ST TIE Fighters in the ST

I originally thought it was the back of the ship too (with a back firing turret), but there's like one frame where the TIE is lit up by it's green lasers where you can make out more details. it looks to be a slightly different design of TIE, with a horizontal shaped viewport/window. I believe it to be the front of the craft.

 

Keep in mind this may or may not be anything official, but doesn't it look like there's a small bump/pod on the bottom of these TIEs? (Source)

 

Yes, good call...those TIEs have turrets on the bottom, I guess??

 

Or some kind of sensor/targeting antenna/array?

 

The turrets would make Ties a little more of a threat, though it seems like it'd be easy to blast your own wings off. Though that's a very imperial thing to do, throw recruits into a vehicle they're likely to get themselves killed.

 

I wouldn't worry about blasting their own wings off. Aircraft turrets have been designed to prevent firing at your own plane since WW2. Even if you can point a gun turret at your own tail, cutout systems are installed to stop your guns from firing until they're pointed in a direction that is safe (for the user!).

 

Interesting about the T.I.E. "wings" being white with black spokes - very First Order. It's as if they want you to see them.

 

Yeah. Thought the same thing.

I love the new TIEs. They look awesome.

 

You beat me to the punch, Sarge! Here's Wikipedia's page on the synchronization gear, which is what I thought of first when Loupgarou mentioned the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronization_gear

 

Two-man TIEs, with the gunner viewport in the back between the T.I.E. engine exhausts, and another giveaway is the big 'gear' structures where the panel wings connect to the central supports. (We know from Rebels you can squeeze even 3 people into a TIE, so it's possible)

 

That would fit rumors of Finn and Poe traveling together in one. Of course this goes against the design philosophy of the TIE fighter, but perhaps SFS/The Empire/First Order decided that adding a gunner was worth the additional weight/cost (makes sense to me). Then again, if TIEs really were as efficient as they were supposed to be, they should've flown circles around X-wings, not been roughly equivalent in dogfights...

The reference to Rebels points out another discrepancy between the new material and the old. Look at the difference in size/scale of the ship compared to the pilot.

OT:

Spoiler

Rebels:

Spoiler

 

My guess is that the Incredible Cross Sections writer just wasn't aware how big TIEs really are compared to X-wings.

That TIE's length - from front to back - is 6.3m. The figure in the Databank is 8.99m. This figure is also consistent with the models in X-wing Miniatures (at the end of the rulebook, they discuss how they went right back to the movie models - and were quite surprised at the difference).

The Rebels TIEs probably have cockpits, at least, consistent with the new discovery - even if the panels are quite a bit smaller.

 

I have no doubt that you're/they're correct. However, the Incredible Cross Sections drawing makes MUCH more sense to me considering the original design philosophy of the TIE. All that open space above and to the sides of the pilot seems like a waste. It is apparent that all of this has been thrown out the window in recent years, though, considering it has now been bestowed with repulsorlifts in both Rebels and TFA, just to name another feature that would've been scorned if you were truly trying to economize/maximize performance/eliminate independence...

 

Repulsorlifts are portrayed as incredibly energy efficient though - just the thing for moving around in atmosphere, with the thrusters for steering.

 

The original design philosophy of the TIE is pretty much EU anyway, and is long gone. TIEs, as already noted, weren't generally 'superior' to X-wings in combat situations despite the background stories about 'em. Now we know they do have life support, and are roomier which would allow for modding by the First Order to knock out the blind spot to the rear of the craft...no shields means they're more vulnerable, so having a rear gunner could be a great help. There may be a reason these seem to be special TIEs only, not the standard-issue ones. For all we know, they might have shields, too! One thing I'd love to see with ships in the ST is better representation of deflector shields... as fragile as the TIEs were supposed to be, Rebel ships in the OT were pretty much just as fragile (aside from a couple, like Luke's X-wing...I still don't know how a TIE following him managed to hit the front of his engine )

 

Given that Rebels: The Visual Guide says they don't have life support- I would suggest that all they are, is airtight - with that one scene in Season One being explainable by "just enough oxygen in the cockpit to get them from freighter to Star Destroyer."

 

I agree. Although you heard pilots mention shields, they didn't seem to do a whole lot in the OT. Seems like you should've seen a shot or two hit the invisible barrier and arc across its projected surface before giving way and follow-up shots damage the ship itself. Like you said, especially in the Battle of Yavin, TIEs carved up Rebel starfighters as if they had no shields at all!

 

A few of us have mulled this over before. It really does appear to be a two-seater. The front view port is the same as that of the classic TIE. The rear view port is a narrow rectangle. See the still from the film for the rear and the poster for the front. Both show the same type of TIE. Pretty sure the gunner operates the turret beneath the cockpit.

 

For some reason this talk about a pilot and (rear) gunner has me thinking about MarioKart: Double Dash!

 

I can just imagine a couple of First Order TIE crew climbing in:

"How are you feeling?"
"Right now I feel like I could take on the whole Resistance by myself."
"I know what you mean."

 

That might work, but then there'd be a question of whether the Inquisitor's TIE had life support... and, perhaps more importantly, whether his helmet & armor somehow had an oxygen supply, since he took off his helmet while chasing the Ghost in space in one ep. If there's only a limited supply of air, then had Fulcrum's forces not shown up, the Specters would've been even more screwed. No hyperdrive, no life support, and nowhere really to go but hostile territory defended by a swarm of enemy fighters.

 

Sounds like the TIE fighters were built by the same scale-challenged contractors who built the Klingon birds-of-prey.

 

Ok, you're very right about that. But even without the danger aspect, that's a lot of space lost. You essentially have the ability to fire forward or backward moreso than the usual versatility of a turret. That's still a pretty big deal though, plus are these turrets in conjunction with the usual armament? If so, firing both forward for 4 blasts concentrated together is a scary proposition.

 

Yep, gives a sorta-regular TIE the output of a TIE Interceptor, in a more compact grouping.

 

Woa awkwardly inadvertedly racist..ouch