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I've been working on the final two chapters of the Rebel Sourcebook,
2nd Edition, the ones dealing with Starfighters and Ground Combat.
Lots of very interesting parts in them, especially in the Starfighter
chapter:
I'm too lazy to summarize them completely, but here's a quickie rundown:Rebel Sourcebook wrote: Combat Starfighters: A General Overview
Combat starfighters are one of the Alliance's primary tools for denying control of space to the Empire. As our main fleet must avoid combat except where absolutely necessary, starfighters are virtually the only forces in daily contact with the enemy. Roughly 35 percent of the Alliance's military budget is dedicated to the creation and maintenance of starfighters.
Space Denial
The main purpose of combat starfighters is denial of control of space to the Empire's forces, not the control of that space itself. Denial of space means to curtail the free movement of the enemy's vessels without significant protection. Control of space suggests that one's own vessels are able to move freely without protection. Except in rare cases, the Alliance is unable to control space with its starfighters.
Unlike the larger capital ships, starfighters are not self-contained; they require a staggering amount of fuel to operate and an equally staggering amount of expensive maintenance to keep in space, For them to control a system, therefore, requires expensive and extensive base facilities within that system or nearby. Unfortunately, this is a luxury which we enjoy only in systems so firmly under our control or off the beaten track that Imperial starship attack against those bases is unlikely or prohibitively expensive.
Therefore, our starfighters operate primarily from hidden bases (which limits the amount of starfighters which can be deployed safely), or from bases far from Imperial scrutiny, necessitating long, fuel-consuming voyages to the battle area. Within these tactical strictures, our starfighters concentrate upon harassment and hit-and-run raids rather than attempting to defeat the enemy outright.
Despite these limitations, the starfighter is still a very effective weapon. Their very existence threatens every Imperial supply ship, warship and space station with destruction at any second, forcing dramatic changes in Imperial strategy and tactics
Except in the Core Worlds, space travel has become a slow and dangerous business for every Imperial ship.
Acquisition and Supply
A sizeable chunk of the Alliance's precious treasury is devoted to the acquisition and supply of starfighters. Underscoring the importance of this to the Alliance, the Minister of War himself chairs the Committee on Starfighter Acquisition and Maintenance; other permanent members include the Ministers of Supply, Industry and Finance, as well as a number of starfighter Wing Commanders and ace pilots. Starfighter supply is controlled through the Department of Naval Ordnance and Supply.
For more details on this subject, see "Lecture Number 522: Organization of Alliance Command."
Acquisition
The Alliance gained the majority of its original complement of starfighters through the wholesale defection of planetary and systems defense forces after President Palpatine took the title of Emperor and before he had solidified his hold on the Navy. During those months, literally thousands of pilots went "underground" and joined the growing Rebellion. However, most of these ships were outdated and in poor repair, unable to stand up against the Navy's modern starfighters.
A notable addition to the Alliance space forces was gained when the entire senior design staff of Incom Corporation defected to the Alliance, taking with them the plans and prototype models for the X-wing starfighter. As most of you know, the X-wing has stood up very well indeed to the Navy's vessels.
As Palpatine secured his position and crafted the Navy into his complete tool, it became more and more difficult to entice home defense forces into defecting and virtually impossible to acquire starfighters through arms merchants at any cost - Imperial reprisals were greatly feared even before the Death Star. Therefore, the Alliance had to learn to build its own starfighters.
As you will understand, precise information regarding the location and nature of the Alliance ship design and manufacturing capabilities is highly classified and no exact details will be given here.
The Alliance has a number of starfighting manufacturing plants in operation across the galaxy. These are extremely secret, their locations known only to a few pilots and Mon Mothma's top senior advisors. Even those working in the plants often do not know exactly where it is located. They are brought in "blind" and, even if later captured, are unable to give their interrogators precise information.
Because of the difficulty of shipping starfighter-grade materiel across deep space in secret, most Alliance manufacturing facilities are based upon worlds or in solar systems which provide everything needed to build the ships: raw material, foundries, heavy industry, and so forth. The computer and electronics manufac turing facilities are often on-site as well. However, these components are smaller, and therefore easier to transport without undue attention.
A small cadre of Alliance pilots is responsible for testing new starfighters and, if acceptable, transporting them to their assigned bases. These pilots are extremely dedicated beings, sworn to die before capture - and provided with secret means to ensure that they can end their lives if they fall into Imperial hands.
The Alliance is always searching for places to build new starfighter manufacturing facilities. If you have knowledge of a likely site, contact your Sector Supply Secretary immediately. It should be noted, however, that the Empire is extremely determined to find and destroy our capacity to build spacefaring vessels; planets they discover harboring such are routinely space-bombed into rubble.
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Supply
Starfighters are extremely expensive to fuel and keep in operating condition. A starfighter requires expensive fuel cells for power. The most efficient fighters drain their power after a few short weeks of standard flying - and the same amount of energy is exerted in just under an hour of combat flight. Starfighter fuel cells consist of refined radioactive metals mixes; these cells must be roughly twice as pure as standard starship-grade cells. Few civilian manufacturing facilities are capable of producing them. If you have knowledge of facilities which could be converted to manufacture starfighter fuel cells, please contact your Sector Supply Secretary immediately.
Maintenance
To keep in peak fighting condition, a starfighter requires about an hour's heavy maintenance for each 10 minutes of combat flight time. Combat places incredible stress upon the vessel's engines, chassis, shields, and life-support systems; even a near-miss by an enemy's weapons can severely damage a starfighter's electronics gear.
Most Alliance ships do not get nearly as much maintenance as they require. If a squadron has been in active combat for more than a week, odds are that they will suffer almost as many casualties from ship malfunction as from the enemy's fire.
However, it must be noted that this applies equally to both sides in the conflict. Imperial starfighters usually operate from superbly-equipped bases, often aboard Star Destroyers, but their ships are generally inferior in design and construction to ours, and their mechanics of a low grade of competence indeed. Downtime for TIE craft between battles is roughly four times as long as it is for Alliance ships, and TIEs have a reputation for severe loss of effectiveness if flown into battle without being properly maintained.
- Starfighters are very expensive to operate and maintain compared to capital ships.
- Starfighters require special-grade fuel cells, which require twice the refined radioactives that a normal capital ship fuel cell needs.
- Most Rebel Starfighter bases are located in out-of-the way locations, neccisating long, fuel-draining trips to the combat area.
- Rebel Starfighter operations force an immense strain onto Imperial transport effectiveness, forcing them to travel in slow, heavily defended convoys rather than the most efficient method of navigation.
