Starfighter combat/Legends

"Lock S-foils in attack position…"

- Garven Dreis leading Red Squadron into the Battle of Yavin

Starfighter combat, also known as dogfighting, referred to engagements fought between starfighters, regardless of environment. Starfighter combat was as old as the craft themselves, dating back to the early days of the Galactic Republic and became a notable part of aerospace combat for thousands of years, occurring in conflicts such as the New Sith Wars, Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War, the Yuuzhan Vong War and beyond.

Throughout the millennia, millions of pilots flew against each other or against droids in starfighters such as the Z-95 Headhunter, Delta-7 Aethersprite, T-65 X-wing starfighter, or TIE/ln starfighter while others in heavier craft such as BTL Y-wing starfighters, TIE/sas, or B-wing starfighters launched assaults on larger ships or installations. Military forces across the galaxy adopted different designs, weapons, specifications, tactics, and roles for these relatively small craft and their were as many uses for starfighters in combat as there were starfighters themselves. These craft played important, often pivotal, roles in military campaigns, as did their atmospheric counterparts, throughout the entire history of conflict in the Galaxy.

Characteristics
Combat between starfighters typically, though not always, revolved around major battlefleet actions fought between opposing space navies and their capital ships; these could involve dozens of squadrons on each side amid innumerable types, classes and sizes of larger vessels. These fights were typically characterized by close-in, extremely tight maneuvering and point-blank firing solutions using energy weapons such as laser, and ion cannons. Inexperienced pilots or those with poor situational awareness rarely survived their first battles; it often required superior reflexes and awareness of one's surroundings (referred to as "situational awareness"), as well as a certain aggressiveness, to achieve results in this kind of warfare.

Though these types of battles, often called "dogfights" or "vape-brawls" by veteran pilots usually involved fighters, sometimes gunships, bombers, and assault shuttles would be involved though they usually played victim to the more nimble fighters sent after them. Victory conditions for starfighter combats included, not surprisingly, eliminating or driving off opposing fighters to either clear the way for heavier craft (such as the Alliance's B-wing) to assault capital ships or to in turn defend capital ships from the enemy's own assault forces.

Types of engagements
Though the dogfight was the main type of engagements and thus the most common, there were other variations that depended greatly on the circumstances involved. The dogfight itself consisted of hard maneuvering and relied on a certain aggressiveness to achieve results; this type of combat favored starfighters with higher levels of maneuverability, however pilots who flew craft with lesser degrees of agility could still triumph if they possessed superior situational awareness as well as tactical ability. Other types of engagements, such as when penetrating the outer defense screens of enemy fleets, greatly favored fast interceptors which could make high-speed attack runs against opposing formations of enemy craft, either fighters, bombers or even capital-class vessels. These attacks, also known as "hit and fade" runs (a term that also referred to an overall type of combat operation), demanded craft with high rates of acceleration and top speed as well as agility. When conducted alone, these types of attacks could prove devastating when conducted against lightly-defended convoys or fleet elements.

Combat in battlefleet actions
When starfighters took part in engagements where significant numbers of larger warships fought against each other (for instance: during the Battle of Endor, they typically served to screen their side's capital ships from the enemy fleet's own starfighter forces and, if the opportunity presented itself, to engage capital ships at their vulnerable points. Depending on the space navies involved and the ships they used, fighters would enter the battle planes either by jumping in from hyperspace under their own power (in the case of most Rebel starfighter units) or they would be deployed from motherships (in the case of Imperial-class Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters, to name one such instance) Though not unheard of, combats fought in the midst of capital ships already engaged in battle were generally avoided as random hits from heavy turbolasers from the larger warships could easily vaporize most snubfighters, either friend or foe and whether the shot was intentional or not.



The Force and starfighter combat
Many members of the Jedi Order, trained in use of the Force, were also supremely-qualified in flying starfighters in combat. A Jedi Knight could use the Force to his or her advantage in an engagement to not only better utilize their own craft's advantages, but to predict the maneuvers and tactics of their opponents since they could sense the intentions of other organic beings (in essence, increasing their situational awareness well beyond typical norms). Some Jedi could even use their Force-connection to befuddle the minds of their opponents as an active part of their offense as well as relying on it for reactive purposes; some in the Order, however, felt this to be straddling too close to the dark side.

Jedi of the old and new Jedi Order could also meld their minds within the Force, producing a battle meld that would allow for further co-ordination on the part of Jedi Knights and Masters either flying starfighters as happened on many occasions during the Yuuzhan Vong War, or cooperation among Jedi manning the defensive guns of heavy warships, as was the case aboard Outbound Flight. This technique was a refinement of battle meditation, which could have the same effect on Force-sensitives as well as those who could not touch the Force. The use of this power could have profound consequences for starfighter engagements, since it bolstered the willpower and innate combat abilities of the user's chosen side in the battle, as well as doing the opposite for the Jedi's opponents. Bastila Shan, though not a pilot herself, was very skilled in this art.

Wingmates
Another essential component of starfighter combat was reliance on one's wingmates. Bound together in element pairs within flights and squadrons, starfighter pilots soon learned to learn the habits and to earn the trust of the being assigned by the squadron commander. Oftentimes in starfighter engagements, the difference between survival and death at the hands of an opponent was one's wingmate, as they were a pilot's backup, their extra pair of eyes; the two craft of a flight element constantly relied on each other to ensure that they came out of the fight alive and intact.

History


There were as many different types of tactics employed in starfighter combat as there were snubfighters and pilots who engaged in them and likely even more so. However, there were some basic principles that were universal no matter what forces were engaged in battle. One overriding principle was that starfighters always operated in paired units; each member of an element would alternate positions as leader and wingman. The leader of an element would engage enemy starfighters while the wingman served as a backup; this was the base foundation of any fighter unit. Elements would be paired into flights which were in turn melded into squadrons. Leader and wingman pairs within an element would often switch position as the circumstances of the fight dictated.

Some starfighters were so complex in their operation or were so heavily armed that they required dedicated gunners to either handle the craft's main weapons or to man a defensive turret. The Koensayr BTL-S3 Y-wing starfighter, for instance, was equipped with an ion cannon turret for use by the weapons system officer while the B-wing/E and later models of that craft carried a dedicated gunner. This arrangement allowed the pilot of the B-wing to make flying the complex craft his or her top priority while the gunner handled the ship's vast array of weapons. Other such craft included the GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat which had a four-man crew and the TIE/sa bomber with two. Other craft, such as the A-wing Mk. II produced by Incom Corporation had variable-arc weapons; the Mk. II could rotate its twin laser cannons in a 360° arc to fire on opponents above, below or behind the craft.

Other ships that would not normally be considered starfighters often took part in starfighter combat. Usually highly-modified from their original designs, these ships ranged from low-stock freighters outfitted with military-grade shields and weapons like the Ebon Hawk (which was equipped with an advanced hyperdrive as well as a defensive laser cannon turret and several forward-firing lasers) and the Millennium Falcon (which had been extensively modified by Han Solo to include dorsal and ventral quad laser turrets) to star yachts such as the Dragon Pearl owned by Jiliac Desilijic Tiron which could carry its own compliment of Z-95 Headhunters in addition to its six hidden CEC turbolasers. Though tricky to handle in a fight, they were nonetheless equal to taking on enemy starfighters, provided the pilot was skilled.

Starfighter combat in the Old Republic


From the earliest days of the Old Republic, there was need of pilots to fly in combat throughout the Galaxy. As part of their armed forces, the Republic employed many models of starfighters throughout that government's twenty-five thousand years of existence. During the Great Hyperspace War the Republic encountered Sith starfighters for the first time; co-ordinated by Meditation Spheres, they proved to be quite capable craft. When Exar Kun initiated his war of conquest, dubbed the Great Sith War, Sith Chaos fighters piloted by Krath warriors were sometimes used as suicide ramships in addition to performing normal duties as starfighters operating within fleets.

The Mandalorian Wars, Old and New Sith Wars
During the massive galaxywide conflagration that became known as the Mandalorian Wars there were many starfighter engagements. Mandalorian warriors riding Basilisk war droids, a type of surface-attack craft similar in basic form and function to an assault starfighter, proved to be formidable opponents in battle. At the climactic Battle of Malachor V that saw the near-extermination of the Mandalorian race, many Mandalorian pilots fell prey to Jedi flying in starfighters who were in turn killed when the Mass Shadow Generator was activated by the Jedi Exile. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords In the Jedi Civil War that followed, many more engagements occurred between the Republic's Aurek fighters and Assault fighters, pitted against the Star Forge-created Sith fighters that served Darth Revan and later Darth Malak, including the final Battle of Rakata Prime. These unusual craft continued to serve the Sith Triumvirate during the First Jedi Purge, though primarily under Darth Nihilus who had salvaged many ships from the remains of Malachor, including his own flagship, the Ravager. During the New Sith Wars many Jedi Knights and Sith Lords flew in combat against each other, including during the Ruusan campaign.

The Clone Wars
During the Clone Wars many new types of starfighters would see service across the galaxy, including droid-piloted craft such as the vulture droid used primarily by the Trade Federation and the Droid tri-fighter in service with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. These ships, which were essentially armed droids with integrated attack programming and maneuvering protocols, were particularly difficult for Jedi pilots to fight (st least at first) because they were immune to Force-based anticipation.

This last major conflict of the Old Republic also saw the beginning of many changes in the way engagements between snubfighters were fought. Throughout the history of the galaxy prior to the outbreak of the Wars and the decline of the Old Republic, such battles were fought almost exclusively by sentient pilots flying starfighters without hyperdrive units that depended on larger warships to carry them into combat. This began to change as some elements within the galaxy, such as the many corporate interests like the Trade Federation, Techno Union, Commerce Guild, InterGalactic Banking Clan and Corporate Sector Authority saw the economy of employing massed formations of droid starfighters in addition to their growing legions of battle droid armies.

The clones that gave the Wars their name and the fighters they flew acted as the Republic's counterbalance, yet in reality the whole conflict was but a plot by the Sith to play the galaxy against itself in order to conquer it from within while at the same time eliminating their age-old nemesis, the Jedi Order. In the last stages of the war, however, starfighters with deflector shields and integrated hyperdrive units, piloted by clones and mercenaries, began to appear on both sides. This would have a marked effect on the evolution of starfighter combat, a trend that was at the same time shunned and embraced depending on which side one chose to favor in the Galactic Civil War that would follow the creation of the New Order.

The Galactic Civil War
During the Galactic Civil War both the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic developed their own tactics for starfighter combat. The standard Imperial doctrine for dealing with the more effective Rebel starfighters was to swarm them with disproportionate numbers of TIE fighters and Interceptors, hoping to either drive off their opponents or to destroy them through sheer combined firepower. The Alliance, however, soon learned to value its pilots much more then the Empire did, and thus not only trained them extensively in starfighter tactics and techniques, but instilled the desire to survive and fight another day into its Starfighter Corps; when the tactical situation became untenable, Rebel pilots were encouraged to retreat. This was in stark opposition to the Empire, who viewed TIE pilots as "disposable ordinance". The use of homing projectile-based weapons, either in the form of proton torpedos and concussion missiles were essential to Alliance starfighter tactics. Though it was dangerous to use these types of ordinance in heated close-quarters engagements, they proved very effective in thinning opposing forces as both sides closed into attack range.

In the waning years of the Galactic Civil War and the peace that followed its end in 19 ABY, starfighter combat largely became a matter of the New Republic rooting out and eliminating bands of pirates and smugglers who usually, though not always, utilized Uglies - starfighters cobbled together from the salvaged parts of other fighters. Among these included such craft as the TYE-wing (also known as the "Die-wing"), the X-TIE, the Tri-fighter used by the Invid pirate group, and the Chir'daki, a particularly effective model created and used by the Twi'leks of Ryloth.

The Yuuzhan Vong War


When the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong began their invasion of the Galaxy in 25 ABY, their biologically-engineered and grown warships at first proved devastating against the forces of the New Republic. Their version of a starfighter, which soon earned the nickname of "coralskipper" from their opponents, were deadly craft that could shred the inorganic snubfighters that were then in wide use almost with impunity. Equipped with plasma cannons that literally fired molten rock and dovin basals that could suck away shields and absorb laser blasts and even proton torpedoes fired at them, formations of these Yorik-et craft, guided by the impulses of a yammosk, also known as a war coordinator, could cut to ribbons a squadron of X-wings that had not yet faced them. Grutchins, another bioengineered weapon favored by the Vong, were vacuum-immune insectoids that could literally eat their way through any snubfighter unlucky enough to catch one in much the same way buzz droids would rip their way through Republic craft during the Clone Wars.

Though the New Republic, and later the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances would eventually develop tactics and technology for use against coralskippers (among them included extending the field of an inertial compensator around a fighter's shields to resist the sucking power of a dovin basal, using stutter-fire to weaken a gravitic anomaly enough to leave the craft vulnerable to a torpedo attack, as well as using gravitic amplitude modulators, otherwise known as "yammosk jammers" to interfere with the co-ordination of coralskipper squadrons), the Yuuzhan Vong eventually learned to adapt to these techniques, necessitating the development of still more tactics and technologies. One tactic that continued to be effective if used carefully was the shadow bomb, a proton torpedo with its propulsion and guidance packages removed and replaced with an increased load of baradium explosives. Using the Force to propel the shadow bomb to its target, a Jedi pilot could cause enormous damage to smaller Vong warships.

Though it arrived in service too late to see any action in the war, the Galactic Alliance navy eventually put into production a fighter specifically-designed to counter coralskippers, the Aleph-class starfighter, also known as the Pondskipper or, more popularly, the Twee due to its resemblance to the head of a Twi'lek. This proved to be yet another development in the evolution of starfighter combat, as by this time the idea of massed units of unshielded "disposable" craft used to overwhelm an enemy with sheer numbers had become obsolete.

The Swarm War and beyond


In the years after the final defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong war machine, the resurgence of the Killik swarms would bring new conflict to the Galaxy. The Galactic Alliance, having reorganized its armed forces in the years after the invasion to better combat pirates and profiteers, was forced to deal not only with the growing threat of the Dark Nest, but of a possible confrontation with the Chiss Ascendancy, who saw the Killiks as an Alliance-backed attempt to take over their territories in the Unknown Regions. In the confrontations that followed, the New Jedi Order was divided on what to do, as several of their number had become Joiners, adopted into the nests through a bonding not unlike a Force bond.

An insectoid race, the Killiks brought a new dimension to starfighter combat with their mass-produced dartships, small craft that were piloted by a single, tiny insect. During the Dark Nest Crisis and the Swarm War that followed, they were employed in the tens of thousands; at the Battle of Tenupe it was estimated that there were in excess of one hundred thousand dartships waiting to take part in a massive attack on the Chiss forces attempting to wrest the planet from Killik control. Though simplistic and easy to destroy one-on-one, these dartships were used in wave after wave of suicide attacks, a tactic for which they proved very effective.

Tactics and maneuvers
A number of special maneuvers used in starfighter engagements were invented over the course of the millennia.

Angle of attack
An important part of starfighter combat was the angle of attack at which one craft would try to shoot down another. The most basic way to shoot down an enemy fighter or other type of ship was to drop dead aft and engage with primary weapons (either lasers, ion cannons or disposable ordinance), but as the enemy starfighter would likely be doing maneuvering of its own, this was not always possible. Deflection shooting, which was in essence leading fire at an angle into a target as it turned in front of you, presenting one's opponent with a wall of fire, became an essential skill within the arsenal of veteran fighter pilots.

The most dangerous angle of attack was head-to-head; this occurred when two starfighters closed on each other directly face-to-face. At this angle, the rate of closure is at its highest, with ranges decreasing extremely fast, giving each combatant time for only a few shots before overshoot (the point when both ships pass each other) occurred. Rebel and New Republic starfighter pilots soon realized that, due to their craft being fitted with deflector shields, held a distinct advantage in such head-to-head confrontations; they could afford to engage their Imperial opponents in such passes since they lacked shields of their own.

A-wing slash
One notable tactic that first saw use during the New Republic's battles with Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo was popularly known as the A-wing slash. Invented by former Corellian Senator turned General Garm Bel Iblis, the maneuver involved a formation of X-wings, usually, closing in on the screening starfighters of an enemy fleet only to break off at the last possible moment. In the wake of the initial attacking formation, a flight of A-wing interceptors would be flying, hidden in the ion efflux of the X-wings; when the former force broke off the enemy fighters would naturally follow, leaving the A-wings free to engage larger warships or any additional forces lurking behind the screen.

Solo Slingshot


Developed by Han Solo, the aptly-named Solo Slingshot was a maneuver used to clear a pilot's craft of pursuing enemy starfighters by deliberately hurling his or her ship at the edge of a gravitic anomaly, such as a dovin basal or the gravity well of a planet or moon. At the last moment the pilot would swing into the gravity well, allowing it to take hold of his or her craft, effectively slinging the ship around in an unanticipated direction. The maneuver required great skill and knowledge of one's vessel to accomplish, however, and great care was needed to ensure that the intended course of the slingshot would not send the pilot into the path of other fighters or, worse yet, a larger warship.

Corellian Slip
Supposedly invented by Corellian smugglers some time prior to the Galactic Civil War, the Corellian Slip involved a scissors-like maneuver in which a starfighter with an enemy craft on his tail would fly towards another friendly craft, usually the pilot's wingmate. The other friendly would then fly straight at the starfighter in trouble; at the last moment the craft would pull out of the line of fire and the rescuing ship would fire on the pursuing enemy. Wedge Antilles used this maneuver during the Battle of Yavin to save Luke Skywalker from an oncoming TIE Fighter.

Trench Run Defense
Named for the Trench run on the first Death Star, which was the most crucial stage of the Battle of Yavin, the Trench Run Defense was a defensive tactic whereupon a starfighter being pursued by enemy forces would deliberately fly as close as possible to the hull of an enemy capital ship. Maneuvering below the arc of an enemy warship's own defensive and offensive weaponry in order to shake off their antagonists, pilots utilizing this tactic forced their pursuit to not only brave the fire of their own side's heavy weapons, but also to risk hitting their own ships if they missed. During the battle, TIE Fighters pursuing Red Squadron as they flew cover for the Y-wings of Gold Squadron often overshot their opponents, sending green laser energy into the surface of the Death Star. As Darth Vader and his wingmen pursued the Rebel craft attempting to run the Trench and torpedo the thermal exhaust port, the turbolasers mounted within the trench itself were forced to cease fire lest they kill the Dark Lord of the Sith with a stray shot.

Wotan Weave
The Wotan Weave was a spiral or corkscrew maneuver used by starfighter pilots to evade enemy fire while maintaining a particular heading. It was named after its developer, Wotan. . Wedge Antilles used a variation of this tactic to enable him to launch proton torpedoes against capital ships while presenting a near-impossible target for Imperial gunners.

Combat aerospace patrol
As an adjunct to ground-based campaigns and engagements, starfighter forces were often called upon to serve as cover against the possible threat of enemy air- and space-based defenses and reinforcements. Since all but the mightiest ground vehicles were vulnerable to armed airspeeders and starfighters alike, this was often considered a prerequisite for carrying out successful planetary invasions and/or raids.

Special tactics and conditions


Starfighters and the pilots that flew them were sometimes called upon to accomplish missions that did not necessarily involve direct contact with enemy starfighter units. These included attacking capital ships or striking ground targets that required a greater degree of precision then an orbital bombardment could deliver; an example was the Battle of Vladet, where Defender Wing under General Horton Salm was sent to destroy an Imperial base on Grand Isle located in the midst of an old volcanic crater with Rogue Squadron flying cover.

Starfighters versus capital ships
Though small in comparison to the many classes of heavy warships and battlecruisers used throughout galactic history, starfighters could nonetheless be effective against them in combat, provided that the right kind of ordinance was available and the correct tactics were used. Many designs were purpose-built as bombers to serve, in part, as anti-warship craft; though held in somewhat lower regard by their fellows who flew dedicated space-superiority fighters, these heavy assault starfighters and bombers were often outfitted so as to be able to defend themselves against enemy fighters. Examples of this type of craft included the BTL-S8 K-wing assault starfighter, which was used to great effect against Yevethan thrustships during the Black Fleet Crisis. Along with B-wings and their Imperial counterparts, the TIE/sa bomber and Scimitar assault bomber, they could do considerable damage to unprotected capital ships.

Due to the effectiveness of Rebel starfighters against its capital ships, however, the Galactic Empire developed a counter in the Lancer-class frigate, a dedicated anti-starfighter warship. Boasting twenty quad laser cannons installed throughout the hull to offer maximum possible coverage, the Lancer frigate could shred a whole formation of snubfighters unfortunate enough to get caught within its range. Fortunately for the Alliance, however, Lancer frigates were comparatively rare, most serving as systems patrol ships.

Nova flare


The nova flare was a special anti-capital ship tactic developed in part by Commander Wedge Antilles, the commander of Rogue Squadron. Developed sometime during the Galactic Civil War, the nova flare, at its most basic level, involved massed barrages of proton torpedoes fired from starfighters and aimed at specific points along the shields of a capital ship. During the Bacta War, the former New Republic pilots used the tactic to great effect to bring down the Victory II-class Star Destroyer Corrupter. The former Rogues would later use the same tactic, albeit with a minor variation that allowed for a much greater effect, during the Battle of Thyferra to severely cripple the Super Star Destroyer Lusankya.

Loran Spitball
During the hunt for Warlord Zsinj, the pilots of Wraith Squadron developed innovative tactics and means of accomplishing their missions. One of these tactics was named the "Loran Spitball" after its creator, Garik "The Face" Loran. It involved the captured Imperial Corellian Corvette Night Caller. The ship was modified so that nine X-wings, mounted on improvised launch rails. With the hold's door open, the X-wings stowed within, once crewed and operational, were capable of launching pairs of proton torpedoes through the opening. This provided up to eighteen torpedoes in a volley, which could severely damage or even destroy a warship caught unawares.

Starfighers as ramships
There were quite a few notable instances where starfighters were used, either intentionally or otherwise, as suicide ramships capable of doing disproportionate damage to enemy capital-class warships. Perhaps the most famous of these situations occurred during the Battle of Endor, when a damaged A-wing interceptor piloted by Arvel Crynyd smashed into the Star Dreadnaught Executor's bridge, sending the gigantic vessel out of control where it succumbed to the gravity field of the second Death Star over the Forest Moon of Endor, smashing itself against the battlemoon's outer hull. During the Great Sith War, Chaos fighters in use by the Krath engaged in deliberate kamikaze attacks against the Republic fleet at the First Battle of Empress Teta, severely damaging the Republic flagship Reliance and wounding Ulic Qel-Droma. Both the Yuuzhan Vong and the Killiks were also known to use their starfighter analogs as ramships.

Atmospheric combat


Though rarer then their space-based counterparts, different varieties of armed airspeeders could also engage in dogfights. Examples of such armed airspeeders included the Alliance's T-47 airspeeder used during the Battle of Hoth and V-wing airspeeder that saw service at the First Battle of Mon Calamari as well as the Storm IV and Talon Is in use by Bespin's Cloud City Wing Guard. It was not unheard of for starfighters to participate in atmospheric combat as well, either against other snubfighters or armed airspeeders and even against land vehicles such as AT-ATs.

During the Galactic Civil War the Rebels soon learned that Imperial TIE fighters and Interceptors, while quite maneuverable in space, lost much of this advantage when dogfights occurred within a planetary atmosphere. Tactics that suited the TIE series of fighter craft when in space, if executed in atmosphere, would and in several notable cases did lead directly to that craft and its pilot's death. This was the result of the positioning of the fighters' large Quadanium solar panels, as they acted in contradiction of the natural forces of drag and gravity that exerted themselves on atmospheric craft. Rebel and New Republic pilots soon learned to take full advantage of this oversight and exploited it whenever they could.

Bantha Decoy
The Bantha Decoy was a tactical maneuver developed by Luke Skywalker while he lived on Tatooine. In his T-16 Skyhopper Luke would approach an unsuspecting bantha from behind while his wingman would cut out in front of the creature and cause it to present a profile of its head to Luke's following ship. This combat maneuver was adapted for use with the Alliance's T-47s and utilized against Imperial AT-AT walkers attacking Echo Base during the Battle of Hoth.

Notable pilots
There were many names that became noted throughout galactic history when it came to flying and fighting in starfighters.

Old Republic

 * Carth Onasi
 * Atton Rand
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Saesee Tiin
 * Adi Gallia
 * Many clone pilots

Rebel Alliance/New Republic

 * Luke Skywalker
 * Wedge Antilles
 * Tycho Celchu
 * Biggs and Gavin Darklighter
 * Asyr Sei'lar
 * Han Solo

Galactic Empire

 * Darth Vader
 * Baron Soontir Fel
 * Turr Phennir
 * Maarek Stele

New Jedi Order

 * Mara Jade Skywalker
 * Corran Horn
 * Jaina Solo

Other notable pilots

 * Nym
 * Dash Rendar
 * Jagged Fel
 * Jango and Boba Fett

Behind the scenes

 * The term dogfight, used in this context, was first introduced during World War I, the first conflict to see the airplane put to military use, to describe fights between aircraft fitted with forward-firing machine guns. The word can be used both as a noun and a verb; as a verb it can also mean "to arrange (illegal) dog fights" and "to engage one in a dogfight".


 * Many of the in-universe principles of starfighter combat draw their inspiration from real-world fighter tactics, for example the formation and organization of fighter squadrons, how they relied on unit cohesion in battle and the importance of wingmen, and many of the tactics in use by various factions. Proton torpedoes and concussion missiles resemble real-world aircraft-mounted missiles and lasers draw parallels from machine guns and cannons. Even the use of heavy ordinance against capital-class vessels by specialized attack starfighters is reminiscent of aerial bombing of naval warships by aircraft.