Starfighters: Life Support, Ejection Seats, and Shields
Posted: 2005-06-13 11:23am
As we all know, RotS starts out with a battle raging above Coruscant. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are flying Eta starfighters through the conflict while wearing nothing more than a hands-free comm set and their Jedi robes.
When they contact another squadron for help, this one of ARC-170s, the (presumably clone) pilots of this squadron are all wearing full flight suits, similar to the TIE pilots of the OT.
As I recall, when the torpedo that releases the buzz droids hits Kenobi's fighter, we don't see a shield interaction with the buzz droids. Nor do we see such an interaction when Anakin uses his starfighter to smash the buzz droids--though having only seen the movie once, I might simply be failing to remember Anakin and Obi-Wan turning their shields off at some point or saying their shields had failed.
This situation suggests a couple of things. First, the Eta and Delta starfighters lack ejection seats--it would, after all, fairly defeat the purpose of an ejection seat for the pilot to not wear any sort of life-support gear or a flight suit. Second, these starfighters might also lack shields. Lastly, the Eta or Delta classes have "open-air" life support systems where the cockpit is maintained at an environment appropriate to the pilot.
The ARC-170s and the Clone pilots on the other hand seem to be a different situation. The Clone pilots--and once again, I'm basing this off a single viewing of the movie and could be wrong--wore full flight suits and have (judging by the two Clonetroopers on Mustafar and the fact we know the suits provide NBC protection) built-in life support systems. Perhaps the ARC-170s have a life-support "plug-in" to extend whatever built-in systems the Clonetroopers have. The ARC-170s are, of course, somewhat larger than the Jedi Starfighters and are not seemingly designed for the 'interceptor' role.
I don't recall if the ARC-170s have shields, nor do I recall seeing a Clone pilot ejecting from a damaged starfighter, but that is a minor issue.
The "Jedi Starfighters" serve to demonstrate an interesting point: shielded or unshielded, the Jedi do not feel that they need to be concerned with either minor damage to the ship resulting in a hull breech or with a need to eject from their starfighters.
This lack of concern suggests that either Jedi overconfidence is so pronounced that they don't consider it likely or even possible that they'll be defeated in starfighter combat--possible, given what we know of PT Jedi--or, that the Jedi feel that an ejection seat and the necessitated "sealed" life support system would be pointless.
This makes a certain amount of sense; with the sort of energies being flung around in Star Wars space battles, the amount of debris from exploding starfighters and damaged capital ships, and radiation from energy weapons, torpedos, and damaged vessels, ejecting from a damaged ship may well be suicidal--the chances of not being hit by fast-moving fragments of a destroyed starfighter, not being cooked by a near-brush with a turbolaser bolt, not being simply run over by another starfighter, or managing to avoid some other grisly demise after ejection may be so vanishingly small that for the most part fighter designers--and pilots--feel that an ejection seat is a waste of time and mass.
Alternately, starfighter designers feel that the Jedi crashing their starfighters into enemy-held territory (such as the hangar bay of a Separatist command ship) and having to leap out and start cutting people down with lightsabers is a common-enough occurence that it would be unacceptable to inhibit the Jedi with having to unplug themselves from a life-support system prior to leaping out of the starfighter. Personally, I find this explanation unlikely.
We know from the OT that starfighter grade shields are fairly weak--other starfighters can punch through them fairly easily, game mechanics aside. The shields protect against flak bursts from light turbolasers, and probably against debris or other small FOD concerns. However, they won't stop multiple direct hits from even starfighter grade weapons, much less light turbolasers.
Further, it has been suggested that TIE fighters (generally) lack shields and ejection seats, but the pilots are provided with a "sealed" life support suit system. Rebel starfighters, on the other hand, have shielding, "open-air" life support systems, and ejection capability (which seems a ridiculous combination with the "open-air" life support system!).
It is my contention that, given the evidence from the PT that even Jedi starfighters--and, surely, Jedi would rate the best fighters available and the designers would want to make the ships as survivable as possible without reducing performance--(possibly) lack shields, favor the "open-air" life support system, and (probably) lack ejection seats, these systems are considered frivolous or even detrimental in PT starfighter combat.
Thus, it brings into question the EU assertion that the Empire considers its pilots disposable, while the Rebel Alliance/New Republic/GFFA values its pilots sufficiently to spend funds on "superior" fighters with shields and ejection seats.
Point 1: Jedi in the PT don't consider flight suits, shields, or ejection seats worthwhile in their starfighters; at least, not as worthwhile as manueverability and speed.
Point 2: Rebel Starfighters have shields that provide minimal protection, ejection seats, and favor an "open-air" life support system and a "magnetic containment" bubble that will keep the pilot alive outside his starfighter for at least a short period of time.
Point 3: Imperial TIE fighters only mount shields for certain situations (such as flying through a debris field left by the Death Star), and Imperial pilots are equipped with a sealed life-support system and a full flight suit. Further, Imperial starfighters supposedly lack ejection seats, which seems incongruous given the superior protection the flight suits and life support systems provide their pilots.
My conclusion from the data assembled from the PT and OT starfighter combat scenes, and the information discussed in this post, is that starfighter-grade shielding is considered primarily useful as a means of preventing FOD damage. I am led to this conclusion by the fact that the Rebel and New Republic starfighters, which mount shields, feel that their pilots don't need sealed life support suits when in their craft--and thus don't feel it likely that the ship will be damaged enough to render the "open-air" life support system useless without destroying the ship outright.
The Jedi, perhaps due to their precog and superior reflexes, in the PT feel that despite the (apparent) lack of shields on their starfighters, FOD to the rather large cockpit window of their starfighters is not a major concern, and thus don't feel it is important to wear even the basic flight suits of the Rebel Alliance.
Imperial TIE pilots, and Clone pilots from the PT, on the other hand, seem to favor a 'sealed' suit system. This suggests that FOD damage, at least to the cockpit window, is a serious concern; perhaps that's the only part of the fighter that is fragile enough to be concerned with a hit from small space debris--anything that is big and fast-moving enough to damage the rest of the starfighter is going to tear it apart anyway. I specifically state FOD damage because, presumably, a direct hit to the cockpit window from a starfighter or ship-grade laser weapon is going to leave the fighter's pilot with more serious concerns than whether or not his ship is open to space.
Thus, it is suggested that the Empire, far from looking at its pilots as easily-replaced and disposable as the EU suggests, is simply pragmatic enough to realize that spending funds on ejection seats and shields for all of its starfighters is a waste of resources, and it is better--both from an accounting viewpoint and for the survivability of the pilots--to simply equip the pilots with a sealed suit system and the most agile, hard-to-hit starfighters possible.
The Rebel Alliance/New Republic/GFFA on the other hand seems to consider equipping its longer-ranged fighters with "open-air" life support, shields, and ejection systems a worthwhile investment. I suggest this is due to the different roles of their starfighters; Rebel fighters are supposed to operate away from base for extended periods, and the "sealed" flight suits may be sufficiently uncomfortable in the long-term that the Rebels feel performance would be degraded if the pilots had to wear them for several hours at a time. It also seems that it is felt the ship's shields provide sufficient protection that FOD to the cockpit is unlikely, and thus, air leaks are not a major concern. Finally, the ejection seat may well be as much a gesture towards pilot morale and a way to say "Look, we CARE about our people, the Emperor doesn't!" as it is a practical feature.
When they contact another squadron for help, this one of ARC-170s, the (presumably clone) pilots of this squadron are all wearing full flight suits, similar to the TIE pilots of the OT.
As I recall, when the torpedo that releases the buzz droids hits Kenobi's fighter, we don't see a shield interaction with the buzz droids. Nor do we see such an interaction when Anakin uses his starfighter to smash the buzz droids--though having only seen the movie once, I might simply be failing to remember Anakin and Obi-Wan turning their shields off at some point or saying their shields had failed.
This situation suggests a couple of things. First, the Eta and Delta starfighters lack ejection seats--it would, after all, fairly defeat the purpose of an ejection seat for the pilot to not wear any sort of life-support gear or a flight suit. Second, these starfighters might also lack shields. Lastly, the Eta or Delta classes have "open-air" life support systems where the cockpit is maintained at an environment appropriate to the pilot.
The ARC-170s and the Clone pilots on the other hand seem to be a different situation. The Clone pilots--and once again, I'm basing this off a single viewing of the movie and could be wrong--wore full flight suits and have (judging by the two Clonetroopers on Mustafar and the fact we know the suits provide NBC protection) built-in life support systems. Perhaps the ARC-170s have a life-support "plug-in" to extend whatever built-in systems the Clonetroopers have. The ARC-170s are, of course, somewhat larger than the Jedi Starfighters and are not seemingly designed for the 'interceptor' role.
I don't recall if the ARC-170s have shields, nor do I recall seeing a Clone pilot ejecting from a damaged starfighter, but that is a minor issue.
The "Jedi Starfighters" serve to demonstrate an interesting point: shielded or unshielded, the Jedi do not feel that they need to be concerned with either minor damage to the ship resulting in a hull breech or with a need to eject from their starfighters.
This lack of concern suggests that either Jedi overconfidence is so pronounced that they don't consider it likely or even possible that they'll be defeated in starfighter combat--possible, given what we know of PT Jedi--or, that the Jedi feel that an ejection seat and the necessitated "sealed" life support system would be pointless.
This makes a certain amount of sense; with the sort of energies being flung around in Star Wars space battles, the amount of debris from exploding starfighters and damaged capital ships, and radiation from energy weapons, torpedos, and damaged vessels, ejecting from a damaged ship may well be suicidal--the chances of not being hit by fast-moving fragments of a destroyed starfighter, not being cooked by a near-brush with a turbolaser bolt, not being simply run over by another starfighter, or managing to avoid some other grisly demise after ejection may be so vanishingly small that for the most part fighter designers--and pilots--feel that an ejection seat is a waste of time and mass.
Alternately, starfighter designers feel that the Jedi crashing their starfighters into enemy-held territory (such as the hangar bay of a Separatist command ship) and having to leap out and start cutting people down with lightsabers is a common-enough occurence that it would be unacceptable to inhibit the Jedi with having to unplug themselves from a life-support system prior to leaping out of the starfighter. Personally, I find this explanation unlikely.
We know from the OT that starfighter grade shields are fairly weak--other starfighters can punch through them fairly easily, game mechanics aside. The shields protect against flak bursts from light turbolasers, and probably against debris or other small FOD concerns. However, they won't stop multiple direct hits from even starfighter grade weapons, much less light turbolasers.
Further, it has been suggested that TIE fighters (generally) lack shields and ejection seats, but the pilots are provided with a "sealed" life support suit system. Rebel starfighters, on the other hand, have shielding, "open-air" life support systems, and ejection capability (which seems a ridiculous combination with the "open-air" life support system!).
It is my contention that, given the evidence from the PT that even Jedi starfighters--and, surely, Jedi would rate the best fighters available and the designers would want to make the ships as survivable as possible without reducing performance--(possibly) lack shields, favor the "open-air" life support system, and (probably) lack ejection seats, these systems are considered frivolous or even detrimental in PT starfighter combat.
Thus, it brings into question the EU assertion that the Empire considers its pilots disposable, while the Rebel Alliance/New Republic/GFFA values its pilots sufficiently to spend funds on "superior" fighters with shields and ejection seats.
Point 1: Jedi in the PT don't consider flight suits, shields, or ejection seats worthwhile in their starfighters; at least, not as worthwhile as manueverability and speed.
Point 2: Rebel Starfighters have shields that provide minimal protection, ejection seats, and favor an "open-air" life support system and a "magnetic containment" bubble that will keep the pilot alive outside his starfighter for at least a short period of time.
Point 3: Imperial TIE fighters only mount shields for certain situations (such as flying through a debris field left by the Death Star), and Imperial pilots are equipped with a sealed life-support system and a full flight suit. Further, Imperial starfighters supposedly lack ejection seats, which seems incongruous given the superior protection the flight suits and life support systems provide their pilots.
My conclusion from the data assembled from the PT and OT starfighter combat scenes, and the information discussed in this post, is that starfighter-grade shielding is considered primarily useful as a means of preventing FOD damage. I am led to this conclusion by the fact that the Rebel and New Republic starfighters, which mount shields, feel that their pilots don't need sealed life support suits when in their craft--and thus don't feel it likely that the ship will be damaged enough to render the "open-air" life support system useless without destroying the ship outright.
The Jedi, perhaps due to their precog and superior reflexes, in the PT feel that despite the (apparent) lack of shields on their starfighters, FOD to the rather large cockpit window of their starfighters is not a major concern, and thus don't feel it is important to wear even the basic flight suits of the Rebel Alliance.
Imperial TIE pilots, and Clone pilots from the PT, on the other hand, seem to favor a 'sealed' suit system. This suggests that FOD damage, at least to the cockpit window, is a serious concern; perhaps that's the only part of the fighter that is fragile enough to be concerned with a hit from small space debris--anything that is big and fast-moving enough to damage the rest of the starfighter is going to tear it apart anyway. I specifically state FOD damage because, presumably, a direct hit to the cockpit window from a starfighter or ship-grade laser weapon is going to leave the fighter's pilot with more serious concerns than whether or not his ship is open to space.
Thus, it is suggested that the Empire, far from looking at its pilots as easily-replaced and disposable as the EU suggests, is simply pragmatic enough to realize that spending funds on ejection seats and shields for all of its starfighters is a waste of resources, and it is better--both from an accounting viewpoint and for the survivability of the pilots--to simply equip the pilots with a sealed suit system and the most agile, hard-to-hit starfighters possible.
The Rebel Alliance/New Republic/GFFA on the other hand seems to consider equipping its longer-ranged fighters with "open-air" life support, shields, and ejection systems a worthwhile investment. I suggest this is due to the different roles of their starfighters; Rebel fighters are supposed to operate away from base for extended periods, and the "sealed" flight suits may be sufficiently uncomfortable in the long-term that the Rebels feel performance would be degraded if the pilots had to wear them for several hours at a time. It also seems that it is felt the ship's shields provide sufficient protection that FOD to the cockpit is unlikely, and thus, air leaks are not a major concern. Finally, the ejection seat may well be as much a gesture towards pilot morale and a way to say "Look, we CARE about our people, the Emperor doesn't!" as it is a practical feature.