaces during atmospheric flight.
[33] Within the Star Wars universe these craft were considered nimble fighters, working equally well in space or in an atmosphere, and afforded the pilot a 360° field of view.
Later, Plo Koon (Matt Sloan) flies a Jedi starfighter when he is shot down by clone troopers carrying out Darth Sidious' (Ian McDiarmid) Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith (2005).
[37] In the 2003 Clone Wars animated series, Anakin Skywalker is seen flying a customized Delta-7, called the Azure Angel, of which a Lego model was later made.
During scenes taking place on the rain-swept landing pads of Kamino, the model had to be painted and specially prepared in order to resist any water damage.
[40] Star Wars expanded universe material states that the Delta-7 was designed specifically with the Jedi's Force-aided reflexes in mind by stripping them down and making their controls as responsive as possible.
In the opening space battle, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) pilot Jedi interceptors on a mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from General Grievous.
[46][47] The Eta-2 has no deflector shields or bulky flight controls in order to save weight and maximize speed and agility, instead relying on the Jedi's Force abilities to compensate.
Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) accidentally steals a Naboo N-1 starfighter and pilots it into the Droid Control Ship's docking bay, destroying the vessel from the inside.
N-1 starfighters also appear in the beginning of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones escorting senator Padmé Amidala's (Natalie Portman) Naboo Royal Cruiser upon its arrival to Coruscant.
A modified N-1 starfighter appears in the Disney + series The Book of Boba Fett (2022), built by Tatooine mechanic Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) and used as a replacement for Din Djarin's (Pedro Pascal) destroyed Razor Crest.
[51] At 11 m (36 ft) long, the starfighters are built by the Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps using a number of standard components in a custom-built spaceframe.
[51][52] In a 2018 a test was conducted using the Autodesk Flow Design virtual wind tunnel program to look at the aerodynamic properties of several Star Wars starfighter models.
Although featured in a full two-page spread in the Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections book, the fighter's role was significantly reduced in the final film.
[59][60] The V-wing is far more maneuverable than the ARC-170, making it perfect for combating swarms of Tri-fighters and Vulture droids,[59] while a pair of powerful ion engines can propel the fighter to a top atmospheric speed of 52,000 km/h (32,000 mph).
[61] In order to demonstrate that it was both a robotic being as well as vehicle, it was decide to give the vulture droid a transformative element, allowing its wings to fold down and serve as legs.
In order to represent the idea of three vulture droids sharing one "brain," animators purposefully linked the motion of each three-ship flight when creating the climactic battle of The Phantom Menace.
[28][63] At 3.5 m (11 ft) long when in flight mode, these droid starfighters are designed to engage the enemy in overwhelming swarms, partially to overcome their lack of cunning and resourcefulness.
[66] Armed with three Taim & Bak IX9 Medium Laser Cannons and two proton torpedo launchers, the E-wing's aerodynamic frame made the fighter highly maneuverable and exceptional in atmospheric flight.
[70] The UT-60D U-wing starfighter/support craft is a Rebel troop transport/gunship model manufactured by Incom Corporation for the purpose of supporting special operations forces insertion and extraction into denied areas from strategic distances.
For filming interior scenes, a full-size U-wing cockpit was built and mounted on a manually controlled gimbal in front of a wall of LED panels.
Originally intended as a transport ship for couriers and planetary defense forces, the last of the UT-60D starfighters to be built were secured for the Rebel Alliance thanks to the efforts of Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits).
However the ship was not designed for the tight turns necessary for dogfights, and while the U-wing did feature a hyperdrive for faster-than-light travel, extended operations with a full passenger complement would quickly deplete the vessel's life support systems.
[77][78] It was next depicted in Tatooine Manhunt (1988), an adventure book for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, with artwork based on an early Joe Johnston production sketch.
[80] Incom Corporation originally designed the Z-95 for planetary defense forces, and while lacking many features like a hyperdrive or astromech droid it was appreciated for its armaments and internal environmental controls.
