TIE/sa bomber/Legends

The TIE bomber was a larger, less maneuverable TIE starfighter used for destroying large Rebel ships and pinpoint precision bombing.

Details
The TIE bomber was capable of carrying one of the following payloads: eight heavy rockets, six orbital mines, eight proton torpedoes (normally modified to hold twelve), eight proton bombs, four space bombs, sixty-four thermal detonators or thousands of propaganda paphlets. The bomber was slower and less manuverable than the original TIE fighter. Despite its agility, its lack of shielding meant it had to be escorted to target by starfighters.

The TIE bomber had two hulls next to each other; one carried the pilot and the other carried a universal warhead launcher, enabling them to carry a variety of weapons tailored for the mission. The bomber was much more heavily built-up than the "fighter"-series of TIEs; it carried more sophisticated sensors to penetrate capital ship jamming and SFS P-s4 Twin Ion Engines powered by a SFS I-a2b Ionization Reactor to move a TIE Bomber with a full payload at a reasonable speed.

Due to their distinct shape, TIE Bombers came to be referred to occasionally as dupes by enemy pilots.

A group of these craft were used to bomb the asteroid on which the Millennium Falcon was hiding, shortly after the Battle of Hoth.

Rebel use
During the Raid on Bakura, Wedge Antilles hijacked a TIE bomber from the prison facility to help save Hobbie Klivian, who crashlanded on the surface of the planet. The bomber was later used in various campaigns.

TIE shuttle
A variant of the bomber replaced the warhead bay with a small cargo bay that could hold two passengers. This craft could ferry important personnel from one ship to another or from a ship to a planetary base. Captain Needa used a shuttle of this type to personally apologize to Darth Vader for losing track of the Millennium Falcon. This is odd, since usually such trips are made in Lambda-class shuttles.

TIE boarding craft
Another variant of the bomber features an enlarged secondary pod with clamps and a hull-cutter. This can carry a stormtrooper raiding/boarding party for insertion into a captured or disabled enemy ship. It was used by Darth Vader and a team of stormtroopers to enter Princess Leia's Corellian Corvette, the Tantive IV.

Behind the scenes

 * Whilst the designs for the bomber and boarding craft were made for A New Hope, the craft did not appear until The Empire Strikes Back.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * ''Star Wars: X-wing
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Star Wars: TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: X-wing vs. TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
 * Darksaber
 * Vector Prime