Why the Empire Replaced Everything with the V-wing

Tarkin, “These starfighters are time costing relics of the past symbolizing hope.” Me, “You pretty much gave the Rebels free real estate.”

Many of us have clocked hella hours in that baby on battlefront 2

In an RP I was doing with some friends, we were in the mid-Empire era and got our hands on some V-Wings. Stuck some old droid fighter brains in them, used them to cover us when smuggling arms to the Troydarian Resistance (they had more money than most other rebel factions we found). We use the vehicle and weapons guides in our games, and when we looked at what the V-Wing offered versus Tie Fighters, we loved it. Plus, they were easy to rip off, since there were millions in junkyards with poorly-paid security and overseers. They are so tiny, we could attach like four to our freighter, leave them outside sensor range, do our mission, then pick them up as an escort whil running from the sector patrols. One of them held off a Sith Inquisitor in a fighter long enough for us to escape... RIP 4C/3.

These were the most elusive ships to me as a kid. They barely appeared in the films, weren’t in the main mode in Lego Star Wars Tcs, but I saw it all the time in reference books.

Well, the Y-Wing replaced most strike bombers because procurement asked Why Wing? and someone misheard and was confused.

The decision to try using the ARC-170 in a role it was never designed or meant for and then judging it based on it's performance in that role is mind bogglingly

Those ships deserved more respect

The Republic Navy should have just gotten a lot of light freighters and modded them - when upgraded they are apparently vastly superior to starfighters, according to all the shows and movies. /s

I would point out something about the V-19 (that the V-Wing had to some extent) the maintenance. It's a Slayb & Korpil design, and its later descendant the B-Wing is well known to be a pain in the ass to maintain; now, couple this with the fact the V-19 is a rushed production model (aka not all teething problems were solved) and extend it into a fleet composed of hundreds if not thousands of carriers and you find yourself with a logistical challenge (and also a lot of downed time for maintenance) to cope with the intensive use of such craft. All these reasons are why you find quickly the V-19 replaced by Z95 head hunter. The Z95 also had 2 main challenges; the aging airframe on which it was based (despite all the retrofits kit you can slap on it, it'll still be a Z-95) and the place it took. The V-19 had at least the decency of having folding wings, for a smaller footprint on flight deck while the Z-95 was big to maneuver around . Finally would come the V-Wing, it was as compact as the V-19, as simple to maintain as the Z-95 (I could argue even simpler due to the T.I.E engine system); had more firepower at dogfighting range than both (since faster recharge but lower range). It has drawback though, as a lack of hyperdive* and projectile launcher** but it was designed to fight against those pesky tri-fighters who are pretty much apex predator in the dogfight domain with the small superior edge of being shielded (as the excellent and now cannon Starship and vehicles of revenge of the Sith shows). So as a conclusion, I'd say the following : any technical solution is a compromise, what the Republic strategist choose with the V-Wing must be described in the context of which the decision happened *it can be retrofitted with one, and having an astromech on-board, it could do multiple jumps **according to some sources it had a projectile launcher, but too me this seems to be too little to take into account

One of my favorite fighters! Next to the z95 clone headhunter

I think the 1 thing Allen get's wrong here is the V-wing not only had shields but if you look closely at the Republic variant it also used an astromech but in all fairness though it's likely the Empire removed both to make the V-wing easier to mass produce at the cost of quality.

If I were palpatine, I would’ve just slapped the solar panels on the wings of the V-wing and call it a day, would’ve been perfect for defending against the rebels

The reference to that one foo fighters clip at 6:46 is the best part of the video 😂

The Nimbus is 1 of my favorite fighters in Star Wars. In my opinion it's the perfect fighter for planetary defense. It has TIE for almost no maintenance on the engines. It has an astromech to assist the pilot with flying, rotating the blasters, and doing maintenance between missions. Finally, it has the ability to land pretty much anywhere without fabricated landing pads. While the lack of a hyperdrive without rings would be a hindrance for a carried fighter, for in system combat it's perfect and far less expensive.

I would combine the best qualities of the V-wing with the ETA 2 Actis.

This is a YouTube channel where the Hawker Hurricane gets some love with background I didn't know about the V-Wing. This is why I am here. Keep up the good work!

It still boggles my mind that Lucasfilm still hasn't hired you, Allen. Your knowledge of the more intricate technical aspects of Star Wars and also the lore is amazing.

i love the spitfire comparison, but also the hurricane shoutout ❤️ hurricane my beloved ❤️

That vwing is still my favorite starfighter in star wars. Glad to see it used so frequently in bad batch

Elliptical wings (such as on the Spitfire) were said to be the most efficient at generating lift. They didn’t become prolific, however, in large part because they were difficult to manufacture, let alone mass produce.