Both the Galactic Empire and the Confederacy of Independent Systems adopted swarm-based
strategies in starfighter combat, but where the Empire trained and deployed thousands
of pilots in expendable TIE Fighters, the CIS made use of Vulture Droids, a pilotless
fighter craft controlled by an integrated droid brain.
The Vulture droid had largely disappeared from use by the time the first TIE Fighters
were constructed at Sienar Systems, and as a result, the two fighter-craft were rarely
involved in the same battle, leaving an extensive technical comparison as the only means of
determining the superior starfighter.
PROPULSION AND MOBILITY.
The Vulture Droid employs a unique and unusual propulsion system based around the use of
solid fuel slugs.
These pellets of fuel are propelled at high speed into two chambers, fixed to vectoring
drive nozzles on either side of the fighter’s aft, upon reaching these chambers the pellets
ignite, and provide 35 minutes of thrust before it becomes necessary for the ship to return
to its carrier for resupply.
Though this system limits the time a Vulture Droid can remain in combat, it does provide
an incredible degree of speed and manoeuvrability, enhanced even further by the unmanned fighter’s
lack of reliance on inertial dampeners when performing complex maneuvers.
The eponymous Twin Ion Engines of the Imperial TIE Fighter are considered to be some of the
most precisely engineered and remarkable starship components in history, the drives lack any
moving parts, and require only the most rudimentary maintenance to be kept in peak condition,
a valuable attribute given the virtually endless supply of TIE Fighters in service to the Imperial
Navy.
In battle the Primary Ion Engines provide high-speed acceleration, and during close
quarters combat the fighter’s two Ion manoeuvring jets are able to sharply lever the vessel
to port or starboard, affording the ship a rapid turn rate, and a great deal of agility.
Though both fighters are extremely agile in combat, the Vulture Droid holds a slight edge
in this arena, where the first TIE Fighters to be constructed were rated at 96 DPF for
manoeuvrability, the Vulture Droid was rated slightly higher at 100 DPF, and this advantage
can be attributed to the droid fighter’s lack of life support and inertial dampening
components, improving its thrust-to-weight ratio and navigational precision.
ARMAMENT AND DEFENCES A standard Confederate Vulture Droid is armed
with four wing-mounted medium blaster cannons, as well as a pair of lower-yield blasters
fixed to the droid’s head module.
The central cannons are designed for use in the Vulture’s planetside walk-mode and lack
the firepower of conventional starfighter weapons, but when used to supplement the ship’s
wing-mounted cannons, they can provide a slight increase to the fighter’s combat potency.
Vulture Droids also carry warhead launchers, capable of loading either a pair of energy
torpedoes, or a cluster of six missiles fitted with either concussion or discord warheads,
and though the fighter lacks deflector shields, it does carry a layer of alclad alloy plating,
which allows the ship to endure some glancing hits.
The Standard TIE Fighter is armed with a pair of chin-mounted L-s1 Laser Cannons, which
each wield a surprising amount of firepower in spite of their small size, the cannons
have a relatively low rate-of-fire, but their accuracy is impressive, and a well-placed
shot can disable or destroy an unshielded fighter or light transport in short order.
TIE Fighters are unshielded and do not carry warhead launchers as standard, but they do
feature a small amount of light titanium armor to provide some small measure of protection
from enemy fire.
Perhaps the greatest weakness of the TIE Fighter is the pair of large quadanium solar panels
that make up much of the ship’s frame, while the panels undoubtedly represent one of the
fighter’s most useful features, they also limit the pilot’s visibility, as well as
greatly increasing the ship’s silhouette on the port and starboard side, making the
TIE Fighter a much easier target as it attempts to maneuver.
In a technical comparison, it is clear that the Vulture Droid carries a superior loadout
to the TIE Fighter, it’s greater number of cannons help to offset the clumsy targeting
inherent in droid-fighters by creating a wall of weapons fire that is difficult to evade,
and the fighter’s arsenal of missile weapons provide a crucial edge that TIE Fighter sorely
lacks.
It should be pointed out however, that the two laser cannons carried aboard the TIE Fighter
are far newer and more powerful than any one of the Vulture droid’s blaster weapons,
and should a pilot be able to land a direct hit on the droid ship, the TIE Fighter’s
weapons would burn through its Alclad Armor plating with little difficulty.
UTILITIES AND OTHER FEATURES.
The Vulture Droid is capable of reconfiguring itself into a so-called ‘walk-mode’ which
allows the fighter to fill the role of a light tank or infantry fighting vehicle on a planet’s
surface, this configuration is also used to magnetically clamp Vulture Droids to the surface
of Confederate Warships, allowing the CIS to deploy wings of fighters from vessels that
lack conventional launch bays or flight decks.
The Discord Missiles carried by many Vultures are used as a delivery system for Buzz Droids,
with each warhead containing up to seven of the droids for targeted deployment.
Buzz droids are viciously effective against hostile strike craft, tearing through armor
plating with bladed saws and fusion torches, and breaching the canopies of targeted ships
to vent their pilots into space.
TIE Fighters carry a surprisingly large array of sophisticated avionics and sensor suites
given their small frame, and this provides the pilot with a great deal of detailed information
about the space around his or her vessel.
TIE Fighters are more difficult to pilot than most strike craft, and as a result the Imperial
training program for the fighters is time-consuming and difficult, while this does extend the
time needed to bring a single fighter into combat service, the problem is mitigated by
the sheer number of fighters and pilot candidates available to the Empire at any given time,
and the complexity of the training program ensures that only the most skilled candidates
are allowed to become pilots in the Imperial Navy.
FINAL VERDICT At missile range in an area free of obstacles,
the TIE Fighter has practically no chance of survival against the Vulture Droid, while
the fighter is indeed fiercely manoeuvrable, no ship large enough to carry a pilot can
ever turn faster than a lightweight missile, and any one of the various warheads available
to the Vulture Droid could obliterate a standard TIE Fighter in short order.
At close range however, the two ships are extremely well matched, and the TIE Fighter
possesses a crucial advantage in the form of its biological pilot.
The Vulture droid carries a larger arsenal of blaster cannons and slightly superior armor,
but it’s droid brain cannot hope to challenge a trained imperial pilot for precision and
accuracy, it lacks the ability to perform creatively or to develop tactics on the fly,
and when confronted with complex and unstructured maneuvers, the fighter will most often lose
control of the situation and be quickly destroyed.
In conclusion, a simple dogfight between a single Vulture Droid and a single TIE Fighter,
would most often lead to a victory for the Vulture Droid.
While the TIE Fighter’s biological pilot provides an enormous advantage, the Vulture’s
missiles are a threat that it simply cannot escape, and the Droid fighter’s superior
armor and weapons loadout only serve to improve its chances.
It should be noted however, that the Sienar TIE Fighter is by far the better choice as
the mainstay starfighter of a galaxy-spanning empire, it’s range and adaptability is far
greater than that of the Vulture, it’s pilot is capable of carrying out far more complex
orders than any unmanned craft, and it’s production time and resource cost is far lower
than that of the Vulture Droid.