Ships

B-Wing

The B-wing was the Rebel Alliance's most powerful heavy-assault starfighter and developed shortly after the Battle of Yavin. It was designed to replace the aging BTL Y-wing starfighter and to take on much larger Imperial capital ships, thus providing the Alliance fighters with the punch of capital ships at a fraction of the cost. Although only about four meters longer than the famed X-wing, the B-wing had more firepower than many Imperial patrol ships.

The B-wing starfighter was designed by then Commander Ackbar with the help of engineers from the Verpine Slayn and Korpil colonies. Later, the Verpine colonies and Ackbar worked to develop a two-man B-wing, adding a dedicated gunner. While the two-man B-wing, dubbed the B-wing/E (for B-wing/Expanded), was in many ways a superior ship, it was not widely accepted.

The original B-wing is essentially a long, flat wing with a cockpit on one end. Two folding airfoils near the midpoint of the primary wing extend out for combat. The fighter has an unusual cockpit gyro-stabilization system that allows the cockpit to remain stable while the rest of the ship rotates around it, significantly reducing stresses that result from sudden maneuvers. Unfortunately, this complex gyro-stabilizing system frequently breaks down.  This locks the wing assembly in position, making it almost impossible to turn the ship without severely straining the spaceframe. Like its predecessor, the Y-wing, the cockpit could be detached from the rest of the ship, but unlike the Y-wing, the B-wing's cockpit could be ejected into space and support atmospheric re-entry.

Because the B-wing is so difficult to handle, only a few of the Alliance's pilots were qualified to fly it. B-wing pilots tended to become very attached to their ships and liked to personally supervise every repair and modification.

The B-wing's advanced targeting computer links the performance of the ion cannons and proton-torpedo launchers, giving the ship maximum firepower against a single target, although the pilot also can split fire between different targets. The pilot can choose to fire a low-power targeting laser to "tag" enemy ships. While this gives the pilot nearly perfect range and vector information, it also gives away the B-wing's position.

In standard configuration, each secondary wing has one ion cannon, with a third ion cannon located at the base of the main wing. A laser cannon and an emission-type proton-torpedo launcher are also mounted on the end of the main wing. The engines sit just above the extending wings, with another proton-torpedo launcher immediately above the engines. A pair of auto-blasters are in the nose of the cockpit module; technicians can opt to mount up to four auto-blasters in the nose section.

B-wing designers deliberately made the weapon-mounting points modular. Technicians can reconfigure auto-blaster, laser-cannon, and ion-cannon mounts within a few hours. A popular alternative B-wing weapon configuration is achieved by removing the auto-blasters and mounting the three ion cannons in the command pod, with a laser cannon placed on the end of the main wing and each airfoil.

Each fighter is powered by a single immense Quadex Kyromaster engine with four individually adjusted thrust nozzles. The engine is fed by a single Vinop 02 K ionization reactor and four Slayn & Korpil JZ-5g7 power convertors. The ship has four cooling plates to dissipate exhaust heat.

The B-wing has moderate sublight speed capability, and its hyperdrive, a Class Two unit, is only half as fast as comparable X-wing and A-wing hyperdrives. Unlike other Rebel starfighters, the B-wing does have a navigation computer, but it stores only two sets of jump coordinates.

Despite its limited numbers at the time, it was a key Rebel craft in the Battle of Endor, where a squad of these fighters took down an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer. After the battle, the B-wing's modular design allowed it to be retrofitted with sprayers for firefighting duty on Endor, to extinguish the fires caused by the falling debris. 

B-wings continued to play the vital role of heavy assault fighter for the New Republic and its successor, the Galactic Alliance, throughout the Yuuzhan Vong War in all major engagements, including the First and Second Battles of Coruscant, the Battle of Ebaq 9, and the Second Battle of Borleias.

B-wings were present in the Battle of Bakura. The B-wing fighter also featured significantly in the campaign against Warlord Zsinj, where the B-wings of Nova Squadron were instrumental in defeating Razor's Kiss and Iron Fist. General Salm's Defender Wing was partially retrofitted with B-wings during the campaign against Zsinj. A wing of B-wings would also serve against Delak Krennel and his Ciutric Hegemony. 

B-wing squadrons were present at the Battle of Almania, the Battle of Adumar, and the Second Battle of Mon Calamari. Some B-wings would be modified to have a YT series cockpit and a turbolaser cannon, making them uglies. These were called Corellian/B-wing uglies. These modified B-wings were used by the Sacorrian Triad during the First Corellian Crisis, but were largely unsuccessful against the Bakuran fleet. 

The B-wing fighter continued to serve in the Galactic Alliance Fleet through the Dark Nest Crisis/Swarm War and the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War.

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