X-Wing
| X-Wing | |
| Production Information | |
|---|---|
| Class |
Starfigther |
| Model | |
| Manufacturer |
Incom Corporation |
| Technical Specifications | |
| Length |
12.5 meters |
| Maximum Acceleration |
3,700 G |
| MGLT |
80 MGLT |
| Engine Units |
Incom 4L4 fusial thrust engines (4) |
| Hyperdrive Rating |
Class 1.0 |
| Shielding |
Chempat "Defender" deflector shield generator |
| Hull |
Titanium alloy hull |
| Targeting Systems |
|
| Armament |
|
| Crew |
|
| Passengers |
None |
| Cargo Capacity |
110 kilograms |
| Other |
|
| Usage | |
| Roles |
|
Characteristics[edit]
Reasonably maneuverable, X-wings had two pairs of wing-like strike-foils, or S-foils, mounted at the rear of the craft on opposite sides. The foils on each side locked in place flush against each other; during combat, however, the foils were folded out to increase the spread coverage of the laser cannons mounted at the tips of the foils. This gave the craft its distinctive "X"-like appearance when viewed from the front or rear. The cannons on some earlier models could not be fired with the S-foils in locked position, perhaps as a safety feature. During hyperspace travel, the S-foils remained locked to preserve energy.
In some models, its already impressive velocity was tweaked to allow short microbursts of speed. However, in order to utilize this feature, the weapons systems had to be switched off and the S-foils locked flush against each other. Other models utilized the locked foils while maintaining weapons, albeit at reduced power and accuracy.
The X-wing carried four Taim & Bak KX9 laser cannons, along with dual launcher tubes for proton torpedoes. Other warheads, such as concussion missiles, could be fired from the launchers, but this required a considerable amount of time and effort on the part of the technical crews, and the overall versatility of the proton torpedo was ideally suited to the X-wing's varied mission profile and was therefore the weapon of choice. However, during the early years of the Galactic Civil War, the Rebellion had a small supply of such weapons, due to their high price. During the Battle of Yavin, for example, most X-wings carried only one set of such warheads, including Luke Skywalker's ship. To aid in the firing of these weapons, an ANq 3.6 tracking computer was installed, giving pilots advanced tactical imagery to target, aim, and launch the torpedoes. This tracking computer had a success rate of 98.7%.
The X-wing's lasers had various settings:
- Single fire, where each laser fired individually;
- Dual fire, where two lasers, one on each side, paired up and the pairs fired alternately;
- Quad fire, where all four lasers (one at each foil-tip) fired together, converging on the target; or
Sublight propulsion was generated by four Incom 4L4 fusial thrust engines, which gave the starfighter relatively fast space and atmospheric speed. The X-wing, unlike most fighters of the TIE series, was equipped with a hyperdrive, which made it capable of entering hyperspace, and allowed it to operate independent from large support ships. Fighter squadrons could strike out on their own, without the need for a carrier; this autonomy suited the Rebellion, as it served their hit-and-run tactics perfectly.
The fighter had space for one pilot, assisted by a droid (such as an R2-series astromech droid unit) in an external socket, which monitored the status of the craft and could make emergency repairs. The onboard droid also managed hyperspace calculations, operated individual systems, and could even fly the craft without the aid of a pilot, allowing the pilot to rest during missions, or saving labor as the X-wing is routinely moved around inside hangar bays.
The X-wing's flight controls were similar to those of the T-16 skyhopper, an airspeeder also produced by Incom Corporation. Because both craft were manufactured by the same company, the control set of the civilian craft meshed well with the X-wings, and, thus, pilots were able to adapt with minimal training. A skilled recruit with enough hours on a T-16 could pilot an X-wing within hours of first entering the craft. Rebel technicians used this to train new pilots without risking any of the expensive X-wings.
History[edit]
The X-wing was originally designed by Incom Corporation for the Empire by Vors Voorhorian, but the entire engineering team defected to the Rebel Alliance with the prototypes hidden on Fresia. It was directly descended from the old Z-95 Headhunter, built by Incom and Subpro, with lessons learned from the ARC-170 starfighter. After four prototypes were extracted from Fresia during the Battle of Fresia, it first encountered Imperial forces in the Battle of Turkana. Many more of the ships were liberated from an Incom facility prior to the Battle of Yavin.
The X-wing was continually updated throughout its design lifetime. The original T-65AC1 fielded by the Rebel Alliance was a competent strike fighter for its time, but was soon supplanted by the T-65AC2, boasting improved acceleration. The T-65AC3 had improved avionics, shields, and sensors; the T-65AC4 was primarily another engine upgrade, which made it nearly the equal of the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor. 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). The TX-65 was the X-wing trainer variant. There was also a T-65B X-wing starfighter in the works during the Galactic Civil War, which was being developed on Mon Calamari by Rebels and Incom technicians. The traitor Ral Shawgrim nearly managed to transfer the plans to the Empire-aligned Sienar Fleet Systems, but was thwarted by Rebel operatives.
Famous uses included the Battle of Yavin, where an X-wing was piloted by Luke Skywalker and destroyed the Galactic Empire's first Death Star, although nearly all the other X-wings that participated in the battle were destroyed. An X-wing piloted by Wedge Antilles also helped destroy the second Death Star's reactor at the Battle of Endor, in concert with Millennium Falcon, starting off a chain reaction that completely destroyed the battlestation.
Source[edit]
- Credit to Wookieepedia for the above information
