V-wing airspeeder

"We were told not to use the scramjets during combat, but it was just too tempting at Mon Cal. It doesn't get much more exciting than using the scramjet to overtake one of those droid TIE fighters."

- Anonymous Rogue Squadron pilot

The V-wing airspeeder was a combat airspeeder developed by the New Republic to replace aging cloud cars and allow more expensive starfighters to focus on space combat.

Characteristics


The Verpine Slayn & Korpil hive colonies, famous for their development of the B-wing starfighter, designed the single pilot airspeeder. The airspeeder's standard repulsorlift system was paired with efficient ion afterburners to provide the V-wing with fantastic speed.

The V-wing's top combat speed was 1,000 kilometers per hour. Additionally, when the powerful Chab-Ylwoum scramjet booster was employed, the craft's top speed was increased to 1,400 kilometers per hour. Unfortunately, combat at such a speed was potentially dangerous, and overuse of the scramjet could cause dangerous overheating of the drive system, so the scramjet was reserved for hasty retreats.



The V-wing's weapon systems had two fire-linked blaster cannons on either side of the vehicle with an effective range of two kilometers. The blaster cannons also had a rapid-fire setting that worked well against shielded targets, but after approximately three seconds of continuous fire, the cannons would overheat. The V-wing's lack of shields required the pilot to use the craft's size and speed against enemy speeders and starfighters.

Because of their unusually high flight ceiling, V-wings could be deployed from both ground-based hangars and from hangar-equipped starships. When deployed from space, the airspeeder relied on V-wing airspeeder transports which were capable of carrying up to four (later models carrying six) V-wings for transport into planetary atmospheres. A large capital ship, such as a Star Destroyer, could carry up to ten of these transports, allowing dozens of V-wings to be rapidly deployed to a world under siege.

History
As the struggle with the Imperial Remnant continued, New Republic military acknowledged the need for a low cost and low maintenance vehicle for planetary defense. The V-wing, with its rapid deployment, high speed and low cost, was the solution.

The V-wing saw its first combat action at the First Battle of Mon Calamari.

The V-wing also saw action in the Fall of Coruscant to the Yuuzhan Vong. The V-wings were highly effective against the incoming atmospheric craft but were simply overwhelmed through sheer numbers.

Behind the scenes
The V-wing has a missile launcher with six cluster missiles in the game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, but it is absent from the V-wing entries in any reference books. The particular type of missile employed has not made another appearance. It seems likely that the missile launcher is not considered canonical, but is simply an artifact of game mechanics.

The design of the V-wing was recycled from an early design of the T-47 airspeeder.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Dark Empire
 * Star by Star

Notes and references
V-Wing Airspeeder