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, refered to engagements fought between starfighters. Especially designed for the purpose, most starfighters that engaged in dogfighting included the TIE/ln starfighter, TIE/I starfighter, and the Alliance T-65 X-wing and RZ-1 A-wing interceptor. Those who fought in dogfights were known as fighter pilots; these highly-trained and -skilled individuals would often be called upon to serve their navies as buttresses against enemy starfighter forces as well as supplements to a fleet of capital ships in addition to taking on atmospheric threats such as combat airspeeders, Throughout galactic history there were many other roles that starfighters could be called upon to engage in.

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.

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, dogfights 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 a dogfight 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.

General history and tactics
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.

Types of engagements
There were two main types of engagements: the dogfight and the slashing attack. Dogfights, which were the most common, involved the hard maneuvering and aggressiveness that spawned their name (i.e., a pair of dogs fighting one another). 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. Slashing attacks, however, 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 could also refer to an overall type of combat operation), demanded craft with high rates of acceleration and top speed as well as agility, though this usually came at the expense of firepower and protection.

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, particularly during the Great Hyperspace War, the Great Sith War, the Mandalorian Wars, Jedi Civil War, Sith Civil War, the New Sith Wars and, finally, the Clone Wars. There were many types of starfighters used, from the Aurek fighter to the Republic assault fighter as well as their opponent, the Sith fighter. During the Mandalorian Wars and Jedi Civil War in particular there were many starfighter engagements, including during the Battle of Malachor V and the Battle of Rakata Prime. Mandalorian warriors riding Basilisk war droids, a type of attack craft similar in basic form and function to an assault starfighter, proved to be formidable opponents in battle.

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.

The Clone Wars 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 began to appear on both sides, and 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 followed.

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 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 were dynamic shield modulations that could 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 yammosk-jamming 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. 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.

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

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.

Special tactics and conditions
Starfighters and the pilots that flew them were often called upon to accomplish missions that did not necessarily involve dogfights with enemy forces. These included attacking capital ships or striking ground targets that required a greater degree of precision then an orbital bombardment could deliver.

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 (see also: Trench Run Defense).

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.

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 Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. 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.

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.

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

Old Republic

 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Saesee Tiin
 * Adi Gallia
 * Many clone pilots

Rebel Alliance/New Republic

 * Luke Skywalker
 * Wedge Antilles
 * Tycho Celchu
 * Han Solo

Galactic Empire

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

Other notable pilots

 * Nym
 * Jango and Boba Fett
 * Dash Rendar

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".