StarDestroyer.Net BBS

The question I'm about to ask popped into my head when i thought about an upcoming piece I'm going to write in my fanfic. It's supposed to be a space battle between a Separatist and a Republic fleet. As per the Starwars standard there will be fighters involved. But that got me thinking.

What's the purpose of the fighters in the New Trilogy?

I mean usually there are fighters and bombers in sci-fi (including the Old Trilogy who had TIE bombers and B-wings) and the fighters exist to ward of the bombers who have the ability to damage capital ships. But are there any bombers in the NT? The droid fighters seem to be purely anti-fighter craft and so do their Republic counterparts.

Is it possible for a Vulture droid to modify it's armarment so it effectively becomes a bomber? Has it been done at some point? They have missiles, though the only ones in the movie were the buzz-droid missiles. But logic says they can carry normal ones if they can carry buzz-droid ones. So mounting a heavier missile/torpedo/bomb on them could be possible.

So the question then is, has there been any explanation of this in a EU source? Or perhaps there is something I've missed in the movies themselves? Perhaps there is some form of craft not present in the movies that would function as a bomber?

l33telboi wrote:The question I'm about to ask popped into my head when i thought about an upcoming piece I'm going to write in my fanfic. It's supposed to be a space battle between a Separatist and a Republic fleet. As per the Starwars standard there will be fighters involved. But that got me thinking.

What's the purpose of the fighters in the New Trilogy?

I mean usually there are fighters and bombers in sci-fi (including the Old Trilogy who had TIE bombers and B-wings) and the fighters exist to ward of the bombers who have the ability to damage capital ships. But are there any bombers in the NT? The droid fighters seem to be purely anti-fighter craft and so do their Republic counterparts.

Is it possible for a Vulture droid to modify it's armarment so it effectively becomes a bomber? Has it been done at some point? They have missiles, though the only ones in the movie were the buzz-droid missiles. But logic says they can carry normal ones if they can carry buzz-droid ones. So mounting a heavier missile/torpedo/bomb on them could be possible.

So the question then is, has there been any explanation of this in a EU source? Or perhaps there is something I've missed in the movies themselves? Perhaps there is some form of craft not present in the movies that would function as a bomber?

RotS:ICS pg. 6 states the ARC-170 carries 6 torps and has a larger cousin called the NTB-630 which is a dedicated bomber.

Wanderer wrote: RotS:ICS pg. 6 states the ARC-170 carries 6 torps and has a larger cousin called the NTB-630 which is a dedicated bomber.

What about the separatist fighters? Does is say if they carry torpedoes? Oh and on a sidenote, how much of an effect would a torpeado have against a capital ship? How many would it take to bring one down? Ten? Fifty? A hundred?

l33telboi wrote:

Wanderer wrote: RotS:ICS pg. 6 states the ARC-170 carries 6 torps and has a larger cousin called the NTB-630 which is a dedicated bomber.

What about the separatist fighters? Does is say if they carry torpedoes? Oh and on a sidenote, how much of an effect would a torpeado have against a capital ship? How many would it take to bring one down? Ten? Fifty? A hundred?

Can't help you there, but others might have the info.

l33telboi wrote:

Wanderer wrote: RotS:ICS pg. 6 states the ARC-170 carries 6 torps and has a larger cousin called the NTB-630 which is a dedicated bomber.

What about the separatist fighters? Does is say if they carry torpedoes? Oh and on a sidenote, how much of an effect would a torpeado have against a capital ship? How many would it take to bring one down? Ten? Fifty? A hundred?

The only way you're going to hurt a capital ship is with giant torpedoes. If you used the megaton range that fighters are armed with you'd need at least thousands.

That's why in ROTJ fighters are only used with capital ship support to strike pin point targets and in TPM they are useless on their own.

Vulture droids, in addition to the hardpoints for wing-missiles, also pack a proton torpedo launcher in the nose.

One use for fighters against capital ships is shown in LoE, when Anakin torpedoes a picket ship that is being bombarded by long-range fire from the Republic fleet. The torpedo, added to the punishment the ship was already taking, collapsed the shields long enough for the turbolaser fire to destroy it on the next hit.

That's what fighters do against capital ships...look for opportunities. They are also legitimate threats, in sufficient numbers, to frigates and smaller ships.

Thanks for the info, the role of the fighters in Starwars cap ship battles has become alot more clear.

For the droids, in the game "Battle for Naboo" the Trade Federation uses droid bombers

FedRebel wrote:For the droids, in the game "Battle for Naboo" the Trade Federation uses droid bombers

Similar droids appear in the Galactic Battlegrounds series as well, IIRC. I don't recall them being mentioned again, but it does indicate that the CIS had them at their disposal, and probably did use them.

Every computer game for a period of several years designed their own droid bomber for the Trade Federation. Battle for Naboo, Starfighter/Jedi Starfighter, and Galactic Battlegrounds all show different craft in the same role. There are now quite a few "droid bombers" in canon.

In addition, Battlefront II had Grievous' starfighter as a playable ship called the "CIS Strike Bomber." According to the RotS: ICS, this ship has no bomb bay, torpedo launcher, or external hardpoints: just laser cannons. Since Battlefront II mangled so many other starships, I think it's usually ignored.

(Although it's worth pointing out that in the case of the Actis Interceptor, the ICS is in conflict with a few sources. The cannons marked as "ion cannons" there consistently behave like laser cannons in RotS. Also, LoE claims that the ship has torpedoes and shields, explicitly, in conflict with the ICS. But while the craft may have shields, I'm damned if I can figure out where it's keeping a torpedo magazine.)