Bomber
A squadron of TIE bombers is shown attacking a pair of Mon Calamari cruisers.
Bombers, sometimes designated as Starbombers, represented a class of starfighters purpose-built to engage heavily armored targets. These targets often included large or stationary installations like capital ships, space stations, and ground-based structures.
Key Attributes
The number of starfighter designs exclusively dedicated to bombing roles was relatively limited. This was largely due to the fact that many multi-role fighters possessed the adaptability to effectively engage both opposing fighters and larger, more fortified targets.
The majority of bombers relied on projectile-based weaponry, such as proton bombs, concussion missiles, proton torpedoes, or thermal detonators, to inflict damage on their targets, rather than utilizing energy-based weapons like blasters. To maximize their effectiveness against well-defended targets, bombers typically operated with escorts of more agile starfighters. To provide protection from point-defense systems, such as anti-fighter corvettes, support spacecraft like frigates would sometimes accompany them, offering cover as they approached their objectives.
Examples of dedicated bombers are as follows:
- Advanced droid bomber
- E-STAP Advanced Droid Starbomber
- E-STAP Droid Starbomber
- E-STAP Shielded Droid Starbomber
- Hetrinar assault bomber
- Hyena-class droid bomber
- NB-1 Royal Bomber
- NB-1S Royal Bomber
- NB-1T Royal Bomber
- NTB-630 naval bomber
- Neutralizer-class bomber
- PTB-625 planetary bomber
- Scythe-class bomber
- TIE/IT Interdictor starfighter
- TIE/sa bomber
- TIE Heavy bomber
- Scimitar assault bomber
- YT-5100 Shriek-class bomber
Furthermore, some heavy assault starfighters, including Y-wings, B-wings, K-wings and GAT-12 Skipray Blastboats, were occasionally classified as bombers.