Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I/Legends

Vulture droid starfighter "Droids don't talk back, they don't question your orders, and they never complain when you send them on suicide missions."

- Rune Haako

The Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I, or Vulture droid starfighter, was a lethal droid starfighter used by the Trade Federation and later, in much vaster numbers, the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

Description


Like most of the Trade Federation's armed forces, it carried no living pilot, but rather a droid brain that was linked to a Droid Control Ship. Each Trade Federation battleship carried 1,500 droid starfighters. It was designed by Haor Chall Engineering, which was founded by the fanatical Xi Char, a religious order dedicated to high-precision manufacturing. As a result, it represented classic Xi-Char design&mdash;a compact body that offered only a small target for enemy fighters, multiple weapons emplacements, and an insectoid appearance.

The starfighter carried four blaster cannons and two energy torpedo launchers and could reach 1200 km/h in an planet's atmosphere. When not in flight, the ship could transform into a walking weapons platform, used for ground patrol and troop support. While in this walking mode, a droid starfighter could also latch onto surfaces in zero gravity, allowing the fighters to patrol from the outside hulls of capital ships instead of wasting energy in flight or using valuable hangar space.



A droid starfighter was capable of maneuvers that would kill an organic pilot, but they lacked the resourcefulness and cunning of living pilots, although they were capable of responding much faster. Additionally, they could only function for 35 minutes before having to be refueled; Vulture droids used a unique solid-fuel engine system that burned very quickly. Although they could react quicker to new situations than organic pilots, they had trouble responding to friendly units firing on them, a weakness Mace Windu exploited on Haruun Kal.

Vulture droids were also capable of communication with one another, normally with chattering.

Droid starfighters were launched in overwhelming numbers and excelled in both atmospheric and space combat. The droid starfighter's weapon systems consisted of four blaster cannons with two per wing. In standard flight format, the drone's wings were collapsed to conceal its laser cannons. In combat, these wings split up to reveal these deadly laser cannons. The laser cannons were followed by two energy torpedo launchers that would weaken enemy targets before the starfighter delivered a laser cannon barrage.

In walker-mode, the starfighter could only use its two torpedo launchers as its cannons were situated on the legs and pointed downwards.

Pre-Clone Wars


Like the Armored Assault Tank and other Trade Federation vehicles, the droid starfighter endured rigorous testing before its deployment at Naboo. Droid starfighters saw action during skirmishes with Degan pirates in the Elrood Sector and were responsible for defeating the pirate Nym's forces on Lok. The Naboo first encountered these drones when Echo Flight pilots led by Essara Till battled them during an assault on Station TFP-9, not long before the assault on Naboo. The droid starfighter saw action in the Battle of Naboo.

After the battle, droid starfighters as part of the Trade Federation Defense Fleet participated alongside Republic forces during the attack on the living world Zonama Sekot. They would also be part of the Trade Federation force sent to destroy Outbound Flight, but were neutralised thanks to the Chiss Admiral Thrawn, who exploited their reliance on the droid control signal by jamming its entire spectrum, nullifying the entire force. They also saw action during the Trade Federation's occupation of the Karthakk system.

Clone Wars
During the Clone Wars, many Vulture droids were painted with the blue and white hexagonal insignia of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and were modified with buzz droid missile launchers. They were also produced by bodies such as Baktoid rather than their original Xi Char developers. They were deployed by the Confederacy forces in their millions against the Republic in numerous battles and conflicts including the Battle of Geonosis and the Battle of Coruscant. During that battle, Mace Windu was able to ride a Vulture by tugging on its cranial wires. General Grievous also used them for suicide attacks designed to sow chao, by making them perform kamikaze attacks on civilian targets. An advanced model was also deployed prior to and during the Clone Wars. Vultures were also augmented by droid tri-fighters, which were sturdier but less common.



Vulture droid starfighters were usually named by a six-digit designation number, consisting of DFS- and a three-digit alpha-numeric combination, as illustrated by the fighters DFS-1VR and DFS-4CT.

After the Clone Wars, many of the surviving droid starfighters found their way into criminal and corporate groups.

Behind the scenes
In the early plans for The Phantom Menace, the Trade Federation was intended to use more conventional starfighters that were merely piloted by B1 battle droids, like those in the Battlefront games. An early concept sketch depicted a fighter whose cockpit strongly resembled those of the TIE series. It was later decided that the fighters should themselves be droids.