V-wing starfighter

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Weapon:
  2 twin laser cannons

• Affiliation:
  Galactic Republic, clone troopers, Galactic Empire

• Type:
  Alpha-3 Nimbus V-wing starfighter

• Manufacturer:
  Kuat Systems Engineering

• 

From the Movies

During the Clone Wars, as the Jedi Generals tore into space combat aboard their tiny Jedi starfighters, they often led loyal clone pilots through twisting maneuvers against the automated space warriors of the Confederacy. The clone pilots did not have the gift of the Force to time their precision attacks and stunning maneuvers. They instead relied on their raw skill and the cutting edge technology at their control.

While the robust ARC-170s served as heavy fire craft, the nimble V-wing fighters were better suited to dogfight engagements against the speedy vulture starfighters and tri-fighters. The needle-nosed craft could hold a single clone pilot, with a partially covered astromech droid providing navigation and in-flight repairs. Bracketing the wedge-shaped ship were a set of flat wings extending above and below the ship. The wings were on articulated collars that allowed them to rotate 90 degrees for landing. Two pairs of laser cannons were mounted on the wing struts, providing the V-wing with rapid snap-fire capability.

After the demise of the Galactic Republic, many of the V-wing squadrons were simply redecorated and reassigned to become some of the first starfighters of the Galactic Empire.

From the Expanded Universe

Born to the development geniuses at Kuat Systems Engineering -- the same firm that crafted the Jedi starfighters -- the Alpha-3 Nimbus fighters were slow to first spread among the clone forces. Streamlined mass production techniques soon saw them replacing the V-19 Torrent as the preferred compact space superiority fighter.

Walex Blissex, who worked as development lead on the Delta-7 Aethersprite project, saw the Nimbus as an opportunity to improve on what his perfectionist perception saw as flaws in the cutting edge Jedi fighter program. The vessel's combat computers saw reaction improvements designed to let the clone pilots keep up with the supernatural speeds of their Jedi leaders.

Mass produced V-wing fighters are too small to support a navicomputer and hyperdrive, though the fighter does carry a standard Q7-series astromech droid. Experimental V-wings, rumored to belong to an elite crimson-clad pilot brigade reporting directly to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, have been known to feature compact hyperdrives of limited capacity.

Behind the Scenes

Combining visual elements of the A-wing and the TIE fighter, the V-wing fighter is the first combat ship of the prequel trilogy to carry the letter-wing naming convention of many of the ship types in the original trilogy.