TIE Defender
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The TIE Defender is a fictional starfighter that appears in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, including several games in the X-Wing computer game series and a few Star Wars novels.
The TIE Defender initially appeared towards the end of the computer game "TIE Fighter", set in a time period somewhere between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The Defender model also appeared in the Star Wars: X-Wing novel 'Isard's Revenge', eighth in the series. The craft are referred to as 'trips' in New Republic fighter pilot slang due to their tripple wing arrays.
According to canon, the high success rate of Rebel starfighters versus standard Imperial TIE Fighters caused the Imperial Navy to rethink its doctrine of preferring swarms of cheap craft over fewer high-quality ones (a possible legacy of the Clone Wars). This interpretation may just be Rebel propaganda, however; several shielded Imperial starfighters existed before the introduction of the TIE Defender. Notable examples include the Assault Gunboat, the TIE Advanced, the TIE Avenger and the Skipray Blastboat.
Unlike standard TIE craft, the TIE Defender has both shields and a hyperdrive. It carries a formidable array of weaponry, with four laser cannons, two ion cannons and two warhead launchers each capable of holding 4 missiles (both proton and concussion). According to the novel (Isard's Revenge), the Defender also sported a small tractor beam. (In the game, it could be equipped with a tractor beam, but it was not standard.) Its triple wing design and powerful engines make the craft faster and more agile than any other starfighter in Imperial service. It was also very expensive, coasting 300,000 credits for a single unit, which is five times the cost of a standard TIE Fighter. Even an organization as wealthy as the Imperial Starfleet could not hope to mass-deploy such a fighter (or even the inferior TIE Avenger) so only elite pilots flew them, and only then for missions of the utmost importance (such as to prevent the rogue Grand Admiral Zaarin's coup d'etat).
In the games, the TIE Defender was far superior to any other starfighter, and the plot of the series rarely had the TIE Defender fighting Rebel craft. The TIE Defender has an advantage against the X-Wing and perhaps all other Rebel craft in every respect, upping the X-Wing with its two ion cannons, and two missile launchers with an increased capacity.
Also in the game, according the specifications, the TIE Defender's two Novaldex shield generators provide 4 times the shielding of an X-Wing (which is considered to have decent shielding for a ship its size). This is not mentioned in any other sources (novels, etc.), but if it were true, this would make the TIE Defender the most well defended ship its size by a considerable amount, granting it the highest survivability rating of any ship its class. Since the game first introduced the Defender, one could assume this information is true despite it not specifically being mentioned in the novel (The authors of those materials may have not checked the specifications from the game.) Also, having such powerful shields fits the name of the craft, and could be where the name is derived from in the first place.
Furthermore, in the game, it was also the fastest (clocking in at 155 MLT, thanks to a pair of P-sz9.7 ion engines) and most maneuverable ship. It outclasses all Rebel craft, such as the A-Wing, which is speed rated at 120 MLT (the fastest Rebel craft, by far). Only the Missile Boat is faster, when it uses its SLAM engines which grant only speed, not maneuverability, and is very limited in its use because the SLAM engines drain laser power; It's just a temporary boost in speed.
External link
- Official description (http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/tiedefender/index.html)
References
- Star Wars The essential guide to vehicles and vessels, 1st printing, 1996. Bill Smith, ISBN 0-590-02361-6
- Star Wars: X-Wing: Isard's Revenge, 1999, Michael A. Stackpole. ISBN 0-553-57903-7