Assault Gunboat
The Assault Gunboat, is a heavy starfighter used by the Galactic Empire in the Star Wars EU.
Specifications
Officially the Xg-1 Starwing, the Assault Gunboat 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.
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 missiles 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 Imperial 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 than was usual for the starfighter-wary Imperial Navy.