Theseason conclusion ofSkeleton Crewbrought something with it fans have been want to see sinceReturn of the Jedi : a B - Wing bomberactually doing something . Thefabled alphabet fighterhas long been a hardy ofStar Warsgames , novel , and comics , but it took over four decennium to really see one in alive - action mechanism taking shot in fight . And yet , for all the fervour , you might have been a routine surprised as to howSkeleton Crew‘s B - Wings opened fire — because it has a much more late origin report than the B - Wing itself does .
A Brief History of B-Wing Weaponry
A intercrossed assault starfighter and sound bomber , the B - Wing has always been considered one of the most hard equipped fighters in the Alliance fleet . We never actually see them in action inReturn of the Jedi — the attack aircraft model ’s thin profile made it peculiarly difficult to shoot on bluescreen , meaning many design crack using the raw ship wereultimately turn off from the motion-picture show . After their entrance shoot at the Battle of Endor and the scenes of the Rebels pivoting away from the still - operational Death Star II , B - Wings barely come along in the net celluloid at all .
This impart adjunct stuff — most notably the earlyStar Warsroleplaying game , and then in the ’ 90s and early aughts TV secret plan series likeX - Wing , TIE Fighter , and theRogue Squadrongames , to fill in the gaps of what made the B complex - fender outdoor stage out among the Rebel arsenal . The response was mostlylotsof firepower — if the X - Wing was a Jack-tar - of - all - craft craft , theA - Winga speedy dogfighter , and the Y - Wing explicitly a heavy bomber , the B - Wing operated in the niche of a heavy starfighter contrive to perforate above its weight form and aim capital ship . The tips of each of its S - Foils , as well as two chargeman emplacements below its cockpit gave the starfighter a robust armoury of both labored laser cannons and , crucially , disabling ion weaponry that would earmark the B - Wing to fishgig through larger watercraft with volleys of fire that could penetrate ship organization and shielding . A B - Wing could then stick to through with a complement of explosive ordnance store , in the form of multiple proton torpedo launchers or space to hold even more devastating payloads .
Enter the Blade Wing
In theStar Warsexpanded universe , both the B - Wing and A - Wing were introduced as ship manufactured by the Alliance and its ally after the Battle of Yavin — the B - Wing in particular was get with the financial aid of the then - fresh enrol Gial Ackbar as part of “ Project Shantipole , ” seen as a motivation for the Alliance to raise its fighter compliment as the Empire reply to the Death Star ’s destruction at the hands of a starfighter wing with increased output of capital ships . This was in part an in - universe explanation as to why neither fighter appeared during the events ofA New HopeorEmpire Strikes Back , but whenStar Warscontinuity wasrebooted in 2014 , both vas were usher in into the Rebel fleet earlier in the timeline . The A - Wing debuted first during the climax ofStar Wars Rebels ‘ first season as the principal starfighter of the Phoenix Squadron , the rebel cellular telephone that ultimately raise the series ’ Hero into the nascent alliance , but the B - Wing got its own consecrate innovation inRebelsseason two ’s “ Wings of the Master ” .
In some ways , the B - Wing was introduced out of a similar necessity — a deficiency on the rebels ’ part of ship with the firepower to punch through blockades of uppercase ships — but otherwise its rootage were radically overhaul . With no Ackbar to be found , he was replaced by Quarrie , a lone Mon Calamari engineer working in secret on a paradigm B6 starfighter , dubbed the “ Blade Wing . ” Shantipole was no longer the name of the project and research station that birthed the ship , but the planet he blot out on . or else of a vessel design in tandem with the Alliance ’s top brass , it was now a single ship , earned through negotiation on the part ofHera Syndulla , that would finally lay the groundwork for the development of the B - offstage on a larger scale .
Oh , and it also had a big - ass optical maser light beam . Although the Blade Wing still retain individual blaster hardpoints for traditional ion and optical maser weaponry at the tips of its entropy - foils as it had in the expanded existence , Rebelsintroduced the composite beam laser as the Blade Wing ’s elementary anti - great - ship artillery : a quadruplet - associate heavy weapon system that could drain power from the Blade Wing ’s installed hyperdrive to charge and fire a short - ranged targeted beam of light capable of piercing deflector buckler and hull plating .
© Lucasfilm
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© Lucasfilm
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