TIE Defender
The TIE Defender layout has three 120º spread forward/outward arranged solar arrays wings with a standard spherical cockpit in the middle giving it a quite distinguished look. Additional equipment and enhanced engines are mounted on the aft portion of the craft.
Its original project was supposed to be a change in the overall Multirole craft then used by the Empire, but the program was branched into two. While almost similar, one branch died quite after 2 ABY. It is unclear if the original project was reassigned to GA Zaarin and became what we know as the TIE Defender, or it was redesigned from scratch and redeployed in 4 ABY with notable changes.
Given the controversies with the fighter multiple project designers, it comes with a surprise that the Emperor’s Hammer relies so heavily in the project.
In numbers, the TIE Defenders is the most widely used Multirole Craft in the TIE Corps. Within the 16 active squadrons as of 32 ABY (05/2024), 10 Flights use the TIE Defender, which means that almost 20% of our current fighting capability is dedicated to these incredible Machines.
We still have factories producing new parts, even though the project has been slightly changed over the years. The newest models are arguably nimbler than the original, but its speed is lower, relying on quick boosters, which became the new dogfight doctrine today, as it’s been adapted in many of the fighters produced after 28 ABY (10/2020), both from the Empire and the Republic. The newer models are also more adaptable to custom weaponry, giving the Squadrons more options to deploy.
