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- How Was The Y-Wing Starfighter Created?
- What Are Y-Wing Starfighters Equipped With?
- Was The Y-Wing Starfighter Useful In Battle?
- What Are The Different Y-Wing Models?
It would be strange if a series like Star Wars didn’t also feature a ton of great starfighters. There are a lot of interesting starfighters out there, with TIE Fighters and X-Wings standing as two of the most famous in the sci-fi genre as a whole. However, there is another. Often ignored by the Star Wars fanbase, the Y-Wing Starfighter is a great ship in its own right.
Luckily, like almost every other aspect, object, and species in the series, the Y-Wing has been fleshed out over the years, most notably during the Clone Wars era. This underrated ship may be a favorite of those who enjoy the Clone Wars, but those same people may not know how it stacks up with the other famous ships. There’s a reason why the Y-Wing was so crucial during one of the galaxy’s most brutal wars.
How Was The Y-Wing Starfighter Created?
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The BTL-B Y-Wing Starfighter |
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Manufacturer |
Koensayr Manufacturing |
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Engines |
2 ion jet engines |
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Weapons |
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Crew |
A pilot, a gunner, and an astromech droid |
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Length |
23.4 meters |
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Maximum Speed |
1,000 kph |
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Notable Affiliations |
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Even though the Y-Wing came about out of necessity during the Clone Wars, the way they were created was relatively standard. The ships came into being thanks to the Y-Wing Project, which sought to create a new wave of useful Starfighters to aid the Republic in their fight. The planet Koensayr was commissioned to create the new line of ships, hoping that the companies there would be able to find a way to marry the concept of starfighter and bomber together. The result was the Y-Wing, or more specifically, the BTL-B Y-Wing.
In its original iteration, the BTL-B Y-Wing Starfighter had a “Y” shape, similar to how the X-Wings have an “X” shape. The main hull was a single strip with two large engines jutting out to form the “Y” design. Since they had been built with a dual use in mind, Y-wings were able to replace a variety of other ships in use at the time. Soon, the Y-Wing became a standard ship across the galaxy, up to the era of the First Order.
What Are Y-Wing Starfighters Equipped With?
A standard Y-Wing Starfighter is equipped with two massive ion engines and a set of repulsorlifts. This meant that the ship was not only fast, but was also powerful at almost any elevation. Internally, the ship possessed a number of quality-of-life features that aided with navigation, combat, tracking, and life support. The Y-wing was even capable of holding a variety of necessary supplies should there be a system failure. The ships used a chempat deflector shield generator in tandem with an alusteel body that was bolstered by titanium.
The Y-Wing’s weapons are the true stars of the show. On the front of the ship are two massive laser canons, with additional ion canons manned by the ship’s gunner. These canons made the Y-Wing a dangerous force in any fight, capable of causing such significant damage that they could disable or outright obliterate many other ships. Additionally functioning as a bomber, the Y-Wing was also equipped with two torpedo launchers that could add to the utter devastation the ship was already capable of dishing out.
Was The Y-Wing Starfighter Useful In Battle?
Considering the Y-Wing made various forms of bombers and starfighters obsolete, it’s safe to say that this ship was incredibly useful. Throughout the Clone Wars, Y-Wings made many impactful bombing runs and was piloted by plenty of important Jedi, including Anakin Skywalker. For the ship to have lasted as long as it did, it had to be useful. Considering it became one of the primary ships used by the winning side of the Clone Wars, the Y-Wing is a marvel of design. This is made clear in a line from the reference book Rebel Starfighters Owners’ Workshop Manual:
“The Republic commissioned the Y-wing for clone pilots to take on the Confederacy’s droid starfighters, and last I checked, the droids didn’t win.”
While it is impressive that a single squad could destroy a city, the Y-Wing does have a major flaw, which made the ship a lot less useful to the rebels during the Imperial Era. The ships require a lot of maintenance after heavy use, specifically with their onboard cooling systems. This made it difficult to keep these ships in excellent condition, especially for groups with access to fewer resources. The continued use of the Y-Wing by the Rebel Alliance could have been dangerous. Luckily, the crafty rebels found a way to make their stripped-down version of the fighter even more deadly than the original version.
What Are The Different Y-Wing Models?
Y-Wing Models:
- BTL-B Y-Wing
- BTL-A4 Y-Wing
- BTL-A4 LP
- BTL-S3 Y-Wing
- BTA-NR2 Y-Wing
While some might think that the Y-Wing would be a fairly standardized ship, there were a number of different models throughout the Y-Wing’s lifespan. Aside from the original BTL-B Y-Wing, there was also the BTL-A4 Y-Wing and its BTL-A4 LP variation, the BTL-S3 Y-Wing, and the BTA-NR2 Y-Wing. The BTL-A4 Y-Wing was the first update to the original ship’s design, removing a gunner but beefing up the overall power and defense of the ship to make it a force in any fleet. The BTL-A4 LP variation of the ship wasn’t typically used for combat, but instead to spy and gain intel from a distance.
The BTL-S3 Y-Wing iteration only made minor changes to the overall functionality of the ship. It once again changed the gunner positioning, allowing it to fill a slightly different role on the battlefield while still having a massive amount of use. The BTA-NR2 Y-Wing is an interesting case, because it is actually the rebel iteration of the ship that became famous across the galaxy. This version of the starfighter was the most dangerous and most customizable of them all, which may be why it remained such a force in the galaxy for so long.
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