BTL-B Y-wing starfighter

BTL-B Y-wing starfighter

The BTL-B Y-wing starfighter flew combat-missions for the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars.

Characteristics
Unlike the BTL-S3 Y-wing and its successor designs, the BTL-B model had a full covering of both the primary fuselage and engines. A bubble-turret provided clear view for the gunner, with a 360-degree field of fire.

They possessed a hyperdrive system allowing them to jump into hyperspace without the reliance on a carrier or hyperspace ring. To aid them in their operations, they also made use of an astromech droid.

History
The BTL-B Y-wing was acquired somewhat underhandedly, and without the entire approval of the Jedi Council, by Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, who collected a squadron of the newly-made starfighters from a Koensayr testing facility in orbit around Bormus. Upon recieving the fighters, Anakin formed Shadow Squadron, and began using the ships immediately to hunt General Grievous' flagship Malevolence, the secret weapon of the the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

BTL-Bs subsequently were issued to Blue and Red, and were repainted with their respective squadron's colors. Gold Squadron also was issued Y-wings.

Two squadrons of BTL-B's participated in the Battle of Gwori, led by Jedi Generals Plo Koon and Saesee Tiin

Behind the scenes
According to Russell Chong, the inclusion of a bubble-turret harkens back to early designs for the Y-wing in the first film. "I didn't want to use the actual bubble turret with the single laser canon in the original Ralph McQuarrie illustration because it was too bulky and interrupted the sleak lines of the ship so I opted for a more aerodynamic design similar to the WWII B-17 and B-25 top turret."

Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: Procedure
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume 1: Shipyards of Doom