The evolution of the X-Wing as seen on Lego sets.
You may have the Lego Sets, but do you know how they relate to the most advanced starfighter in Star Wars history?
Ever since Episode IV, when the “good guy” destroys the Death Star, we can’t but fall in love with the ship he’s flying. And how couldn’t you? It’s slick, slim, and has S-foils. What else can we ask for?
But how is it that the Rebel Alliance ends up with such a superior ship? It all starts with two companies, Incom Corporation and Subpro collaborating with their first starfighter for the Clone Army…
Clone Z-95 Headhunter Starfighter
Based on the design of the original Z95 that boasted 4 engines like the X-Wing would later include, Incom and Subpro developed a more maneuverable and agile version for the Clone Army with only two engines.
It was equipped with torpedo launchers, wing-mounted laser cannons and even shielding, but it lacked a hyperdrive so it needed to be launched from Venator-class Attack Cruisers.
But probably the most interesting feature for this ship was that it featured a navigation system that mimicked the ones from other ships, and this proved to be very valuable while cross-training clone pilots.
Aggressive ReConnaissance (ARC) 170 Starfighter
Deployed into the battlefield almost at the same time as the Z95 starfighter, the ARC-170 was a different type of beast. It was larger than other starfighters, rugged and was able to perform long, independent operations.
It was slower but it compensated with superior weaponry: Proton Torpedoes, large wing-mounted laser cannons and tail guns. Was also crewed by three clone troopers: pilot, forward gunner and tail gunner.
Was probably one of the first starfighters to include S-foils like the X-Wing and as many of Incom/Subpro’s ships, they also included similar controls.
T-16 Skyhopper
Let’s sidetrack for a moment here and leave the starfighters aside. The T-16 now is an airspeeder and according to Canon, “it was popular and high performance, and thus providing many youths with their first flight training”.
And this is important because our very own hero Luke Skywalker owned one of these, which proved pretty handy later when he found himself flying an X-Wing and realizing “Hey! These controls look like my T-16”. You guessed right, the T-16 was also built by Incom.
Which leads us directly to…
T-65B X-Wing Starfighter
Used mainly by the Rebels to regain control of the Republic from the Galactic Empire, this ship built by Incom was superior in almost every aspect to the mass-produced TIE Fighter.
Featuring every good design decision from previous starfighters, we can count: single-seat aided by an astromech droid, laser cannons placed at the tip of every wing, two proton torpedo launchers, four engines instead of two, full sensor array placed on the nose cone, adjustable shield generator and projector, and a long-rage hyperdrive.
The rest is history.
E-Wing Escort Starfighter
This starfighter was envisioned and developed by Freitek Inc., the first to be designed entirely under the support of the New Republic. It was intended if not to exceed, at least match the performance of the T65 X-Wing.
However, problems when first deployed including laser cannons malfunction and issues with the new R7 astromech droids, prevented further adoption by pilots who chose to fly upgraded versions of the X-Wing.
LEGO released the Jek-14’s Stealth Starfighter which was a customised E-Wing Escort, created for The Yoda Chronicles. I included it here because it was the only ship produced by Freitek Inc. until they joined forces with Incom and…
T-70 X-Wing Starfighter
The natural child of the marriage between Incom and Freitek Inc., the newly formed company Incom-Freitek developed a worthy successor: the T-70 X-Wing, developed and mass-produced for the New Republic. However, owing to the Military Disarmament Act and rampant corruption, continued production of the ship declined.
One of the most famous T-70 X-Wings is known as Black One, piloted by Poe Dameron, from which he leads both Blue and Red Squadrons, and aided in the destruction of the Starkiller base.
The T-70 model was replaced by yet another version of the X-Wing, the newer T-85 W-Wing Starfighter, but we'll have to be patience to know a bit more about that one.
The evolution of the X-Wing, polybag version.
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