TYE-wing
- "Hobbie, if you can't shake a T-wing, you deserve to be vaped."
- ―Wes Janson to Derek Klivian
The TYE-wing was one of the composite starfighter designs known as "uglies".
Though it was known by a number of names, including TIE-wing, T-wing, Y-ball, TIE-Y, TYE fighter, Die-wing, Why-Fighter, or simply TYE, it was apparently more standardized than most uglies.
TYE-wings combined the ball cockpit and wing braces of the TIE Fighter with the engine nacelles from the Y-wing. They were armed with two TIE fighter laser cannons, usually had a functional TIE sensor package, and had fair maneuverability. Unfortunately, they had no shields, no hyperdrive, and although they were faster than many uglies, they were quite slow compared to most mass-produced fighters.
The TYE-wing essentially combined the key weaknesses of both the TIE fighter and the Y-wing, yet had the strengths of neither. Many pilots dubbed them "DIE-wings", because with combined low firepower and fragility of a TIE and the sluggishness and ungainliness of a Y-Wing, its battle performance, alongside its survivability, was almost non-existent.
TYE-wings were often found in the service of pirates, notably Kavil's Corsairs and others under the Blazing Claw sigil. They were also used in many private defensive fleets, by factions of the Imperial Remnant and Rebel privateers. Urias Xhaxin for example had, at the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War, several TYE-wings besides other Uglies on board of his ship, the Free Lance.
Appearances
- Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Family Ties
- Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Masquerade
- X-Wing: The Krytos Trap (First appearance) (in simulator)
- X-Wing: The Bacta War
- I, Jedi
- The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide I: Onslaught
- The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide II: Ruin
Sources
- Pirates & Privateers
- Starships of the Galaxy (2007)
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (As "TIE-wing")