Starfighter
This article is about the class of fictional vehicles. For other uses see Starfighter (disambiguation)"
Starfighter" is a
science fiction term used to describe relatively small, maneuverable manned
spacecraft designed for military combat (cf
starship). Strictly speaking, the term "starfighter" only applies to those that can independently perform intersystem travel; "spacefighter" would be a more appropriate title for those that cannot. In the
Star Wars Universe, a Starfighter is a blanket term for all small combat space craft, regardless of Shields, Hyperspace capability, Weaponry (Unless it carries none), Armour, Maneuverability and Crew. "Snubfighter", though no concise definition has been given, refers to a fighter carrying Shielding, secondary weapons systems such as Proton Torpedoes or Concussion Missiles, and being hyperspace capable.
The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on
fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual
physics of
space travel. The
starfuries in the television series
Babylon 5 and vipers in the re-make of
Battlestar Galactica are notable exceptions in at least the attempt to make a more realistic fighter for space combat.
Starfighters are popular as the subjects of
flight simulator-like space combat
video games, such as the "
Wing Commander" and "
X-Wing" series. This connection is made explicitly in the 1984 film
The Last Starfighter in which a video game on Earth is used as a recruiting device for an alien civilization whose starfighters require the same skills as the video game.
The following are some examples of starfighters from various
media franchises:
*
The Earth Alliance (
Starfury fighters)
**
SA-23E Aurora**
SB-30A Badger**
SA-32A Thunderbolt*
The Minbari Federation**Minbari Fighter
*
The Twelve Colonies**
Colonial Viper (the Viper mk II and Viper mk VII of the
2003 miniseries were modified to maneuver more effectively in space)
**
Colonial Blackbird (
2004 series)
*
The Cylons**
Cylon Raider**
Cylon Raider II (
2003 miniseries)
**
Cylon Heavy Raider (
2004 series)
*
The Earth Defense Directorate**Star Fighter (2-person capacity in tandem configuration, four person capacity in side-by-side configuration)
**Star Fighter mk II (a tandem-seated Star Fighter with two extra stabilizer fins, used in the second season)
*
The Draconian Empire**Draconian Marauder
*
U.N. Spacy**
VF-1 Valkyrie**
VF-3000 Crusader**
VF-4 Lightning III**
VF-5000**
VF-6**
VF-9 Cutlass**
VF-11 Thunderbolt**
VF-14 Vampire**
VF-17 Nightmare**
YF-19 and VF-19 Excalibur**
YF-21 Omega One**
VF-22 Sturmvogel II*
The Barota**
Fz-109 Elgerzorene*
The Zentradi**
Fighter Pod**
Variable Device**
Variable Glaug*
Robotech Armed Forces (
Veritech fighters)
**
VF-1 Valkyrie**
VFB-5 Condor**
VFA-6 Alpha**
VFB-9 Beta*
Army of the Southern Cross (
Veritech fighters)
**
Sylphid**
VF-8 Logan**
VFH-10 Veritech AGAC Fighter/Helicopter
*
Zentraedi**
Fighter Pod*
The United States Marine Corps**SA-43 Hammerhead Endo/Exo-Atmospheric Attack Jet
*The
Protoss**
Corsair**
Scout*The
Terran Confederacy**
Wraith*
Tau'ri/Earth (
USAF fighters)
**
X-301**
X-302, later put into production as the
F-302*The
Goa'uld**
Death glider*The
Wraith**
Wraith dart*
Galactic Republic**
ARC-170 starfighter**
V-19 Torrent starfighter**
Jedi starfighter**
Advanced Jedi starfighter*
Rebel Alliance/New Republic**
A-wing**
B-wing**
E-wing**
X-wing**
Y-wing**
Z-95 Headhunter*
Galactic Empire**
Assault Gunboat**
Missile Gunboat**
TIE Fighter**
TIE Interceptor**
TIE Advanced**
TIE Defender*
Confederacy of Independent Systems**
Droid starfighter**
Geonosian starfighter**
Tri-Droid Fighter*
Yuuzhan Vong**
Coralskipper**
Yorik-Vec**
Grutchin*
Ssi-Ruuk**
Swarm-class Battle DroidOther Properties
*
Andromeda** RF-42 Centaur Tactical Fighter (Slipfighter)
*
Farscape**The
Peacekeeper Prowler*
The Last Starfighter**Star League Gunstar (first major movie to use CGI for space battle sequences)
*
Gradius**The
Vic Viper*
Xevious**The
Solvalou fighter
*
Starship*
Starship class*
Spacecraft
