BTL Y-wing starfighter/Legends

Y-wing starfighter "We're using Y-wings because of their greater firepower. But they move like a sleepy Hutt, so watch it."

- Luke Skywalker, during the Battle of Kile II

The BTL Y-wing starfighter, built by Koensayr Manufacturing, was a mainstay of the Alliance Starfighter Corps. It was often used as an assault bomber to attack enemy capital ships directly in conjunction with the later B-wing starfighters.

Characteristics
"They're the workhorses of this outfit, I can tell you that."

- Tiree



Known as a "wishbone" to Rebel Alliance and New Republic pilots, the Y-wing starfighter carried two laser cannons, two ion cannons, and two proton torpedo launchers. An astromech droid, such as an R2 unit, could be plugged into a socket in the craft to act as a co-pilot.

The Y-wing was a resilient, well-shielded craft, but was slow and ungainly compared to other Alliance fighters. Its deficiencies were partly compensated for by the heavy proton torpedo load it could carry, and its ability to paralyze craft with ion cannon fire without destroying them, unique until the B-wing starfighter was introduced after the Battle of Yavin. In addition to the Rebel Alliance, many planetary defense forces, mercenaries, and pirates fielded the craft.

It was a rugged design, but it had some design flaws requiring constant maintenance, which led to many aggravated maintenance crews getting fed up with constanly having to remove the superficial hull plating and disposing of it altogether. Due to this, many Y-wings had no hull plating (except on the cockpit), exposing the internals of the main hull.

The cockpit could be ejected by the pilot from the engines and the rest of the ship. This was used when the ship was on a surface. After the cockpit was disconnected, it could be driven on the surface.



Despite its shortcomings in speed and maneuverability compared to space superiority fighters such as the X-wing and A-wing, the Y-wing was an extremely durable craft, with heavier armour and shielding. The Y-wing also had a larger warhead magazine. The Y-wing was not sluggish fighter overall, as its speed and agility exceeded that of its intended replacement, the B-wing.

X-wing starfighters and A-wing interceptors were used to distract enemy fighters and the enemy ships' gunners to allow the Y-wings and B-wings to focus their fire on capital ships. This tactic was similar to the A-wing Slash, which involved solely X-wings and A-wings.

Models
There were two common designs during the height of the Galactic Civil War, as well as other less common variants.

BTL-S3 Y-wing


The BTL-S3 was a two-man strike fighter, and was the most common Y-wing configuration. The weapons systems officer typically operated the ion cannon turret when needed.

Luke Skywalker used this variant on his mission to Panna in 0 ABY, as did Leia Organa and C-3PO on their journey to the Circarpous system. Twelve of these variants, piloted by Bothans sympathetic to the Rebellion and Alliance pilot Ace Azzameen, participated in the capture of the Imperial freighter Suprosa during the First Battle of Bothawui to steal a supercomputer containing the plans to the second Death Star.

Many Y-wings of this variant were modified with defensive rapid-fire blaster turrets replacing the ion cannon turret and particle cannons instead of the dual laser cannons on the nose. These Y-wings were used as heavy capital ship destroyers, and were eventually phased out by the new B-wing starfighters.

BTL-A4 Y-wing
The BTL-S3 was supplanted in most services by the BTL-A4, which was crewed by a single person. The ion cannon turret was typically locked forwards in this design, although some pilots chose to lock it facing aft for extra cover. In addition, this variant boasted much greater endurance (as much as three times greater) over its earlier predecessor, but was penalized with less powerful shields and loss of accuracy in the ion cannon.

BTL-A4 Y-wing "LongProbe"


An additional (though less common) BTL-A4 variant known as the "LongProbe," designated BTL-A4 (LP), was equipped with a nav computer, backup hyperdrive, advanced scanners, and an extended fuel supply in place of the weapons systems officer. The LongProbe was used primarily for long range scouting missions. On such missions, LongProbes operated in recon teams known as LongProbe Y-wing Recon Teams. One such team was sent to Alashan to check a Rebel archeological dig that failed to report back.

Courier variant
Alliance Intelligence utilized specially modified Y-wings for long-range courier duty. This variant of the BTL-S3 had no ion cannons, which were removed for baggage space, and possessed a special canopy split down the middle for rapid embarking or disembarking of a passenger during brief landings. This canopy also allowed the passenger to bail out at high altitude and paraglide to their destination. This customization was rare enough that no special designation was created for these modified Y-wings.

Other variants
A lesser-known variant with a larger main cockpit area, able to carry up to five people, was used by Luke Skywalker on missions to Velmor and Ventooine. A similarly-modified Y-wing was used by Skywalker while he was working for the Senate Planetary Intelligence Network and helping the Jedi Prince Ken.

History
Koensayr Manufacturing designed the Y-wing for use by the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars, but were too late for the fighter to see combat. When the Galactic Empire declined to buy the design, Koensayr began selling to various parties. Thus the fighter ended up with Rebel groups early on in the Galactic Civil War.



Y-wings were in service at least as early as 18 BBY, and were a critical vessel in the Rebellion's early days, bearing the brunt of all of its early space battles with the Empire. The Rebels lost more Y-wings in the Galactic Civil War than any other fighter, due to the simple fact that they flew more Y-wings than any other fighter. Y-wings also found their way into pirate and mercenary forces.

Even after the introduction of the X-wing, which largely succeeded it in most roles, it continued to serve as an important part of the Alliance arsenal. The Y-wing was best suited for heavy assault missions, due to its larger warhead payload and stronger hull and shields, while the X-wing and A-wing were more focussed on space superiority.

It was also invaluable for disabling craft since it was for a time the only starfighter with ion cannons. The heavier armed and more advanced B-wing was suppose to supplant the Y-wing for such assault and capture missions. However, the Y-wing still retained an edge over the B-wing in several areas, notably speed, agility, armour, and a sleeker profile. As the Y-wing was a proven design and comparatively easier to pilot than the B-wing, which was available in limited numbers, the Y-wing continued to play a role as late as the Battle of Endor.



By the time of Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaign against the New Republic, Y-wings were relegated to planetary defense duties, leaving attack missions to X-wings, A-wings, and B-wings. Their age made them more difficult to repair, and many expected them to leave service as newer fighters came into production; however, they were still in use over two decades later during the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War.

Famous Y-wing pilots included Jon Vander, who led Gold Squadron during the Battle of Yavin; Davish Krail, who had flown them for five years; and Horton Salm, who flew in the Battle of Endor and became one of the New Republic's foremost Y-wing pilots.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Fia of the Galantos Guard employed Y-wings in defense of their homeworld, though pilots of the Galactic Alliance referred to the starfighters as "old" and "clumsy", perhaps indicating a decline in usage in this era.

Behind the scenes
The Y-wings are not shown shooting on-screen at all during the Battle of Yavin as seen in A New Hope. The same thing happens with the B-wings in Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections erroneously refers to the BTL-A4 Y-wing starfighter as the "BLT-A4 Y-wing". This error was fixed in the latest book, Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections.