More sets of rooms aboard the ship were built than seen in the final film; several "serial-type escapades" were cut from the final release. At 752 m (2,467 ft) long, these assault ships are unlike many other Star Wars vessels of similar size in that they can land directly on a planet's surface, carrying up to 16,000 clone troopers and their vehicles directly into battle. A small number of these battleships were further modified as Droid Control Ships and featured additional communications and computer systems to operate the Trade Federation's droid armies; destroying a Droid Control Ship would disable all droids under its command.[63][55]. [47] According to Star Wars reference material, these assault ships were built by Rothana Heavy Engineering to serve as the Republic's primary troop transport at the start of the Clone Wars, with a secondary offensive role in space battles. [48][49], Republic attack cruisers, formally known as Venator-class Star Destroyers, made their first theatrical appearance in the opening space battle of Revenge of the Sith and have appeared throughout the Star Wars franchise. Den of Geek [44] Star Wars lore refers to these vessels as Sheathipede-class transport shuttles built by the insect-like Charrian species, especially popular with the Neimoidians but used by many worlds associated with the Separatist cause.

Both the Endar Spire and Harbinger are key ships in the games, tied to the ongoing war between the Republic and the Sith. The Falcon spans much of the film saga, and if you delve into the Expanded Universe, it has quite the history of names, paint jobs, and owners. [7] According to in-universe sources, the primary mission for Sentinel-class craft is deploying Imperial military forces from orbit onto a planet, though it can be used for other missions including short-range scouting, cargo transport and close air support. These ships had to be small, because of the way they operated.

George Lucas had a personal hand in the design of the ship, including the addition of the raised spire in which Obi-Wan, Anakin and Count Dooku have their duel. At 1,088 m (3,570 ft) long, the Invisible Hand can unleash tremendous damage with fourteen quad turbolaser cannons, two heavy ion cannons, thirty-four dual laser cannons, twelve point-defense ion cannons, and one hundred proton torpedo launchers. A starship, often referred to as simply a ship, was a manned vehicle used for traveling in realspace or hyperspace. Corellian smuggler Dash Rendar is clearly supposed to be a stand-in for Han Solo while he’s still frozen in carbonite in the Shadows of the Empire multimedia event from the 90s. The raised spire also helped differentiate the command ship from the other capital ships over Coruscant. [85] After it is destroyed in Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, it is replaced with the Raven's Claw. ), the Falcon rightfully became one of the standout icons of the Sequel Trilogy, too. The Star Wars universe is not just about lightsabers. Jedi knights Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) travel aboard the Radiant VII on their mission to end the Trade Federation's blockade of the planet Naboo. Calculations to travel at light speed were left up to a navigation computer or astromech droid.A common sublight drive was the ion engine, which had a high power-t… Classics like the Death Star (how foreboding and menacing is that beast?) Yes, even the prequels had the occasional cool ship. Because it serves as Admiral Ackbar's command and control center, it is also known as the Headquarters Frigate. Check out the top 10 coolest Star Wars spaceships in this handy five-minute video: Ad. After docking with the Federation's Droid Control Ship, the Radiant VII is destroyed to prevent the Jedi from escaping. To reduce the amount of CGI work on the film and get more realistic footage of the ship under natural lighting, a larger ten-foot model was also created for filming scenes of the ship when landed. Once the floor plans were approved, they were constructed as both CG and actual rooms, with multiple large-scale sets for the actors to perform in. They are used by the Rebel Alliance in many different roles: scout ships, tugs, transports, and even battleships. The Interdictor changed the way the Rebel fleet had to think about their movements. [14][15], Following the completion of filming, Lucas decided to revisit the end of the movie to better establish the characters' final locations, requiring a section of the frigate to be built that corresponded to the scale of the 2-foot (0.61 m) Millennium Falcon model. These ships, originally called "Jedi troop transports", demonstrate a connection to the original trilogy's Star Destroyers through their triangular hulls. [82][83], A pre-Imperial patrol gunship owned and piloted by the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin in the Disney+ web-series "The Mandalorian". [53], Consular-class Republic Cruisers like the Radiant VII are "instantly recognizable throughout the galaxy" according to the Star Wars Databank. Speaking of unique, one of the most unusual-looking starfighters in Star Wars doesn’t appear in the movies at all. Its main upper sensor tower houses an observation platform which provides commanders an unobstructed view of battle.[32][33]. Often used as bombers, Y-wings were in service during the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War. Armed with four double-barrel turbolaser batteries and four quad laser turrets, Arquitens-class ships can absorb a surprising amount of damage thanks to their armored hulls and layers of energy shielding.
In addition to a dorsal twin laser cannon turret and ventral heavy laser cannon turret, these 63.8 m (209 ft)-long ships can carry four TIE fighters via extendable docking clamps.

The Chiss Clawcraft that appeared in the Expanded Universe looked like it sounded—swept-forward struts gave it the appearance of clawed hands partially closed, all stemming from a spherical cockpit.
As a troop transport it can carry 54 stormtroopers into battle, or carry vehicles via cargo pod installed on its underside. [79] A YT-2400 light freighter also appeared within the Star Wars Rebels Season 3 episode Iron Squadron. Their distinctive tuning fork shape instantly evokes the war against the Empire. Instead of carrying fuel, the sailer deploys a 100 m (330 ft) wide sail which collects interstellar energy and channels it directly to the engines. Much like the Republic assault ships, the two have similar hulls, bridges, engines, and many other parts. But the downside is the cockpit being placed on the right side makes it extremely hard to pilot correctly. It is somewhat similar to the private Antonov An-2 plane in real life. It’s like a first car Kaz fixed up all by himself: not the most beautiful or reliable of ships, but full of character. Their armament includes twelve quad turbolaser turrets, twenty-four laser cannons and four missile launchers. An early design depicted the ship powered by a solar sail; when Lucas called for a sleeker look, designer Doug Chiang drew inspiration from 1950s hood ornaments. [27], According to Star Wars canon sources, the solar sailer is a luxurious yacht commissioned by Dooku from his allies on Geonosis prior to the outbreak of the Clone Wars. The original TIE fighters from A New Hope were white in color, while the ones in Empire and Jedi were a bit grayer, with blue-ish hues. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!