The A-wing is one of the fastest starfighters in the Star Wars Universe.
Overview[]
The infamous General Han Solo said it best: "Any pilot who volunteers to fly an A-wing better be brave or crazy. Probably helps to be little of both."
The fleet and nimble starfighter is the fastest and perhaps one of the most lethal starfighters that fought in the Galactic Civil War. Renowned for its speed and maneuverability, the A-wing was quick enough to catch any starfighter in its range yet powerful enough to destroy them. It's small compact frame gave it a low target profile with combined with its speed and agility made it a frustratingly elusive target by the Empire.
But the A-wing also possessed many manifest weaknesses; it's very sleekness and small size ensured that it only incorporated the thinnest of armor plating and minimal deflector shielding which meant that the A-wing was incredibly fragile for a starfighter. If it did suffer a strike, it would invariably inflict critical if not catastrophic damage to the ship. It also lacked astromech support capability and thus meant that the pilot would have responsibility for not only handling the flying but also the weapons and any maintenance issues that arise during combat.
Technical Specifications[]
- MODEL: RZ-1 A-wing
- CLASS: Interceptor
- OVERALL LENGTH: 9.6 meters (31.4 feet)
- OVERALL BEAM: 6.4 meters (20.9 feet)
- OVERALL DRAFT: 3.11 meters (10.2 feet)
- CREW COMPLEMENT: 1
- MAXIMUM ATMOSPHERIC SPEED: 1,300 kph
- MAXIMUM SUBLIGHT SPEED: 120 MGLT
- HYPERSPEED CLASSIFICATION: Class 1 Lighspeed
Design Features[]
Armaments[]
The A-wing is armed with a pair of Borstel RG-9 laser cannons mounted on the wings of the craft. These laser cannons were further modified to be able to rotate for an increased firing arcs. The early A-wing models had the capacity to rotate up to 60 degrees while the later versions could rotate a full 360 degrees which meant that the A-wing could fire backwards if needed.
The A-wings were also equipped with a pair of Dymek HM-6 Concussion Missile Launchers and could fire a total of 12 missiles.
History[]
The A-wing was designed by Kuat Systems Engineering which was a division of the much larger Kuat Drive Yards. The innovative Kuat Systems Engineering was responsible for a number of impressive starship and starfighter designs such as the Aethersprite and Firespray-31 Patrol Ship; the most famous being a stolen model was utilized by Jango Fett and later his son Boba Fett. The A-wing was yet another unheralded triumph of a technologically innovative and impressive designed starfighter that was inspired by the Old Republic Aurek Strikefighter and the R-22 Spearhead.
Production Notes[]
The A-wing as well as its sister ship, the B-wing were created specifically for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi film to expand the Rebellion fleet of starfighters. The ships themselves were unnamed for the most part and were simply referred to as the "A Fighter" and "B Fighter" by the film crew for the background shots. The A Fighter was created by Ralph McQuarrie. The A-wing was originally blue with white markings but due to the limitations of bluescreen technology of this era, they had to hastily repainted red.
The backstory of the A-wing originally had them specifically created by the Rebellion after the Battle of Yavin as a fast and speedy starfighter and as a deliberate design counter to the TIE Interceptor which exceeded the vaunted X-wings. However, the A-wing's backstory and history has since refined and expanded, having them predate the Rebellion itself.
The A-wing only has several short appearances in the Return of the Jedi but earned its place in numerous fans' memories thanks to the cataclysmic crash of a single A-wing into the bridge of the Super Star-Destroyer Executor and causing the ship to subsequently crash into the Death Star II.
To explain why the A-wing (as well as the B-wing) were not part of the earlier Star Wars films; it has been proclaimed that the Rebellion functioned as several different chapters or cells which operated roughly independently of each other for security. Each cell were only tangentially connected via a small and secretive overarching command structure and thus had different ships, resources, and support personnel. The Rebellion unit that Hera Syndulla worked with was a different cell from the group that Luke Skywalker belonged to and thus they did not have access to the B-wings and A-wings that Hera's cell employed. The Battle of Endor was the first time that all of the different Rebellion cells were united in a grand fleet in a desperate attempt to destroy the Death Star II and why these previously never-before-seen ships made their first appearance.
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