Y-Wing, The X-Wing’s sidekick

In the Star Wars franchise, there is a whole shipload of different types of spaceships. And since most of the details in Star Wars was based/inspired from World War 2, it won’t be pretty surprising if the spaceships here was detailed just like in WW2. The X-wing of the Rebel Alliance playing the hero (like the British Spitfire or the US Mustang), fighting against a HUGE number of mass-produced Twin Ion Engine (TIE) fighters (just like the German BF-109, which is also a mass-produced fighter aircraft) of the Galactic Empire’s Imperial Navy (since there is no actual battleships in Star Wars, space “ships”, like the Star Destroyers, and aircrafts were considered to be Navy). While the less famous Y-wing, the designated ground-attack/dive-bomber/sometimes fighter, (just like the Hawker Hurricane and the modern-day A-10 Thunderbolt/Warthog), did all of the ground work and barely gets any spotlight. This is the Y-Wing’s story

History

In the Star Wars universe, the Y-wing was made by the company Koensayr Manufacture when they got commissioned by the Galactic Republic during the Clone War. The Republic wanted something that was a cross between a starfighter (or your normal dogfighter) and a long-range bomber. Koensayr did that, and produced the BTL-B model, which was quickly put in to use. The results were pretty good, and then Koensayr Manufacture developed variation of it. All of these types were put in to use during the Clone War. If you did watch the Clone War (3D) animated series, in which the Republic put in to heavy use. After Palpatine take complete control of the Republic and turn it to the Galactic Empire, most of the BTL-B models were instantly scrapped. During the Galactic Civil War, Koensayr Manufacture then designed the BTL-A4, which is just the BTL-B model but greatly simplified, which the Rebel Alliance used for their cause. The Rebel mechanics then did their own simplifying, by stripping off protective panels so that it can be repaired faster. This model is the one that most of the Star Wars fans were seeing in the movie The Last Hope. There were, of course, other slight variant of the Y-wing in service with the Rebel Alliance, but, the BTL-A4 were the most-used type. After the Galactic Civil War have ended, Koensayr Manufacture then produced the BTA-NR2 model, which were used by the New Republic and later by the Resistance.

Stats

The following stats were the stats of the BTL-A4 model.

Length: 16.24 meters (53 feet and 3 inches)

Width: 8.54 meters (28 feet)

Height: 2.44 meters (8 feet)

Weight: N/A

Crew: required 1 pilot and 1 Astromech droid

Engine: Koensayr R200 ion jet engines

Armament: Krupx MG7 proton torpedoes, cluster missiles, concussion missiles, Ion torpedoes, proton bombs, limpet charges

Speed: about 1,000 km/h (621 mph)

Range: N/A

Combat Record

The Y-wing, despite of not getting any spotlight, were pretty popular with most of it’s users for it’s heavy firepower. It (and it’s other variants) have shown up battles like the Battle of Kaliida Nebula, Battle of Ryloth, Battle of Malastare, the second Battle of Geonosis, Battle of Sullust, Battle of Patitite Pattuna, Battle of Umbara, and others. It was also showed up in the Battle of Yavin, where the Rebel Alliance attacked the first Death Star, but only 1 Y-wing (and 2 X-wing and the Millennium Falcon) survive that battle. After the Empire have been defeated, the New Republic (like I mentioned before) still used the Y-wing, in the form of the BTA-NR2 model, but they were pretty much very outdated by that point and no fewer than 28 of them were in service before the First Order attacked. The Resistance, unlike the Rebel Alliance, only have 2 model in service with them.

Variants

The Koensayr Manufacture did not just stop when they made the BTL-B model, they have also expanded with new types. Here they are as followed.

BTL-B: this is the original model that the Republic Navy have asked for, it featured a distinctive bubble canopy right behind the the cockpit, that’s where the co-pilot sit.

BTL-A4: This is the model where the Rebel used against the Empire, it was simplified by the Koensayr Manufacture and even more with the Rebel mechanics, it stripped away the co-pilot seat and modified the twin-barrel ion cannon to be controlled by the pilot. It can be distinguish from it’s long tail structure behind each of it’s engine. These used to be also part of the engine but the Rebel mechanics stripped them out to save weight and for more spare parts.

BTL-S3: This model is the two-seater version of the BTL-A4, but it did not have the bubble canopy like the BTL-B model have. The co-pilot and the pilot sit back-to-back with each other.

BTA-NR2: This model is the one that is used by the New Republic when the Empire is defeated. This model is just the BTL-A4 (and it’s other slight variants) with upgraded equipment like a better hyperdrive and deflector shield. It did not much service against the First Order. It is also as “the starfighter that broke the Empire’s back”.

Aftermath

With the Rise of the Skywalker already out to the public, signaling the end of the Star Wars saga, it’s very unlikely that the Y-wing is going to get any more spotlight. Except for maybe the upcoming Lego Star Wars Holiday Special.

Related Stories

https://www.starwars.com/databank/y-wing-starfighter

https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/squadrons/overview/starfighters/new-republic/btl-y-wing-bomber

https://www.starwars.com/databank/y-wing-starfighter