Post by Marcus Starkiller on Jul 23, 2005 14:58:02 GMT -5
After the Hoth fiasco the Rebel Military determined the need for a high powered fighter for use against ground targets. Unable to develop or build a ground attack specify craft the B-Wing was chosen to convert due it's innate volume of fire and maneuverability. Unfortunately the B-Wings were in short supply and deemed unavailable for the conversion to a ground attack version. After reviewing the Rebel fleets inventory the Incom X-Wing was chosen to modify.
Due to the possibility of massive firepower being directed at it the X-Wing received additional armor and shielding. The long missing engine covers were replaced and armored to further reduce the chance of an engine being taken out by hostile fire. The engineers also wanted to replace the vulnerable astromech droid with a built-in unit, or to at least place itin an armored enclosure. This was turned down by the pilots who wanted the versatility of the astromech so the engineers simply up-armored the droids.
Weapons were the next concern, the X-Wing needing weapons able to punch through the armor and shielding of the Empires AT-AT's. The proton torpedoes where removed & replaced with smaller, rapid fire concussion missiles for use against troops. The Talm & Bak KX9 Laser Cannons were replaced with much heavier Gyrhil XP-70 Laser Cannons whose combined output was near that of a capital class ship's turbo-laser. The trade off was a lower rate of fire and shorter range.
The atmospheric maneuverability of the X-Wing was never the best and the addition of the heavier weapons and armor didn't help so the engineers added air-brakes much like those on the Snow Speeder to enhance the turning of the T-65g.
Only a single wing of X-WIngs were converted before the Battle of Endor. Blue Flight was the first wing in taking out the turbolaser towers surrounding the portal that the Millennium Falcon flew down.
Due to the possibility of massive firepower being directed at it the X-Wing received additional armor and shielding. The long missing engine covers were replaced and armored to further reduce the chance of an engine being taken out by hostile fire. The engineers also wanted to replace the vulnerable astromech droid with a built-in unit, or to at least place itin an armored enclosure. This was turned down by the pilots who wanted the versatility of the astromech so the engineers simply up-armored the droids.
Weapons were the next concern, the X-Wing needing weapons able to punch through the armor and shielding of the Empires AT-AT's. The proton torpedoes where removed & replaced with smaller, rapid fire concussion missiles for use against troops. The Talm & Bak KX9 Laser Cannons were replaced with much heavier Gyrhil XP-70 Laser Cannons whose combined output was near that of a capital class ship's turbo-laser. The trade off was a lower rate of fire and shorter range.
The atmospheric maneuverability of the X-Wing was never the best and the addition of the heavier weapons and armor didn't help so the engineers added air-brakes much like those on the Snow Speeder to enhance the turning of the T-65g.
Only a single wing of X-WIngs were converted before the Battle of Endor. Blue Flight was the first wing in taking out the turbolaser towers surrounding the portal that the Millennium Falcon flew down.