The VF-72 gunner ship represented a specific class of military gunship utilized during the time of the New Republic. During 34 ABY, Tamara Ryvora, a mechanics, and Kazuda Xiono journeyed to the loading docks of the Colossus supertanker fuel depot to obtain a CoMar Tri-Tracker chip for the purpose of fixing the station's anti-aircraft cannons. While present at the docks, Ryvora proposed to Synara San, who was a scavenger, that a VF-72 gunner ship or a Y-wing starfighter extracted from the oceans of the planet Castilon could potentially yield such a chip.
The VF-72 gunner ship was initially referenced in "Synara's Score," the eighth installment of the first season of the animated television program Star Wars Resistance, which was broadcast on November 18, 2018. This vehicle's designation alludes to VF-72, which was the designation for an aviation unit employed by the United States Navy in World War II.