TIE Advanced
The TIE Advanced design relies on the standard cockpit module with an extended engine bay and inward bent-wing solar arrays. The prototype versions and early models had a panel closing the sides of the wings, which was then discarded in the main production to provide the pilot a bigger field of view. The name TIE Avenger is more commonly attributed to the second version, but it is considered the same craft for indexing purposes.
The TIE Advanced was fitted with shields and hyperdrive, which made it famous internally as the X1 prototype was flown by Lord Darth Vader in the Battle of Yavin, these features saving his life after the Death Star War destroyed.
Significantly faster than the then standard TIE Fighter (TIE/ln), the Avenger originally suffered from the added energy consumption for the shield and hyperdrive, but such a flaw was corrected in later models.
Currently (32 ABY – 05/2024) it is one of the least used crafts in the Emperor’s Hammer active squadrons, with only two flights dedicated to the TIE Advanced. Its benefits are low and deployment costs are high when compared to a TIE Defender, a much more complete starfighter, making it even hard to justify the investment of 400.000 Imperial Credits, while a Defender production line has it streamline to 300.000 Imperial Credits.
