BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bomber

"Y-wings? Kinda old. Can they fly?" "Those bombers may be old, but they were solid in combat operations."

- Hera Syndulla and Rex

The BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bomber, also referred to simply as the Y-wing light bomber or Y-wing starfighter, was a model one- or two-seat assault starfighter and bomber manufactured by Koensayr Manufacturing. It was used by the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars and the Rebel Alliance Starfighter Corps during the Galactic Civil War.

Characteristics
"Your Y-wing was shot down? Yes, they always were a bit buggy during atmospheric operations."

- AP-5, to C1-10P

BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers used during the Clone Wars were crewed by a single pilot, protected by a transparisteel canopy, and a gunner inside a domed turret positioned behind the cockpit. Located behind the turret was an astromech droid slot. The long attack starfighter measured in at 23.4 meters. The wedge-shaped cockpit was placed on the front of the craft, with the central spar extending behind it. Two Koensayr R200 ion jet engines were attached to either side of the spar. The engines had exhaust nacelles and support pylons, and had sensor array domes that contained Fabritech ANx-y sensor arrays on the front of the nacelles. The R300-H hyperdrive was at the rear of the spar. Squadron markings were placed on the cockpit and the forward tips of the engine nacelles.

For power, the ship had a Novaldex power generator behind the astromech droid slot, and Thiodyne 03-R cryogenic power cells inside the engine pylons. A Chempat deflector shield generator was located behind the power generator. The Y-wing's main sensor array contained a ANs-5d "lock track" full-spectrum transceiver, a long range PTSA #PA-9r unit, and a short range PTAG #PG-7u unit.

The starfighter was armed with two forward-mounted Taim & Bak IX4 laser cannons, along with two Arakyd Flex Tube proton torpedo launchers, and a gunner-controlled ArMek SW-4 ion cannon on a rotating turret. The Y-wing's targeting system was made from combining a Fabritech ANc 2.7 tracking computer and an SI 5g7 "Quickscan" imaging system.

By the Galactic Civil War, many Y-wings were stripped of their hull plating and engine nacelles, shortening their length to 16.24 meters, for ease of maintenance, as their older parts often broke down, and models that eliminated the gunner's turret had been introduced.

Models
"The mission details have been loaded into your astromech. He's on his way to Docking Bay 12 to do preflight on your Y-wing—you'll be flying Y 4, one of the two-seat models."

- Narra, to Luke Skywalker

Several models of the Y-wing starfighter were used throughout the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War. An early Y-wing model was used by the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Unlike its successor designs, this model had a bubble-turret, which swivelled 360 degrees, provided a clear view of surrounding space for a gunner. The ship was designed to operate mainly as a bomber and the Republic used them well in this capacity. The later BTL-A4 Y-wing was a variant, single-seat tactical strike spacecraft, which lacked the gunner's position of earlier models. This variant was utilized by both the Alliance to Restore the Republic and New Republic during the Galactic Civil War. The Alliance modified their Y-wings, with the hull and nacelle plating removed to increase ease of maintenance on the aging craft. These modified BTL-A4 variants saw action in the Battle of Yavin, the Battle of Hoth, the Battle of Endor, and the Battle of Jakku, as well as the numerous and various small-scale daily strike operations the Y-wing was so ideal for.

History
Produced by Koensayr Manufacturing, these fighters were a mainstay in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars, becoming an instrumental bomber in the fight against the Separatist Alliance. Y-wings were notably used by Shadow Squadron during the attack on the Separatist heavy cruiser Malevolence. During the Battle of Ryloth, a squadron of Y-wings were used to break the blockade over Ryloth. As noted by AP-5, a Republic analyst droid who helped coordinate the campaign, Y-wings tended to be a bit "buggy" during atmospheric operations; Clone Captain CT-7567, however, knew the Y-wings to be solid in combat. The light bombers was used to drop an experimental electro-proton bomb on Separatist forces near the end of the Battle of Malastare, completely annihilating the droid army, as well as the being used to bombard entrenched Confederate gunners during the Second Battle of Geonosis.

However, with the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Imperial Navy placed their emphasis on the doctrine that space superiority was won and held with capital warships. This meant that hyperdrive-equipped snub-fighters fell out of favor, and Koensayr would lose this important government contract. Because of this, it was forced to sell much of its stock to local planetary defense markets. The Empire intervened, and many unsold, repossessed and surplus Y-wings were allocated for reclamation, to be scrapped for parts.

Despite this, elements of the nascent rebellion against the Empire would take this chance to steal numerous Y-wings in several raids, including one mounted by members of the Phoenix rebel cell in 2 BBY, in which five Y-wings were stolen from Reklam Station, intended to be delivered to General Jan Dodonna's unit. Soon after, these raids would ensure that Y-wings became very common within other rebel cells, and led to them being used in simulated engagements at the Skystrike Academy.

After its formation, the Rebel Alliance used extensively modified Y-wing during the Galactic Civil War against the Empire. Originally designed for close-quarter combat and bombing runs, the Y-wing served as the Alliance's original attack starfighter prior to the introduction of the superior X-wing. Despite its inability to maneuver as well as later Rebel starfighters, as well as the designing of Slayn & Korpil's A/SF-01 B-wing starfighter as a potential replacement for the aging bomber, its durability ensured its presence in all major battles against the Empire.

The craft notably participated in the Battle of Scarif, where its use by Gold Squadron was instrumental in the destruction of the Shield Gate and the acquisition of the Death Star plans, as well as at the Battle of Yavin, where the Alliance deployed the bombers in an attempt to destroy the approaching Death Star, which in turn was threatening to destroy the Alliance's hidden fortress on Yavin 4. Flying with two wingmen, Gold Leader attempted to skim the meridian trench and fire proton torpedoes into the thermal exhaust port to destroy the battlestation. During the battle, all but one of the eight Y-wings were destroyed, including three by Darth Vader in a TIE Advanced x1 starfighter. However, Luke Skywalker, a farmboy from Tatooine and the son of Darth Vader, was able to fire the shot that destroyed the Death Star.

Following the Rebel defeat at the Battle of Hoth, Y-wings were among the ships of the Alliance Fleet that met at the rendezvous point. Y-wings also joined the Rebel Fleet to attack the Death Star II at Endor. During the battle, Y-wings were deployed as Gray Squadron. Under General Lando Calrissian's orders, they joined in attacking Imperial Star Destroyers at point-blank range, and then followed him into the Death Star after its defenses were knocked out by Han Solo's ground team. Inside the Death Star, one Y-wing broke off and led TIE fighters away from Calrissian's strike group, which succeeded in destroying the battlestation. Y-wings were also used in the Battle of Jakku with X-wings and A-wings.

Behind the scenes
The Y-wing is based on concept art made by Ralph McQuarrie. The starfighters seen in the first Star Wars film, A New Hope, were models produced by Industrial Light & Magic and filmed against blue screens. When Joe Johnston refined the Colin Cantwell and Ralph McQuarrie Y-wing designs for construction into a visual effects model for A New Hope, he posited that the starship was once a sleek vessel that was chopped and stripped like a hot rod by Rebel Alliance technicians.

Designer Russell Chong spearheaded the development of the earlier Y-wing models first seen in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, based on that original concept. "The Y-wing was a really fun project, bringing it back fully faired," he said. According to Chong, "We back-engineered the Y-wing and turned it back into a bomber. I took images of the actual Y-wing model from the files at Lucasfilm and I designed our new version over it. We revitalized the bubble turret that Colin Cantwell and Ralph McQuarrie had developed. All the body panels are very much the same as the original Y-wing. I did my best to give it the same styling and the same look as the original Y-wing."

Non-Canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens