A-9 Vigilance interceptor

A-9 Vigilance interceptor "A-9 Vigilance interceptors. Speedy little things." "Weak hulls. I used to crack 'em with my teeth and suck out the meat inside."

- Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo

The A-9 Vigilance interceptor was a short-range starfighter used by the Galactic Empire, which began production in 9 ABY.

Designed by Kuat Drive Yards, famous for its Imperial-class Star Destroyers, the A-9 was an attempt to enter the very profitable Imperial starfighter market. Though KDY was a major manufacturer of fighters for the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, the Imperial market was largely dominated by Sienar Fleet Systems, makers of the TIE series. The A-9 was intended to fulfill the Imperial Starfighter Corps' desperate need for a faster, more maneuverable fighter to deal with the New Republic A-wing interceptor.

Released almost six years after the Battle of Endor, shortly after the defeat of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the vessel the Empire received did not meet these requirements.

In true Imperial fashion, the craft had no shields or hyperdrive, requiring the craft to operate from a fixed base or starship. Like TIE series craft, A-9s were generally deployed in large numbers to compensate for their shortcomings and replaced as required.

Simple cockpit controls made the A-9 an easy fighter to learn. While faster than the TIE Interceptor, it had a weaker hull due to deliberate design choices made to reduce mass. Thanks to independent power generators, however, the weapons system was quite powerful for a ship of its size. The A-9 was armed with two laser cannons, mounted in a structure on the ventral side of the fuselage. They were fire-linked and aimed forward in their standard configuration, but several modifications existed which allowed the gun to pivot 90 degrees down to perform strafing runs, as well as allowing the cannons to be independently targeted.



Further hampering the effectiveness of the A-9 was the fact that the ship fell into the hands of the New Republic around the same time that the vessel entered service. After a KDY factory world rebelled and successfully removed the government, several A-9 interceptors were given to New Republic forces. This proved to be a serious blow to the A-9 program, as the New Republic was ready for the fighter when the reborn Emperor Palpatine's forces attacked the ocean world of Mon Calamari.

While generally considered a failure, the A-9 continued to show up in Imperial Remnant fleets, as well as in New Republic/Galactic Alliance squadrons. It was often rumored that KDY was in the process of developing an improved A-9 that would address the problems with the first release. In the Second Corellian Insurrection, a number of them were in the Corellian Defense Force.

Behind the scenes
Starfighters very similar to the A-9 were seen in a captured Imperial hangar on Brentaal IV in X-wing Rogue Squadron Issue 22, but their class was not stated. They may be early prototypes of the A-9 or a similar-looking predecessor.

A-6 interceptors were mentioned in Jedi Quest: The School of Fear, but very little information was provided aside from the fact that they had turbolaser cannons and used astromech droids. Their designation implies a relationship to the A-9, but this cannot be confirmed.

Appearances

 * Dark Empire
 * Recovery
 * Star by Star
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
 * The Unifying Force
 * Betrayal