T-65 X-wing starfighter/Legends

T-65AC1 X-wing starfighter The Incom T-65 X-wing starfighter was the main all-purpose starfighter craft of the Rebel Alliance.

During the Battle of Yavin, an X-wing was used by Luke Skywalker to destroy the Galactic Empire's first Death Star.

Details
Reasonably maneuverable, X-wings had pairs of wing-like strike foils, or S-foils, mounted at the rear of the craft; normally the foils on each side were locked flush against each other, but during combat the foils were folded out to increase the spread coverage of the laser cannons mounted at the tips of the foils. This gave the craft its distinctive "X"-like appearance when viewed from the front or rear. The cannons on some earlier models could not be fired with the S-foils in locked position.

The X-wing carried four Taim & Bak KX9 laser cannons, along with tubes for proton torpedoes. Other warheads, such as concussion missiles, could be fired from the launchers, but this required a considerable amount of time and effort on the part of the technical crews, and the overall versatility of the proton torpedo was ideally suited to the X-wing's varied mission profile. However, during the early years of the Galactic Civil War, the Rebellion had a small supply of such weapons.

The X-wing's lasers had various settings:
 * Single fire, where each laser fired individually;
 * Dual fire, where two lasers, one on each side, paired up and the pairs fired alternately; or
 * Quad fire, where all four lasers (one at each foil-tip) fired together, converging on the target.
 * Stutter fire, where many underpowered beams were fired out. These were utilized in the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong to overwhelm the singularity defences.

Sublight propulsion was handled by four Incom 4L4 fusial thrust engines, which gave the starfighter relatively fast space and atmospheric speed. The X-wing, unlike most fighters of the TIE series, was equipped with a hyperdrive, which made it hyperspace capable, and allowed it to operate independently. Fighter squadrons could strike out on their own, without the need for a carrier; this autonomy suited the Rebellion, as it served their hit-and-run tactics perfectly.

The fighter had space for one pilot, assisted by a droid (such as an R2-series astromech droid unit) in an external socket which monitored the status of the craft and could make emergency repairs.

The X-wing's flight controls were similar to those of the T-16 Skyhopper, an airspeeder also produced by Incom Corporation. This factor partially explains the great popularity the T-65 enjoyed among Rebel pilots, who had, not uncommonly, piloted civilian Skyhoppers before joining the Rebellion.

History
"Time to retire those Z-95 Headhunters!"

- Raymus Antilles after victory at Battle of Fresia

The X-wing was originally designed by Incom Corporation for the Empire, 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 4 prototypes were extracted from Fresia during the Battle of Fresia, it first encountered Imperial forces in the Battle of Turkana.



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 improved the avionics, shields and sensors; the T-65AC4 was primarily another engine upgrade, which made it nearly the equal of the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor. One notable design, the T-65D-A1, replaced the astromech droid with an internal computer core for hyperdrive jump calculations but was considered a failure (partially due to ease of sabotage). The X-wing T-65X trainer variant replaced the Z-95 Headhunter trainer.

Shortly before the Yuuzhan Vong War, the New Republic fielded the J-series of X-wing. A third torpedo bay was added where previously a cargo bay was fitted; this increased the proton torpedo load out to nine. Engines, lasers and avionics were also improved. The "XJ" was greatly improved in all respects over the earlier designs and was initially issued to starfighter squadrons with Jedi pilots. Three variants were developed, culminating with the T-65J3: the ultimate evolution of the X-wing. Many older X-wings were rebuilt into the T-65BR reconnaissance variant.

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 Fifth Fleet), but X-wing production continued on and may have equipped fighter squadrons not "at the tip of the spear." One notable exception was Rogue Squadron, the Republic's most elite fighter squadron, which was known for its almost exclusive use of the X-wing.

By the time of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, the "J" series was in fleet service, supplementing the more advanced (and certainly more expensive) Series III E-wing. Some paramilitary groups were also equipped with earlier J-series fighters (probably the T-65J or the T-65J2); system-defense forces and poorer paramilitary groups may have had X-wings of varying age and capability.



By the time of the Killik/Chiss conflicts, two new variants of the X-wing were introduced. The first was the XJ5 series, also referred to as the ChaseX. These fighters were mainly used by the Galactic Reconstruction Police. The Jedi tended to use the XJ3 series, or the other new variant, the "StealthX." The StealthX was a covert strike craft, equipped with features that reduced its visibility both visually and to sensors, though it could be located if it was silhouetted or launching proton torpedoes. The StealthX was described as being smaller than the XJ model, which was already half a meter shorter than the T-65C. The StealthX was also described as being a derivative of the XJ3, and was likely classified as the XJ4.

There were two conflicting systems of identification for the X-wing. The basic designation "T-65" was constant, but the modifier was inconsistent. At least two systems were used. One of them uses the suffix "AC1" with the last number incrementing as the fighter is revised. A second system, in which a letter was appended to the end in increasing value (T-65B, T-65D, T-65J, etc.). These were usually thought of as different names for the same variations.

Behind the scenes

 * In addition to miniature X-wings, the production crew of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope constructed a full-sized X-wing for the Yavin hangar sequence. Judicious editing and flat cardboard mockups made it appear as if there were dozens of full-sized craft.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Republic 64: Bloodlines
 * Star Wars: X-wing
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Rebel Assault
 * Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * Star Wars: Vader's Quest
 * Force Commander
 * Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
 * Star Wars: TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars: X-wing vs. TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * X-wing
 * Thrawn Trilogy
 * Dark Empire
 * Dark Empire II
 * Empire's End
 * Jedi Academy Trilogy
 * ''Darksaber
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * The Hand of Thrawn Duology
 * New Jedi Order