Question about Star Wars fighters

[Tsukiyumi]

...When I catch myself being to serious about it, then I just remind myself that it's a Greek tragedy with lasers and starships.

Don't forget the influences of Sergio Leone and Akira Kurasawa. Hell, at this point, all stories are based on other, precedent works in some way or another.

[Bryan Moore]

Ok, time to get back on topic...
Why do some fighters (X-wing, Y-wing, Naboo and Jedi fighters) have droids and others (A-wing, B-wing) do not?

The A-Wing was designed as an interceptor and has a navicomputer that can store a set amount of jump points (one of the functions of an astromech), presumably the droid was left out due to space requirements. Ditto for the B-Wing, there's not alot of usable space on that thing.

And weren't the X and Y wing both older designs? One can assume the computers in the A and B wings would have been advanced enough to not need the astromech.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Indeed they were, Bryan.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Ok, time to get back on topic...
Why do some fighters (X-wing, Y-wing, Naboo and Jedi fighters) have droids and others (A-wing, B-wing) do not?

The A-Wing was designed as an interceptor and has a navicomputer that can store a set amount of jump points (one of the functions of an astromech), presumably the droid was left out due to space requirements. Ditto for the B-Wing, there's not alot of usable space on that thing.

And weren't the X and Y wing both older designs? One can assume the computers in the A and B wings would have been advanced enough to not need the astromech.

Well the A-wings were built using off-the-shelf parts due to being underfunded during the original development phase, but the B-Wings would probably benefit from an astromech due to the complexities of the craft

[Aaron]

And weren't the X and Y wing both older designs? One can assume the computers in the A and B wings would have been advanced enough to not need the astromech.

The Y-Wing dates back to around the Clone Wars. The X-Wing from what I know is a recent design but an evolution of the ARC-170 and Z-95.


Wookiepedia has this unsourced claim on the A-Wing. Take it for what you will.

The combination of hand assembly, use of second-hand components, the number of complex systems packed into the starfighter's small frame, and a general lack of quality control made A-wings notorious for their high maintenance to flight ratio-the second worst in the Alliance fleet in 3 ABY.[source?]

I don't see anything specific on the navicomputer/astromech issue.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I think I read that in one of the X-wing novels, Kendall. Yeah... very sure, actually. Bacta War, maybe.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

From Wookieepedia's article about Walex Blissex, the guy who designed the A-Wing:

He approached Blissex, and together they developed the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor. Though Mon Mothma was initially skeptical, she gave in to the now-popular Dodonna, and the craft was developed.[7] For research, Blissex and Dodonna examined the sleek ships of the Tammuz-an space navy, such as the R-22 Spearhead.[8] Mothma, however, refused to adequately fund the project, forcing Blissex to get the maximum output for the lowest amount of input. Putting his skills to good use, Blissex was able to successfully assemble the RZ-1, using components so common that they could be found anywhere in the galaxy, without sacrificing any performance whatsoever.[7]

the 7 source is the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook and 8 is from the Star Wars Databank's A-wing article.

I think I read that in one of the X-wing novels, Kendall. Yeah... very sure, actually. Bacta War, maybe.

It mentioned that the original A-Wings were hand built and that Incom was going to produce a Mark II A-Wing with the ability to rotate the lasers a full 180 degrees rather then the original 60 degrees.