Utility Tug

Utility Tug

The Utility Tug was a tiny spacecraft produced by Nicholas/Gordon Spacewerks. A The Utility Tug was a common sight throughout the Galaxy, busily towing cargo containers to and from the storage holds of freighters and spaceborne trading outposts. The tiny craft's small size hid powerful tractor beams that gave it the ability to manipulate and haul loads far greater that its own mass.

Unlike a Heavy Lifter, the Utility was not fitted with a hyperdrive, so its use was limited to in-system ferrying and haulage, although the larger commercial freighters commonly carried one or more in their cargo holds.

Not only was the Utility Tug useful for commercial use, it was also a key tool for the maintenance of starfighters parked around space dock. A tug driver needn't be familiar with the controls of every different kind of vehicle in the yard, from Z-95 Headhunter to Skipray Blastboat, instead they could just grapple it with the tractor beams and haul it off to wherever it was needed.

NGS produced three distinctive versions of the Utility Tug:
 * The first was generally brown in colour, with a small cockpit at the front.
 * The second lacked the brown livery, and had a canopy that extended much further to the rear of the vehicle.
 * The third also lacked the brown coloration of the first type, but retained the smaller front cockpit of the first design. This version was also equipped with much more powerful sublight engines, and was rated at 33 MGLT (three times that of the previous two designs).

Obviously, the Utility Tug was not designed for combat. Its lack of shielding and extremely fragile (by starfighter standards) unarmored hull made it an easy kill for raiders. Thus, in more lawless areas of the Galaxy it was often necessary for tugs to be accompanied by a starfighter escort, just in case some pirates contemplated taking advantage of its weakness and make off with any valuable cargo being loaded out of range of a space platform's turbolaser turrets.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars: X-wing vs. TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars: Balance of Power
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance