E-wing escort starfighter

The E-wing was considered an excellent combination of firepower, maneuverability, speed, and armor, but initial models required the use of the R7-series astromech droid, which was exclusively built for the E-wing.

The spaceframe of the E-wing was surrounded by two aerodynamic foils which provided stability and increased weapons ability. The nosecone contained the starfighter's powerful sensors, while a concealed astromech droid could easily be positioned midway through the craft. Directly in front of the astromech slot was the cockpit.

The fighter was heavily armed with three laser cannons and one proton torpedo launcher with a magazine of sixteen torpedoes. Like most Rebel designs, the lasers were spread out and could be set to converge at varying distances.

A single E-wing cost 185,000 credits.

Much of the great cost of the E-wing came from the use of the R7 droid, a much more sophisticated and expensive astromech than the classic R2 and R5 astromechs. Later models of the E-wing starfighters were however able to interface with earlier astromech models, such as an R2 or R5 unit.

The Republic introduced the E-wing during Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaign to rebuild the fallen Empire. The fighter later served in the fight against the resurrected Palpatine. Built with cutting-edge weapons, shielding, and propulsion systems, the fighter was extremely powerful and well-rounded. It was intended as an escort fighter and could also serve as a medium-range assault craft. It had enough speed to counter TIE/IN interceptors and had better armor than other New Republic starfighters, including the X-wing. They were used by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances during the Second Galactic Civil War, during early skirmishes with Corellia.

The E-wing had some initial teething problems relating to the placement of the wing lasers near the outboard engines. The synthetic Tibanna used for the lasers tended to degrade at accelerated rates, which swiftly rendered those guns near-useless (and cutting gun firepower to a third). Rebel engineers came up with a temporary solution during the World Devastator assault on Mon Calamari. Those problems were eventually resolved and the fighter entered fleet service. Models with re-designed laser cannons were known as the Type B E-wing.

It is known to have served at least with the New Republic's Fifth Fleet as the primary fleet space superiority fighter. When the Fifth Fleet was moved to the Koornacht Cluster during the Black Fleet Crisis, many E-wings saw action against the Yevetha in the conflict that ensued.

Four major models appeared to have been designed; the last (Series IV) was introduced around the time of the capture of Coruscant by the Yuuzhan Vong. By that point in the war, the XJ X-wing was rapidly equipping most squadrons in the massive military expansion; the more sophisticated E-wing may have been limited to some elite squadrons. The Series IV E-wing remained in service through the transition from New Republic to Galactic Alliance, and was still in operation as of the Second Galactic Civil War.

The E-wing's first appeared in the comic series Star Wars: Dark Empire. The ship was later included in the original "Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels" after being adapted by West End Games for the RPG. However there are a number of visual discrepancies between the EGVV schematics and the original Dark Empire Artwork:

• The Dark Empire artwork shows the E-wing's nose has a smooth transition into the hull. The EGVV altered this to give it a cone much more akin to the X-wing's. Additionally, the EGVV schematics present a much narrower craft. Using the established scale of 11.2m long reveals that the EGVV schematics are at MOST no wider than a meter at the widest part of the cockpit. The Dark Empire artwork shows a craft roughly twice as wide for its length. Although the two under-wing pods present in the EGVV representation are also seen in the Dark Empire artwork, the EGVV's center pod is not present in any depiction of the E-wing in the original comic. The EGVV also shows the E-wing with a rounded upper surface, however in the original source, the top deck is flattened.

• The EGVV E-wing's wings are symmetrical fore and aft, with small winglets at the tip at a significant downward angle. Dorsal views of the E-wing in Dark Empire show the wings have a much more pronounced sweep aftward at their leading edges, and a straight or nearly-so trailing edge. The winglets at the tip also have a broader span, and are at a less extreme downward angle.

• The dorsal cannon in Dark Empire is significantly larger--in length and diameter--than the wing cannon, with a pronounced cup-shaped structure near the firing tip. The EGVV schematics make all three cannon the same size. Additionally, the centerline pod under the fuselage where the EGVV places the ship's proton torpedo launcher is absent entirely from the Dark Empire artwork. However oblong ports are present in the E-wing's nose cone similar to the torpedo launch tubes visible on the X-wing's fuselage. At least one E-wing in Dark Empire was shown firing weaponry from a position at the wing roots. The E-wing's armament was never conclusively stated in the comic, however one pilot can be seen giving the order "Arm all turbos and ion cannons!"

• Some images in Dark Empire depict exhaust trails from the lower part of the E-wing aft fuselage bulkhead. Later comics, such as Star Wars: Crimson Empire directly positioned engines or thrusters on the aft bulkhead, which are missing in the EGVV schematics.

Stay on Target introduces some contradicting information: While the Databank, Starships of the Galaxy, Saga Edition and The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels claim that the E-wing was first used during the Thrawn campaign in 9 ABY, the new source says it was used by the Rebel Alliance. The Databank and Starships of the Galaxy identify the laser cannons as heavy ones, the game system of Stay on Target calls them medium. Both Starships books and the Databank give the E-wing a class 2 hyperdrive, but Stay on Target says class 1. Starships of the Galaxy and The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels suggest a single torpedo launcher, while Stay on Target gives two.

The Saga Edition of Starships of the Galaxy calls the main weapons blasters.