| First appearance | Return of the Jedi |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Rebel Alliance New Republic |
| References | Starwars.com Databank[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Armaments | Laser cannons Ion cannons Proton torpedoes |
| Defenses | Deflector shields |
| Length | 16.9 meters |
B-wings are fictional Rebel Alliance and New Republic starfighters in the Star Wars universe. They first appear in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and subsequently in the Star Wars Expanded Universe's books, comics, and games. A variety of B-wing merchandise has been released by toy companies.
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Although initial plans called for B-wings to appear in several scenes, its narrow appearance from some angles made it difficult to see against the backdrop of space.[2] The ship's rotating cockpit stems from an initial design for the Millennium Falcon.[2]
Expanded Universe material states that when the Galactic Empire designs the Nebulon-B frigate to protect its convoys from Rebel Alliance X-wings and Y-wings, the Rebels respond by constructing the B-wing.[3] The Verpine, supervised by Ackbar, design and arm the fighter to engage capital ships.[3] The B-wing's gyrostabilized cockpit allows the pilot to maintain a consistent horizon while the craft's body rotates around it.[3] The B-wing is the largest and most powerful fighter designed by the Rebel Alliance, and it is generally viewed as the successor to the older Y-wing fighter/bomber. B-wings have powerful shields which are considerably stronger than the shields featured on most Imperial or Rebel fighter designs, and they are armed with a greater variety of weapons. B-wings participate at the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi and in numerous other engagements throughout the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Both Kenner and Hasbro released B-wing toys,[4][5] the B-wing is part of two Micro Machines three-packs,[6][7] and Lego has made two B-wing sets.[8][9] A Micro Machines Alpha Fleet package includes models both of the B-wing's film appearance and of an initial production design.[10] Decipher and Wizards of the Coast published B-wing cards for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game and Star Wars Trading Card Game, respectively.[11][12] The second expansion pack for the X-Wing flight simulator, B-Wing, introduces the B-wing as a playable starfighter; several other Lucasarts products also depict B-wings.
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