The Starfighter Corps served as the Resistance's primary means of naval space attack and defense, with capital ships nearly impossible to acquire following New Republic demilitarization efforts. As a result, the Resistance had few capital ships.
The Starfighter Corps combat missions typically broke the squadron into paired fighter elements, consisting of a lead and a wingman. During the Corps stay on D'Qar, the Resistance maintained two primary X-wing squadrons codenamed Red Squadron and Blue Squadron. Blue Squadron served as the primary defensive force for the then Resistance base, while Red Squadron served as support. Leading both squadrons was Poe Dameron as Black Leader in his specialized X-wing, Black One.
Merl Cobben flew an RZ-2 A-wing for the Resistance.
The youngest and brightest of the Resistance military typically filled out the ranks of the Starfighter Corps, with many of them recruited from local planetary defense forces. Tending to be high spirited, idealistic and closely-knit together, these "victory kids" were both proud of their service and eager for action. Despite this, veteran pilots such as Poe Dameron and Nien Nunb flew as part of the Corps, bringing years of tactical experience to both inspire and train the next generation of pilots.
The Skywalker Swoop, Antilles Intercept, and Porkins Belly Run were all training basics for Resistance pilots.
Nien Nunb used a modified helmet for his species.
Resistance pilots wore standard 'interstellar orange'-colored piloting jumpsuit and were equipped with basic survival equipment when piloting their starfighters. A single box-shaped FreiTek life support unit was attached to their chest, while four signal flares in a bandolier strapped onto their knee helped increase their chances of survival. In addition, they also wore a white, inflatable flight vest and ejection harness. Additionally, they wore padded flight gauntlets and an insulated flight helmet, along with a Guidenhauser flight harness.
The helmet for Ello Asty had an old Cobalt Squadron logo on it, while Jessika Pava's had one for the Tierfon Yellow Aces sigil and Nien Nunb had one with Coalstreak Squadron's stripes.
Resistance pilots were equipped with a single Glie-44 blaster pistol in a detachable holster.
Resistance pilots normally flew in T-70 X-wing starfighters, but another starfighter model used by the Resistance included the RZ-2 A-wing interceptor, one of which was flown by Blue Leader Tallissan Lintra. At least 1 pilot, L'ulo L'ampar, flew an RZ-1 A-wing interceptor during the Cold War. The BTA-NR2 Y-wing starfighter and B-Wing Fighter also saw use.
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