TIE STARFIGHTERS

The Empire's main and the most widely used fighters come from the legendary TIE series. The TIE series (TIE is short for Twin Ion Engine - the drive system of the starfighter) is the byproduct of the need for a cheap and effective fighter that could fulfill most roles of it's (more expensive) enemies. While generally unshielded and without a hyperdrive to propel it through greater distances, the TIE series fighters are still a force to be reckoned with, as many enemies of the Empire learn the hard way - they usually discover the fatal mistake of underestimating a TIE starfighter.

To make up for some of its more painful fallbacks, all TIE starfighters have small size, great speed and perfect mobility that allows them to shake off any, but the most persistent opponents, whilst making it difficult for those same opponents to shake them off...

MAIN FIGHTERS OF THE TWIN ION ENGINE SERIES

1. TIE /LN STANDARD FIGHTER

Ship dimensions:

Length: 10 meters
Width: 5 meters
Height: 5 meters

Production data:

Production: Sienar Fleet Systems
Designer: SFS design team
Avrg. build time: 1 day
Combat designation: Space superiority starfighter

Ship armament and movement:

Primary weaponry: 2 Laser cannons
Engines: 2 Ion engines
Standard cruising speed: 100 MGLT
Maximum retreat speed: 120 MGLT (weapons must be off-line to achive this speed)
Hyperdrive: none
Power system: solar wing panels

Two red glows reveal the central component of the fighter - twin ion engine system

History:

The Empire made an offer for all fighter manufacturers early in it's reign, signifying that it was looking for a cheap, but effective starfighter for mass production. The greatness of the Empire made production of any, more expensive fighters, impossible and so the Navy's top brass wanted a cheap fighter. The winner of that contest was a production company named Sienar Fleet System (also a famous producer of ground vehicles) with it's design called the Twin Ion Engine Fighter - or TIE fighter, in short. The fighter offered fit right into the Empire's vision - it was maneuverable, fast, small and, most important of all, cheap... Mass production could begin almost immediately and the first thousands of TIEs started appearing all over the Empire in short notice. To make up for it's lack of a hyperdrive, the Empire begun fitting it's major starships (notably the Imperial-class Star Destroyers) and bases with specially designed hangar racks made specifically to carry TIE fighters in as less space as possible. Because of the TIEs size and the system designed around it's launching, most Imperial hangars can carry two times as more TIEs then they would carry any other starfighters that use normal launching systems.

Despite some of its fallbacks, the TIE fighter begun proving it's worth on the battlefield with superb results. The unorganized pirate groups in the wilder regions of the galaxy showed to be no match for a well-led pack of TIE fighters and the new starfighter didn't seem lacking when facing against more expensive and heavily shielded starfighters. Only when the Rebel terrorists started to train their pilots, and equip them with the newest generation of starfighters, did the TIE fighter encounter problems in space combat. Even then, combat results were pleasing - at the bottom line, Rebels lost one fighter for every two TIEs they destroyed (a balance the Empire could easily kept up, while the Rebels would very soon run out of fighters).

Seeing that their tactics was unsuccessful, the Rebel terrorists fall back into the lower regions of the galaxy, where from they could find lesser challenge in fighting ill-equipped border regions and abandoned outposts with under run defense forces. This signified another triumph in the Empire's military and technical planning, and by the time the Rebels would attempt to return, the Empire would be ready with the next generations of TIE fighters that would prove their worth against the overrated enemy fighters.

2. TIE INTERCEPTOR

Ship dimensions:

Length: 12 meters
Width: 5 meters
Height: 4 meters

Production data:

Production: Sienar Fleet Systems
Designer: SFS design team
Avrg. build time: 1 day
Combat designation: Space superiority starfighter

Ship armament and movement:

Primary weaponry: 4 Laser cannons
Engines: 2 Ion engines
Standard cruising speed: 120 MGLT
Maximum retreat speed: 145 MGLT (weapons must be off-line to achive this speed)
Hyperdrive: none
Power system: solar wing panels

History:

The next generation of TIE fighters arrived in the form of the heavily modified Advanced. The TIE Advanced was a strange experiment - completely altering the chassis of the fighter to make it more like standard starfighters of the time. The Advanced sported shields AND a hyperdrive, losing every inherited aspect from the Fighter except its appearance. The Advanced was introduced in limited amounts to elite Imperial fighter units for combat evaluations. The Advanced showed as an excellent and sturdy design, proving that the SFS has once again produced a winner. However, the very aspect that made the Empire go for the TIE fighter was lost in this design - it's low cost and easy manufacture. Having discarded the Advanced fighters as replacement for TIE fighters, the Empire opted for a new starfighter. Sienar then produced the TIE Interceptor.

It is instrumental in understanding the TIE Interceptor to know that it was designed from the TIE Advanced. The Advanced's hull was slightly shortened and the extra accessories (hyperdrive and shields) were removed. The ship was still left with four laser cannon's instead of the original TIEs two and the ship retained (and gained some) speed and maneuverability through its loss in mass.

The result was phenomenal. The new Interceptor outperformed it's predecessor in every category and all that with a minimal increase in cost. The new Interceptor was acceptable, and the Empire ordered it's production. Their vision was no less ambitious - then the replacement of all active TIE Fighters with Interceptors. The height of this transformation was reached somewhere half a year after the battle of Hoth. At this time, there were two squadrons of Interceptors for three squadrons of Fighters, and the Empire temporarily suspended their replacement because another new project - the TIE Bomber, the heavy assaulter of the family - made its way into the complement. When the Bomber successfully enters all ship and base complements, the Interceptor replacements would continue. In the meantime, the chance to study the differences between the Interceptor and it's older version in practice makes an interesting sport, especially as Sienar Fleet System's designers consider why they developed the TIE Fighter in the first place, as they managed to make the Interceptor with the same technology they had available years ago when they made the original...

3. TIE BOMBER

Ship dimensions:

Length: 12 meters
Width: 7,25 meters
Height: 4 meters

Production data:

Production: Sienar Fleet Systems
Designer: SFS design team
Avrg. build time: 1 day
Combat designation: Space bombardment starfighter

Ship armament and movement:

Primary weaponry: 2 Laser cannons
Missile weaponry: 2 Warhead Launchers (convertable type - general armament: 8 proton torpeados that can be boosted to 16)
Engines: 2 Ion engines
Standard cruising speed: 80 MGLT
Maximum retreat speed: 100 MGLT (weapons must be off-line to achive this speed)
Hyperdrive: none
Power system: solar wing panels

History:

The TIE Bomber was devised as an assault starfighter for bombing and enemy capital starship destruction. Because of the Empire's heavily armed capital starships, there was no need for bombing - any planetary bombardment was done by starships from orbit. However, as the Empire learned from it's enemies - capital starships have a soft spot for starfighter assaults with torpedoes. This newly found way of warfare forced the Empire to call on Sienar Fleet Systems to produce a modification on the standard TIE fighter that could carry projectile weapons. The TIE Bomber, the answer to this need, proved to be a potent weapon. It looks like an enlarged TIE Interceptor, as it has two main cylindrical hull parts. The first is the standard TIE-series cockpit, while the other houses the projectile weapons and the sophisticated targeting system. This targeting system is so precise that the Bomber can hit a small meter-wide target on top of a one-mile star cruiser. This fact allows the Bomber to be effective in starship-killing simply by taking out it's main weapon systems before engaging in close combat.

The Bomber can also be remodeled as it's secondary hull part which houses the missiles can be emptied to allow other mission-specific extras to be added. Among such examples are: small boarding parties of up to four troopers, extra sensor equipment for deep-space scanning or just sheer transport of things... As with all other TIE's, the Bomber can perform outstanding maneuvers, although it's larger hull, mass and different engine system have contributed to it doing those maneuvers a lot slower then other TIE's - the Bomber can achieve only 80 % speed of the original Fighter. The Bomber's hull is enhanced to eliminate such backsides - the amount of firepower the Bomber's hull can survive is double that of the Interceptor crafts. Due to it's general mission function, the Bomber also requires a longer flight duration (standard TIE's have fuel for about two hours, although they can be modified for more) and the added hull allows extra fuel storages that can double the flight time of the fighter. As with other crafts of it's series, the Bomber has no hyperdrive.

Since their introduction, the Bombers have proven their worth in other fields then just plain starship-killing. The Bomber is very effective at ground-attack missions, striking with missiles very precisely at targets the other TIE's wouldn't even scorch with hails of laser fire. Some squadron commanders have even experimented with TIE Bombers being given a fighter-combat role. These tests proved that a Bomber armed with concussion missiles could blast any starfighter in space - but is very ineffective at close range. The previously mentioned mission modifications also define other fields of use for this craft - boarding parties are a strange, yet useful solution. The adaptivness of the TIE Bomber ensures it can be quickly and easily modified for any mission and it has been proven that no mission is too big for the sturdy Bomber. As long as any necessary equipment for the mission can fit in the TIE Bomber's hull, the craft can achieve the mission with little trouble and this has proven to the Empire that the TIE Bomber is the only craft they will ever need to do all the missions they need and the Interceptor or Fighter craft can't handle...

COMING SOON:

TIE Advanced

Assault Gunboat