Homeworld: Charros IV Size: 3.6 meters long Manufacturer: Xi Char Cathedral factories Type: droid starfighter Weapon: blaster cannons, energy torpedo launchers, buzz droid missile launcher Affiliation: Trade Federation; Confederacy of Independent Systems Associations: droid starfighter droid tri-fighter TIE/D fighter

The effectiveness of droid starfighters has been debated in strategic circles for generations. While droid starfighters are capable of maneuvers that would pulp even the sturdiest organic pilot, they lack the resourcefulness and cunning that living pilots bring into combat. During the Battle of Naboo the Trade Federation attempted to counter any shortcomings in their automated vulture droid designs by dispatching them en masse. Swarms of the tiny fighters were launched from their battleship's cavernous hangars, attacking the small number of Naboo starfighters defending the planet.

Like the ground-based battle droid infantry, droid starfighters are controlled by the Trade Federation's Droid Control Ship. When not in flight, the droid starfighter can transform into a walking mode allowing them to be used in surface patrols.

As the Clone Wars erupted, and the Trade Federation became one of the founding members of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, they supplied their vulture droids to the growing Separatist fleet. Painted with the blue and white hexagonal sigils of the Confederacy, vulture droids would plague Jedi and clone pilots on many battlefronts, including the decisive Battle of Coruscant.