Assault Gunboat

The Assault Gunboat, officially the Xg-1 Starwing, is a strike starfighter built by Cygnus Spaceworks in use by the Imperial Navy. The fighter is built by the same manufacturer of the venerable Lambda-class shuttle and it shows. The shape of the ship's wings and hull look very similar. The fighter is equipped with a Class 12 Hyperdrive and moderately powerful deflector shield system. The folding wing design of the ship means that it can operate from any capital ship with a shuttle craft hanger. It is powered by a sublight engine that gives a speed between that of an Y-wing and and X-wing making it very dangerous in the hands of a experienced pilot.

Specifications

The Assault Gunboat is a moderately heavy starfighter. It is armed with two ion cannons and two medium blasters as well as two concussion missile tubes. The missile tubes have a fairly large capacity, 20 or 10 proton torpedos total, making it a powerful strike fighter in combat.

Deployment

Usually deployed with 5 units per Imperial Star Destroyer, the Assault Gunboat is the first starfighter equipped with a Deflector Shield and a Hyperdrive. This meant that it tended to bear the brunt of any hit and fade or remote strike missions unescorted until the deployment of the Tie Avenger. This meant that the ship tended to suffer heavy losses against Rebel interceptors especially the nimble A-wing. Despite this since it was the only Imperial light unit that could perform the missions it did receive a larger deployment then was usual for the starfighter-wary Imperial Navy.