Alliance Intelligence Reports: TIE Fighters

Note: A dated article but instructive of the New Republic's training of their primary starfighter adversary craft.

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TIE fighters are one of the most common tools of the Empire. This report is intended to introduce the reader to the TIE, its variants and employment. For a more in-depth examination of starfighters, agents are referred to Commander Wedge An­tilles' lectures 134-140 in holovid series Alliance Strategy and Tactics, available from the Ministry of Education.

TIE fighters are the subject of derision by Alliance person­nel. Popular opinion aside, TIE fighters are indeed an effective weapon in the Imperial arsenal; fast, deadly, and numerous. TIE pilots are generally the equal of our own, and pilot a craft only somewhat less effective than Alliance starfighters. If TIE forces were allowed to operate on their own terms, the Alli­ance starfighter forces would surely vanish from space. We do not allow the Empire to operate on its own terms, and so we keep an edge. Read this report and hone that edge. Clear skies!

-- Filed by Lieutenant Commander Bakki Sourthol, Red Squad­ron Commander, Fakir Sector, on special detachment

TIE Fighter History

The modern TIE is the third generation of a starfighter commis­sioned in the waning days of the Old Republic. After the chaos of the Clone Wars, the Old Republic Navy needed to standardize and economize its starfighter branch. Several famous and important starfighter designs and concepts sprang from this need, and the final primary design contract was awarded to Republic Sienar Systems for their Twin Ion Engine starfighter (T.I.E.), a small, fast, and inexpensive short-range fighter that could be easily based in the limited hangar space then available in the ships of the Republic Navy.

The T.I.E. served its purpose well in the Navy, and when the Empire rose it was retained by the New Order. When the Imperial military began to expand, a call arose from some military personnel to replace the T.I.E. with a more impressive, longer range, hy­perspace-capable starfighter. Several corporations, thinking that this call would be answered, invested a fortune in developing new space superiority starfighters, including Incom. Many of the basic designs used by the Rebel Alliance were developed in this period.

However, the full extent of the Emperor's military expansion plans were not appreciated by those corporations. The Imperial Star Destroyer promised to cost vast amounts, and the remaining Navy budget could not be spent entirely on such expensive projects as hyperspace-capable starfighters. Instead, the Republic T.I.E. was upgraded to the Imperial TIE, under direct Imperial control, by the renamed Sienar Fleet Systems. This upgraded model cost the mili­tary budget hundreds of trillions of credits, but at about one third the estimated budget of a long-range fighter. Furthermore, the Empire can rely on their TIE pilots to return to base with the short-­range fighter, something they may not be willing to trust if the pilots had a hyperspace-capable fighter.

The TIE has been further modified into dedicated mission models since the Imperial TIE made its debut. New designs and series are constantly being proposed, and the TIE is likely to remain the Imperial standard so long as the Empire remains.

TIE Fighter Models

After the initial T.I.E. fighter and the Imperial TIE, several models of mission-specific TIE fighters were developed:

TIE/ln -- currently the standard fleet-based TIE fighter.

TIE/rc -- a special reconnaissance fighter with sensitive sensors and long-range communications equipment.

TIE/fc -- a fighter used to coordinate fire control and target designation for long-range naval bombardment of ground or space targets.

TIE/gt -- an early version of the TIE bomber still in varied use throughout Imperial forces.

TIE/sh -- a TIE shuttle, a kind of ship's boat used to ferry small numbers of personnel between naval ships and ground stations.

TIE Maintenance

"Keep your weapons well and they will keep you well." -- Ancient military proverb

Starfighters are under great stress in ordinary flight conditions, and extreme stress during combat. Anyone familiar with the de­manding maintenance schedule performed on Alliance starfighters might expect TIE maintenance to be equally demanding. Unfortu­nately for the Alliance, this is not the case. Less than five percent of TIE losses are for mundane field attrition, and the majority of these are considered to be pilot error. Indeed, TIE fighters are far more likely to be shot down than break down, an enviable maintenance record, if not combat record.

The main reason for this is the sturdy ion engines the TIE uses -- there is little opportunity for breakdown to occur. This pays divi­dends. TIEs log more flight hours per fighter and more training hours per pilot than any other fighter. Fewer spares per hour of flight are required for TIE fighters than any other Imperial Naval vessel, and fewer hours of maintenance, leading to vast savings over the budget of the entire fleet.

While spares are used less often, they are considerably more difficult to acquire, being primarily available from Sienar Fleet Systems and certain licensed corporations. The market for TIE spares is small and limited, and it can take weeks for an out-of-stock part to be shipped to where it is needed. In such a case, the TIE will often be rotated out of duty and replaced by a fresh fighter.

The solid nature of the TIE engines leads to some unique mainte­nance headaches, of course. When a TIE engine does finally break down or is shot out, it can take days or weeks to repair, leaving the TIE out of service anywhere from three to 10 times longer than other starfighters. To avoid this, the TIE maintenance technicians obses­sively test systems from the moment the thrusters cool until the fighter launches from the docking racks. Overall, this preventive testing and maintenance schedule keeps the fighter downtime relatively low.

Intelligence reports in regards to TIE maintenance are contradic­tory, however, and should not be relied on extensively.

TIE Strategy and Tactics

"Understand the enemy's way and conquer." -- Ancient military proverb

TIE fighters serve Imperial strategy as short-range fighters. All strategic TIE functions are defined by the TIE's limited range and numerical strength.

Attack Missions: The TIE's primary mission -- space control -- is best reflected in attack. In an attack a TIE is supported by the full might of the attacking Imperial forces and conducts well-planned specific missions. In both space battles and planetary assaults the TIE is used to engage enemy fighters, conduct pinpoint attacks, and sweep up remaining resistance.

The TIE is tremendously effective against ground targets. A TIE/ In is typically used against infantry, armor, and artillery positions. TIE/gt models and TIE bombers are primarily used to destroy hard targets, such as armored bunkers and large buildings.

Defense: TIEs are also used to defend fleets and orbital space. In the case of space-based TIEs, they serve as anti-starfighter screens, intended to engage and destroy an attacking force. They perform this function quite well, usually through superior numbers. The usual response to overwhelming numbers of TIEs is to flee.

At least one TIE flight per squadron is always on alert (Ready One), and in the case of Star Destroyers, this can mean four flights launched in as little as 10 minutes. By the time the Ready One, Two, Three, and Four flights are launched the remainder of the wing can be brought up to full alert and launched in turn. Ordinarily, Ready One flight is actually in space and able to immediately respond to an alert. Ready Two pilots usually await action in their cockpits, and the Three and Four flights usually wait in the pilot's lounge.

Ground-based TIEs follow a similar procedure, and have the additional challenge of guarding orbital space from illegal entry by smugglers, pirates, and Rebels, and preventing "gravity dives," as fast hyperspace-to-gravity well landings are referred to. This is very difficult, as the diving ship can usually land before a TIE flight scrambles an interception flight. "Sky-diving" from a surface to hyperspace jump point is somewhat more likely to be intercepted, as the TIEs usually have several minutes more warning, but even at their very high speed a TIE is lucky to arrive before the illegal ship escapes.

Reconnaissance: TIE reconnaissance missions are of two types: short-range and long-range. Short-range recon missions are con­stant in defense of the fleet. TIE flights, especially TIE/rc models, often go on system patrols and relay data to the fleet to maintain space control.

Long-range recon missions are usually in concert with recon lines, in support of attack missions, or to flush out Rebels or other quarry. Typically, a TIE/rc squadron is ferried into a system by a capital ship, which then jumps away to safety -- the TIEs race through the system gathering information, and rendezvous with the carrier at a second point.

Combat Strategy

Most people don't consider the idea that TIEs use an overall strategy. The widely held impression is that TIEs swarm a target, shoot a lot, and quickly dodge away. That is true. This does not indicate a lack of strategy -- rather the reverse. TIE combat strate­gies are often to outnumber, shoot first, hit, and escape their quarry, outclassing them in every aspect of performance.

Outnumber: TIE fighters can usually outnumber a given enemy. Even when attacking a concentration of enemy starfighters, the TIEs often achieve parity, if not an outright advantage. Under ordinary circumstances TIE wing command can expect at least a 2:1 numeri­cal advantage in attack or defense.

Shoot First: TIE fire control is, overall, quite average, but if coordinating with TIE/fc models and sensor data from base ships, TIE/ln elements can fire at the enemy at maximum range with decent odds of hitting. This means a TIE force can fire effectively at the earliest opportunity rather than wait for the enemy to close to the enemy's optimum engagement range. TIEs are often supported by reconnaissance missions, usually conducted by TIE/rc and capital ship sensors, allowing the TIEs to keep the overall initiative.

Hit: It may seem obvious, but hitting enemy targets is crucial to a successful engagement, and should not be allowed to escape notice. TIE fighters increase their odds of hitting via a higher overall firing rate due to superior numbers.

Escape: The TIE fighter remains among the fastest starfighters in the galaxy. Although the new A-wing is about 20 percent faster than TIE/ln, TIEs are the standard Imperial fighter, while A-wings are a rare, elite, and cutting-edge asset. This high speed is used both in attack runs and in blindingly fast escapes. Escape from combat is crucial to any battle. If allowed to keep the initiative, TIE fighters routinely escape to regroup and re-engage.

Outclass: Alliance pilots generally have a low opinion of TIE fighters, primarily because the Alliance starfighters seem to be superior in design. This attitude ignores the development of the TIE fighter in competition with the fighters of the late Old Republic era. The TIE remains superior to most non-Alliance fighters, especially the Z-95 Headhunter, one of the most common system defense fighters of the pre-Imperial period.

Combat Tactics

Adar Tallon's five stages of starfighter combat, from his classic Treatise on Starfighter Tactics, were carefully considered when the original T.I.E. was designed. Many of the strategic elements of TIE employment are an outgrowth of this.

Detection: The brunt of detection was lifted from the front line TIE/ln models by dispersing sensor responsibility among support­ing fleet sensors and the TIE/rc. Command decisions are made by flight controllers in a position to assess the overall flow of battle. While this is against the grain of Alliance strategic philosophy, it can be very effective.

Closing: Speed is fundamental to TIE tactics. Concealment and deception in approach, however, are not an issue in Imperial mili­tary theory.

Attack: Overall, TIEs prefer to attack in overwhelming numbers, with fleet support. (See "Dogfights and Attack Runs")

Maneuver: Where Alliance starfighters often maneuver singly, TIE elements maneuver in element (a unit consisting of two TIE fighters, flown by a leader and his wingman). TIE elements are a tighter unit than in other starfighter wings, and generally prefer to maneuver as a flight. (See "Dogfights and Attack Runs," below)

Disengagement: TIE disengagement relies on their speed for a rapid retreat, often to regroup well outside the combat zone. Chas­ing a running TIE can be quite effective, as the starfighter may disrupt a regrouping flight, but is quite risky as the Alliance fighter may run into a large force.

Dogfights: The TIE is a maneuverable fighter, although the TIE/ln is no longer among the most maneuverable fighters, having been out-engineered by more recently designed starfighters. It is able to meet the demands of pilots, but this is due as much to their skill as to the inherent quality of the TIE design. The main advantages TIEs currently enjoy in combat are the generally high skill of the pilot, the TIE's speed, and the number of supporting TIEs. TIEs routinely engage in dogfights as part of their defense mission, but often come out the worse. TIEs often soften up enemy fighters with several high ­speed attack runs before engaging in dogfights.

Attack Runs: The TIE excels at high-speed attack runs. If sup­ported by TIE/fc target designators, a TIE/ln can approach at top speed, slow to high speed to fire with a good chance of hitting, then escape the zone of engagement at top speed, to regroup and re­engage on their own terms. Once several attacks have reduced the enemy numbers -- further enhancing TIE numerical superiority -- TIEs sweep up the remaining resistance with overwhelming dogfights.

TIE Organization and Deployment

The TIE fighter is, by most estimates, the most common star­fighter ever produced. Imperial and Sienar Fleet Systems data on the subject is top secret, but simple calculation shows that a minimum of approximately 4.6 million slots exist for TIE fighters, spread among Star Destroyers, other Imperial Naval vessels, and Imperial garrisons and defense stations.

The wing is the basic starfighter configuration of navies based on the Old Republic model. A starfighter wing in the Old Republic was a nebulous concept, ranging from three to six squadrons of short-- or long ­range starfighters. A wing was usually dispersed in a line, one squadron based on most cruisers, or two based on the Victory-class Star Destroyer. The wing could not be any more standardized than it was because the Navy lines of the period were so highly variable. Wing commanders were attached to line flagships, and as lines tended to vary with each mission, a wing commander might find himself with a wing of two squadrons in one month and six squad­rons in another.

With the rise of the Empire, this changed. The new Imperial-class Star Destroyer was designed, in part, as a TIE carrier as well as a super­-dreadnaught. This concentrated the TIE fighters in battle squadrons, in support of the Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Other squadron commands quickly found this objectionable, as they also required starfighter support to perform their missions. Sienar manufacturing plants went to round-the-clock schedules to meet the new demand. These new wings were assigned to attack and heavy attack lines.

Currently, an Imperial attack line is partially defined as a line able to fly at least a short wing of starfighters, and a heavy attack line is expected to fly at least one full wing of starfighters.

A short wing is considered to have two TIE/ln fighter squadrons for each other squadron consisting of specialized TIEs, like the TIE/rc or TIE/fc. Other squadron types are added and subtracted as resources allow.

Imperial TIE wings are more standardized than any other navy's wings. An Imperial Navy wing consists of 72 TIEs in six flights of varying models -- three fighter squadrons, one recon, one intercep­tor, and one bomber squadron. An Imperial Army wing consists of 40 TIEs in 10 flights of varying models -- two fighter squadrons, a bomber squadron, and a recon squadron.

When TIE squadrons are deployed for particular sorties, the squadron consists of different TIE models to better accomplish mission objectives. Naval TIE fighter deployment squadrons con­sist, on average, of two TIE/ln flights and one TIE/fc flight. Army fighter squadrons consist entirely of TIE/ln.

When deployed, TIE recon squadrons consist of two TIE/rc flights, with a TIE/fc flight in support. Army recon squadrons are in fact only a flight of TIE/fc.

TIE bomber squadrons formerly consisted of TIE/gt models, but currently mix TIE bombers with TIE/gt as availability demands. Naval bomber squadrons are transferring TIE/gt models to outlying posts and the Imperial Army as fast as the datawork can be filed, but Army resistance (and legitimate lack of demand) slows the process considerably. Current squadron mixes are of either type in both branches, although Star Destroyers have largely purged themselves of the TIE/gt models, and often include a TIE/fc flight.

TIE interceptor squadrons are almost exclusively assigned to Star Destroyers, and usually consist entirely of TIE interceptors. In wings without interceptors, the interception squadron either does not exist and the slot is filled with another fighter or specialized squadron, or the slot is filled entirely with TIE/ln.

Each squadron is made up of three flights, each flight having two elements of two fighters each. Four fighters per flight, 12 TIEs per squadron, 72 in a wing. Of these, 48 are TIE/ln (often mixed with 2­4 TIE/fc and eight TIE/rc), 12 are interceptors, 0-12 are TIE/gt or TIE bombers. Often, one of these is a training squadron.

TIE Rotation

TIE pilots don't get attached to their fighters. In the Alliance, pilots of all kinds personalize their cockpits with stickers, 2-D vids of mates or offspring, and other odd affectations. Not so in the Imperial Navy. TIE pilots are in constant rotation, serving shifts in turn in each of every kind of TIE, in order to maintain proficiency with each model. Training squadrons as well as experienced pilots take their turn with each squadron (except the TIE interceptor squadron, which is accessible only to experienced pilots), and there is little point in making a TIE homey. Even if a TIE pilot were to break regulations against "defacement," the maintenance crew would soon repair or replace the altered item.

There is one exception, technically against regulation, but cher­ished as a tradition. Each kill the TIE racks up is marked on a panel on the inside hatch by a one centimeter-long score. Every TIE pilot in Imperial service is believed to follow this old tradition, which has parallels in nearly every other starfighter service. On the rare occasion that the hatch is filled, it is replaced and retired with honors, and welded above the TIE hangar rack. The TIE in question is logged as retired, and its serial number gains a letter prefix indicating its status. These "lucky" TIEs are the object of some internal wing politicking. It is assumed, although impossible to confirm, that Darth Vader's personal TIE Advanced x1 Prototype has its own set of kill marks on its hatch.

TIE Weaknesses

The major weakness of the TIE design is its fragility. Only about half as durable as Alliance starfighters, and less durable even than starfighters of previous generations, TIE fragility is a well-appreci­ated feature among enemy pilots. This fragility is compounded by the TIE's lack of shielding, considered too expensive to retrofit into the TIE design.

The TIE has a reputation for being a highly maneuverable fighter, but this is a relic from the early days of the Empire, when it was indeed a very agile starfighter. Since the adoption of the TIE by the Imperial Navy, it has been the standard to beat among starfighter designers. One of the TIE's most commonly trumped features is its maneuverability, so recent starfighter designs have tried to out­class the TIE's maneuvering capabilities. A more successful design strategy has been to try and match the TIE's speed -- something designers have already accomplished with the A-wing fighter.

Source

This first appeared in Star Wars Insider, Issue 93.

Official Star Wars Website