Twin Ion Engine starfighter
The Republic Sienar Systems Twin Ion Engine (T.I.E.) starfighter was the forerunner of the Imperial TIE starfighter and its variants.[2][3]
Characteristics
The T.I.E. starfighter was the first fighter to utilize the famous "ball-shaped cockpit flanked by vertical wings" design, and seemed very similar in terms of shape to its descendants.[2]
History
The T.I.E. could be traced back to a courier design produced by Raith Sienar's Sienar Design Systems before 32 BBY, the ship which became Darth Maul's Scimitar—although Scimitar was a large, sophisticated runner rather than a compact, mass-produced starfighter. The next stage was the Advanced Project ship, a starfighter prototype design, the latest and smallest of which Sienar was building in 29 BBY.[5]
It would be another seven years, however, before Sienar revealed the final component of the T.I.E. design, the SIE-TIE twin ion engine, a powerful and highly-innovative propulsion unit which was officially endorsed by Republic Sienar Systems shortly before the First Battle of Geonosis and the outbreak of the Clone Wars.[6] This paved the way for the final starfighter design, and it meant that Republic Sienar Systems was well-prepared when the Republic called for a new, standard mass-production starfighter during the Clone Wars.[2]
The T.I.E. production went underway as part of a drive by the Republic Navy to standardize their starfighter capability and create fighters that could deploy in the limited space available aboard existing warships like the Dreadnaught-class and Carrack-class cruisers.[4]
Although the new engine design was incompatible with established hyperdrive, life-support and shield systems, the T.I.E. was incredibly cheap, very fast, and could stack tightly in converted cargo holds or external launch-racks aboard the Navy's existing line-combat ships.[4] By the first weeks of the New Order, T.I.E. fighters, already known to front-line personnel as "TIE fighters", were deployed aboard ships, such as the Victory-class Star Destroyer Strikefast.[source?]
By this time, the original T.I.E. had evolved into the TIE starfighter, which would later be supplanted by the TIE/LN starfighter, the dominant starfighter model of the Galactic Empire.[1][4]
Appearances
- Rogue Planet
Successful Engine Tests Cause Sienar Stock Surge — HoloNet News Vol. 531 #51 (content now obsolete; backup link)- Children of the Jedi
Sources
- Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (First mentioned)
- The Star Wars Sourcebook
- Star Wars Sourcebook, Second Edition
- The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
"Alliance Intelligence Report: TIE Fighters" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 10
TIE fighter in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)- The Essential Guide to Warfare
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (first edition)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Star Wars Sourcebook
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Star Wars Sourcebook (Second Edition)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Alliance Intelligence Report: TIE Fighters" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 10
- ↑ The Essential Guide to Warfare
- ↑ Successful Engine Tests Cause Sienar Stock Surge — HoloNet News Vol. 531 #51 (content now obsolete; backup link)