Hey everybody and welcome to Leia’s Lair.
Today’s video we will be going over a comparison between the X-Wing and TIE Fighter,
as requested by my father, “I am your father,” who asked me about this the other day.
The X-Wing and TIE Fighter have been regarded as some of the most iconic spaceships,
not only in Star Wars, but in movie history. We first see the two ships face off in Episode 4:
A New Hope during the infamous Battle of Yavin, with the X-Wings being piloted by
the Rebel Alliance, and the TIE Fighters being piloted by the Galactic Empire.
Now we know who wins the battle, cue the massive death star explosion,
but prior to this we see the ships engage in some intense fighter-to-fighter space battles.
So this begs the question of which fighter was actually better?
Let’s find out!
The T-65B X-wing starfighter, manufactured by Incom Corporation,
was the model used by the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Yavin,
whereas the TIE/line starfighter was manufactured by Sienar Fleet Systems.
Ironically, the X-Wing was actually first designed to be used by the Imperial Navy,
but they opted to switch to production of the TIE fighter due to the cost being cheaper,
and its ability to be mass produced easier. The X-Wing would cost approximately 150,000
Imperial credits new, and the TIE Fighter would cost 60,000 credits new.
The X-wing, with a mass of 10 metric tons, was 13.4 meters in length,
11.76 meters wide, and had a height of 2.4 meters. The TIE Fighter, on the other hand,
was 7.24 meters in length, 6.7 meters wide, and had a height of 8.82 meters.
The maximum acceleration of the X-Wing was 3,700 G,
compared to TIE Fighter’s 4,100 G, which means the TIE Fighter would accelerate slightly faster.
Both ships shared the same 100 Megalights per hour,
which is a unit to measure the relative sunlight speed of starships in realspace.
In other words, in space both would fly the same maximum speed.
The maximum atmospheric speed of the X-Wing was 1,050 kilometers per hour,
compared to the TIE Fighter’s 1,200 kilometers per hour.
So in a planet’s atmosphere, the TIE Fighter would be able to reach a higher maximum speed.
The X-Wing would be powered by Incom’s 4L4 fusial thrust engines, and the TIE
Fighter housed Sienar Fleet Systems Twin P-s4 Ion Engines, which explains the abbreviation for TIE.
The X-Wing had a Hyperdrive system, so it had the ability to carry out long distance missions,
whereas the TIE Fighter did not have a hyperdrive, and was meant to stay close to its base.
“It’s a short range fighter.”
“There aren’t any bases around here, where’d it come from?”
The X-Wing required 1 pilot and 1 astromech droid, which was used as a navigation system.
It would have 1 week of consumables, and contained a compact life-support system.
The TIE Fighter only required 1 pilot,
had its own navigation system, and would have 2 days of consumables. For life-support
it would only have minimal perfunctory oxygen scrubbers, and pressurized atmospheric seals,
which meant pilots routinely wore EVA suits due to a lack of full life support.
The X-Wing was equipped with deflector shields,
four Taim & Bak KX9 laser cannons, and two Krupx MG7 proton torpedo launchers.
The TIE Fighter, on the other hand,
was not equipped with any deflector shields, and two SFS L-s1 laser cannons.
Therefore, based on all this information, we can make several comparisons.
The X-Wing T-65B Starfighter, may cost more, but has many more features
than the TIE line starfighter, such as a hyperdrive, deflector shields,
life-support system, two more laser cannons and torpedo launchers.
However, the TIE fighter, was cheaper and easier to mass produce,
less features means less mass, although mass is not explicitly stated anywhere,
we can only assume that it weighs less than the X-Wing, and it had its own navigation system,
meaning it did not need an astromech droid for that.
The TIE Fighter does beat the X-Wing in terms of maximum acceleration,
and atmospheric speed. However, both shared the same maximum speed while in space,
which is where typically most battles between the two have taken place.
With less mass, we can also speculate that the TIE
fighter is probably a bit more maneuverable than the X-Wing,
meaning piloting skills will definitely take precedence when operating the X-Wing.
The X-Wing is definitely a more versatile ship, which is probably why the Rebel Alliance preferred
to use them than the fast-and-ever expanding Empire, which was more concerned about numbers.
The X-Wing may or may not be more maneuverable than the TIE Fighter, but at least it has
deflector shields to make up for, what may result in, more laser hits from their enemy.
All the information seemingly points to the X-Wing being the better of the two ships,
and statistics would probably yield a higher amount of losses amongst TIE Fighters when
compared to the X-Wing. However, this is all based upon speculation and technical
specifications of the two fighters, and does not account for a pilot’s skill.
Interested in learning about which ship you would have, check out one of our many quizzes here.
And there you have it! Thanks for watching everyone! Which do you think is a better
starfighter, the X-Wing or the TIE Fighter? Let us know down below in the comment section.
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We hope to see you all again in Leia’s Lair.