As a cadet at Taharim Academy, Thrawn invented a maneuver that starships could perform to evade detection by opponents in combat. The maneuver granted its performer stealth by hiding behind an enemy vessel and acquiring the same trajectory, thus hiding it from other enemy ships.
Thrawn, then known as Mitth'raw'nuru, had been accused of cheating on an exam, even though his grades were at the top of his class at the academy. In reality, Thrawn had performed the maneuver and scored significantly higher than any student in the academy's history. The exam consisted of a combat simulation and was programmed to prevent the simulation from being run more than once with the same parameters. Thrawn insisted on his innocence but could not prove it because the exam simulation could not be repeated exactly as it was conducted. Senior cadet Irizi'ar'alani defended Thrawn from the cheating charge by calling in General Ba'kif, who insisted that Thrawn demonstrate the maneuver in a combat exercise.
The parameters of Thrawn's exam were known to the instructors at Taharim. Ba'kif set up the combat exercise to use those same parameters, and Thrawn successfully executed his stealth maneuver during the practice battle. As a result, Thrawn proved his innocence.
Years later, Senior Captain Thrawn (now Mitth'raw'nuruodo) would perform the same maneuver while infiltrating the Rapacc system on a reconnaissance mission in 19 BBY. The Rapacc system was under blockade by the forces of the Nikardun Destiny, a threat at the time unknown to the Chiss Ascendancy. The maneuver allowed Thrawn and Mitth'ali'astov to reach a mining station where they met the Paccosh species and learned of the Nikardun.
Thrawn's stealth maneuver first appeared in the 2020 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn.
Thrawn's stealth maneuver first appeared in the 2020 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn.