Named for the distinctive shape made when its s-foils (wings) are in attack position, the X-wing was a class of starfighter used by the Rebel Alliance in their conflict with the Galactic Empire.

[3] Each X-wing model was built around a hollow core made from surgical tubing, which allowed lighting, cooling, and electrical connectors for the wing motors to be installed and maintained.

[6] The rig was built in hinged sections so it could be manipulated by frogmen to sink or rise, a key feature for the scene when Luke fails to levitate his ship from the water.

[6] In 1993, ILM visual effects specialist John Knoll created a proof of concept test of dogfighting X-wings and TIE fighters to demonstrate the feasibility of using commercially available desktop computer software for simple animation work.

[7] This resulted in numerous parts of space battle scenes being "re-shot" as digital animations for the original trilogy's Special Edition releases.

When the Galactic Empire ordered them to produce a new starfighter for the Imperial Navy, Incom engineers took inspiration from their previous work to create the X-wing.

They also serve to distribute energy to enlarge the deflector shield, shed waste heat, and function as stabilizer surfaces during air travel.

Incom Corporation had already begun designing the X-wing when the Empire's Imperial Security Bureau began to suspect the company of Rebel sympathies.

The presence of a hyperdrive and deflector shields differentiate the X-wing from the Empire's TIE fighters, emphasizing the importance the Rebels place on pilots surviving their missions.

[14] Kenner also produced a die-cast 1:72 miniature X-wing in 1978 and a smaller scaled version with "battle damage crash feature" for the short lived Micro Collection line in 1982.

[43][44] A model of Luke Skywalker's X-wing was among 250 Star Wars-related items on display at the National Air and Space Museum celebrating the franchise's twentieth anniversary.

A life-size X-wing made from Lego blocks appeared in Times Square,[48] and a 3⁄4-size replica is on display at the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum in Denver.

[49] In 2018, a number of Star Wars starfighters had their aerodynamic abilities tested using the Autodesk Flow Design virtual wind tunnel program.

The newer T-70 X-wing flown by Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) was more aerodynamically sound with a rating of 0.24, but still fell short of the F-4E Phantom with its 0.02 drag coefficient.

These poor results were rationalized with the in-universe explanations that drag coefficient plays no role in space travel, and that Star Wars fighters can use repulsorlifts and deflector shields to give themselves better flight profiles.

In 2023, Heritage Auctions sold an original 20-inch model of an X-wing starfighter used in the climatic space battle in 1977’s Star Wars for a record-setting $3.135 million.