T-65 X-wing Starfighter (2024)

"Time to retire those old Z-95’s! These X-wings can handle anything the Empire can throw at us!"

— Raymus Antilles

The Incom T-65 X-wing Starfighter has played a major role in the Galactic Civil War following its capture on Fresia and the defection of its designers to the Alliance. It was most heralded as the fighter that destroyed the Death Star. The X-wing has been so predominantly flown by Rebel and New Republic forces that it has became a symbol of their faction, much like the TIE Fighter and Star Destroyer have become symbols of the Galactic Empire.

Known for its versatility and good combat performance, it has been a favorite with Rebel and New Republic pilots. Possessing deflector shields, a hyperdrive, an R2 astromech for repairs and navigation, and a complement of proton torpedoes, the X-wing is a well-rounded fighter.

There are two conflicting systems of identification for the X-wing. The basic designation "T-65" is always constant, but the version modifier is not. At least two systems are used. One of them uses the suffix "AC1" with the last number incrementing as the fighter is revised. There is also a second system, in which a letter is appended to the end in increasing value (T-65B, T-65D, T-65J, etc.). These are usually thought of as different names for the same variations (with the T-65AC1 being the same craft as the T-65A and so on). It is unknown why two different systems were developed.

X-wings have 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 are usually locked in place flush against each other; during combat, however, the foils are folded out to increase the spread coverage of the laser cannons mounted at the tips of the foils. This gives the craft its distinctive "X"-like appearance when viewed from the front or rear. During hyperspace travel, the S-foils remained locked to conserve energy.

The X-wing features four Taim & Bak KX9 laser cannons, along with dual launch tubes for proton torpedoes. Other warheads, such as concussion missiles, can be fitted as an alternative secondary weapon, however this requires a considerable amount of time and effort on the part of the technical crews.

The X-wing's lasers have various settings:

• Single fire, where each laser fires individually.
• Dual fire, where two lasers, one on each side, pair up and fire alternately.
• Quad fire, where all four lasers fire together, converging on the target.
• Stutter fire, where many underpowered beams are fired in rapid succession (added to later models)

The fighter has space for one pilot, assisted by a droid (such as an R2-series astromech droid unit) in an external socket, which monitors the status of the craft and can make emergency repairs. The onboard droid also manages hyperspace calculations, operates individual systems, and can 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 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 assembly 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; while the T-65AC4 was primarily another engine upgrade, which made it nearly the equal of the RZ-1 A-wing Interceptor. Other variations on the design have also been developed, such as the T-65D-A1, which replaced the astromech droid with an internal computer core for hyperdrive jump calculations, or the TX-65; commonly used as a trainer variant. Perhaps most noticeable of all was the Recon-X, meant for scouting and reconnaissance.

It had been intended that the X-wing series would be replaced by the E-wing approximately six years after the Battle of Endor, but initial design issues relating to the weapons placement delayed wide-spread introduction into the New Republic military. Wide-scale deployment of the E-wing did occur (most notably in the Fifth Fleet), but the X-wing continues to be the most popular starfighter in the New Republic.

• Wookieepedia