X-wing
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- For other uses, see X-wing (disambiguation).
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| Star Wars craft | |
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| X-wing | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Incom Corporation |
| Specification | T-65 X-wing starfighter |
| Type | Space superiority starfighter |
| Length | 12.5 meters |
| Weapons | 4 Taim & Bak KX9 laser cannons; 2 Krupx MG7 proton torpedo launchers (three torpedoes each) |
| Shield | Forward/rear-projecting Chempat deflector shields |
| Hull | Titanium alloy |
| Crew | 1 pilot, 1 astromech droid |
| Top Speed | 100 MGLT in space, 10,050 km/h in atmosphere, Class 1 hyperdrive |
| Troop Capacity | Pilot |
| Affiliation | Alliance to Restore the Republic, later New Republic and Galactic Federation of Free Alliances |
| Cargo Capacity | N/A on XJ series. Older models had a small cargo bay capable of holding 110 kg. |
| Passengers | None |
The Incom T65 X-wing is a starfighter in the fictional Star Wars universe, first seen in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope being used by Luke Skywalker to destroy the Death Star. It serves as the primary interceptor and dogfighter of the Rebel Alliance.
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[edit] History
The X-wing was originally designed by Incom Corporation for the Empire, but the entire engineering team defected to the Rebel Alliance with the prototypes. It is directly descended from the old Z-95 Headhunter, and shares design features with the Clone Wars era ARC-170, which were both built by Incom and Subpro.
The X-wing has been continually updated throughout its design lifetime. The original T-65B fielded by the Rebel Alliance was a competent strike fighter for its time, but was soon supplanted by the T-65CA2, boasting improved acceleration. The T-65CA3 improved the avionics, shields and sensors; the T-65CA4 was primarily another engine upgrade, which made it nearly the equal of the A-wing in maneuverability. One notable design, the T-65D-A1, replaced the astromech droid with an internal computer core for hyperdrive jump calculations but was considered a failure (partially due to ease of sabotage).
Shortly before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, the New Republic fielded the "XJ" series of X-wing. A third torpedo bay was added where previously a cargo bay was fitted; this increased proton torpedo payload to nine. Engines, lasers and avionics were also improved. The XJ could also utilize the new model R7 astromech droid, although some modifications to both the starfighter and droid had to be made. The "XJ" was greatly improved in all respects over the earlier designs and was initially issued to starfighter squadrons with Jedi pilots. The final realization of the XJ-series during the war was the XJ3.
Development continued after the war, resulting in the XJ6, as well as several specialized variants. One such variant was the StealthX, a compact model painted matte black and outfitted for stealth operations. Another was the ChaseX; based on the XJ5, it was presumably designed for interception duties. The Jedi owned and operated several StealthX fighters. Many older X-wings were later rebuilt into the T-65BR reconnaissance variant after being replaced by the newer combat models.
It had been intended that the X-wing series would be replaced by the E-wing approximately six years after the Battle of Endor but initial design issues relating to the weapons placement delayed wide-spread introduction into the New Republic defense forces. Wide-scale deployment of the E-wing did occur (most notably in Fifth Fleet) but X-wing production continued and may have equipped fighter squadrons not "at the tip of the spear". One notable exception is Rogue Squadron, the Republic's most elite fighter squadron, known for its almost exclusive use of the X-wing.
By the time of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, the "XJ" series was in fleet service, supplementing the more advanced (and certainly more expensive) Series III E-wing. Some paramilitary groups were also equipped with earlier XJ-series fighters (probably T-65XJ or T-65XJ2); system-defense forces and poorer paramilitary groups may have had X-wings of varying age and capability.
There are two conflicting systems of identification for the X-wing. The basic "T-65" designation is constant, but the modifier is inconsistent. At least two systems were used. One of them uses the suffix "CA1" with the last number incrementing as the fighter is revised. A second system resembles that of the modern United States military in which a letter is appended to the end in increasing value (T-65B, T-65D, T-65J, etc.). These are usually thought of as different names for the same variations.
[edit] Specifications
Hyperspace capable and with a top speed of 1050 km/h, X-wings have pairs of wing-like strike foils, or S-foils, mounted at the rear of the craft; normally the foils on each side are locked flush against each other, but during combat the foils are folded out to increase the spread coverage of the laser cannons mounted at the tips of the foils, to improve maneuverability, and to better dissipate waste heat. This gives the craft its distinctive "X"-like profile when viewed from the front or rear. The cannons on some earlier models cannot be fired with the S-foils in locked position, a safety mechanism that helps to avoid S-foil damage from the laser cannons' intense heat. An attempted jump into hyperspace with the S-foils open will also likely cause extreme damage to the ship.
[edit] Weapons
Though it is very maneuverable, the X-wing is best known for carrying four powerful laser cannons, along with launcher tubes for proton torpedoes. The lasers are so powerful that crescent shaped shields had to be fitted behind the barrel tip to reflect energy and thus prevent the weapon from damaging itself. Other warheads such as concussion missiles can be fired from the launchers, but this requires a considerable amount of time and effort on the part of the technical crews, and the overall versatility of the proton torpedo is ideally suited to the X-wing's varied mission profile. The X-wing's fire control systems provide various settings:
- Single fire, where each laser cannon fires individually but in a constant sequence. This setting provides the pilot with the highest rate of fire but generally will lack the high impact of having all the X-wing's lasers strike at once. This mode was most likely the best for Rebel pilots when dealing with the agile Imperial TIE fighter, considering the TIE's well-documented fragility and complete lack of shielding, or with ground forces, in which quantity of fire superseded quality of fire.
- Dual fire, (or dual-offset fire as it is known by pilots) where two laser cannons, one on each side, pair up and fire in an alternating sequence. While decreasing the overall rate of fire, dual fire mode naturally increases the damage potential of each attack due to a damage intensifying effect all projectiles have when they impact at roughly the same location.
- Quad fire, where all four laser cannons (one at each foil-tip) fire together. This fire mode greatly reduces the rate of fire but gives the X-wing's lasers their greatest punch. While the X-wing's laser cannons adjust for distance on every setting, it is most visible in this mode.
- Stutter fire, where many underpowered bolts are fired. This modification was incorporated during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, to overwhelm their singularity defenses. Presumably also useful for anti-personnel purposes.
The fighter has cockpit space for one pilot, assisted by an astromech droid (such as an R2 unit) in an external socket. The astromech monitors the status of the craft, can make limited emergency repairs and handles hyperspace calculations.
[edit] Real-world history
The X-Wing was developed during the production process of Star Wars: A New Hope from a earlier fighter-bomber craft described in draft scripts as possibly being what became Revenge of the Sith's ARC-170. As production progressed, and the original multi-place craft was refined into a single-place (the bomber function being taken up by the Y-Wing), Joe Johnston and Colin Cantwell submitted sketches and models of the fighter. Early photographs of Cantwell's preproduction models show a vaguely X-Wing shape, but one that is more needle-nosed, and with a S-foil orientation that is more equally cruciform than the acute angles of the final shooting models. [1]
The shooting models for "hero" fighters (such as Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles) have some subtle differences in not only the markings, but in surface detail (such as the lengths of the individual engine burner nozzles).
More interestingly, original models were to be given blue markings (in the original script, and the 1976 tie-in novel, Skywalker's squadron is identified as "Blue Squadron") but it was found that with limitations of bluescreen photography blue areas would show up transparent, and so a quick decision was made to change the markings to red.
For the Special Edition, all of the digital models of X-Wings for enhanced shots were based off of the shooting model for Wedge's fighter, and so have the "Red 2" markings.
[edit] Popular culture
The X-wing pilots of Rogue Squadron are the subject of several series of novels and video games. The X-wing book series is one such example. The craft is also used extensively in the X-Wing computer game series.
[edit] X-wing squadron examples
- Red Squadron (T-65 X): Battle of Yavin
- Ferry Squadron (Recon-X) aboard carrier Venture, Black Fleet Crisis
- Wraith Squadron (various X-wings): elite fighter squadron/special forces group in New Republic
- Rogue Squadron (various X-wings): elite fighter squadron in New Republic
- Talon Squadron (various X-wings): a fighter squadron in the New Republic
[edit] External links
| Vehicles of the Rebel Alliance / New Republic | |
|---|---|
| Ground vehicles and repulsor craft | |
| Snowspeeder | |
| Starfighters | |
| X-wing | Y-wing | A-wing | B-wing | |
| Expanded Universe | |
| K-wing | E-wing | |
| Capital ships | |
| Mon Calamari Cruiser | Corellian Corvette | Nebulon-B Frigate | |
| Other | |
| GR-75 Medium Transport | Millennium Falcon | |
| See also | |
| Star Wars air vehicles | Star Wars aquatic vehicles | Star Wars ground vehicles | Star Wars starfighters | Star Wars support craft |
