Star Wars ABCs is a fun 26-part series that partners Star Wars with your ABCs to introduce you to characters, droids, places, and creatures from every era of the franchise, including the newest venture into a galaxy far, far away — The High Republic.
X is for X-Wing Starfighter
Disney
The X-wing was a legendary and iconic starfighter that became synonymous with freedom fighters throughout the galaxy thanks to its use by the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War.
Manufactured by the Incom Corporation, the X-wing’s design descended from the ship builder’s Clone Wars era starfighters: the Aggressive ReConnaissance-170 starfighter, Clone Z-95 Headhunter, and Z-95 Headhunter. The X-wing was designed and built with the goal of having a well-rounded fighter with a hyperdrive and no easily exploitable weaknesses. After the conclusion of the Clone Wars, the fighter was intended to become the backbone of the Imperial Navy, but political maneuvering resulted in Incom losing the contract bid to Sienar Fleet Systems, who built the more affordable TIE line which became synonymous with the Imperial Navy.
With the Imperial Navy passing on Incom Corporation’s new X-wing starfighter, the Alliance to Restore the Republic swooped in and adopted the snubfighter as its own and began operating T-65B X-wings as early as 1 BBY. The ship was the backbone of the Rebel Alliance’s starfighter fleet throughout the duration of the Galactic Civil War, with the X-wings leading the attack in almost every major engagement throughout the war, including the attacks on both Death Stars, the Battle of Scarif, and the mutiny on Mon Cala.
By the time the Alliance to Restore the Republic had been formally reorganized into the New Republic, Incom Corporation had become Incom-FreiTek Corporation and was producing the newly updated T-70 X-wing which featured a swiveling blaster cannon that could be used to fend off attacks from behind, a greater range of fire, and more advanced weaponry. Resistance pilot Poe Dameron flew a custom painted black and orange T-70 under the call sign Black One. The T-70 became the backbone of the Resistance fleet during its war against the First Order and Emperor Palpatine’s Sith Eternal.
Three decades after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic Defense Fleet was using the T-85 X-wing, Incom-FreiTek’s newest iteration of the legendary starfighter. The newest version of the iconic snubfighter featured greatly improved speed and maneuverability thanks to fusial thrust engines, new flight systems, and a new design. It also had four upgraded KX14 laser cannons, and an upgraded targeting system.
You can watch the X-wing in action in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Mandalorian, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: Resistance, the original trilogy, and the sequel trilogy on Disney+, and you can hop into the pilots seat in various Star Wars video games.
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