Star Wars: The Five Best New Republic Starfighters
Let’s take a look at the best fighters flown with these New Republic starfighters.
Starfighters, or snubfighters, are a huge part of Star Wars. Many of their models are iconic parts of Star Wars lore, and a massive part of the movies, shows, comics, books, and games revolve around fighters and fighter combat.
We’ve already taken a look at the best TIE fighters, the backbone of the Imperial Fighter Corps, and some of the most iconic bad guy ships in sci-fi history. We’ve also looked at the best of the ships flown by their opponents, the brave freedom fighters (or vile terrorists) of the Rebel Alliance.
Today let’s take a look at the best starfighters used by the New Republic. While most of these started off as old EU cannon, they’ve been slowly moving back into cannon, which Ahsoka bringing the E-Wing back.
To avoid just repeating the Rebel list, and because there aren’t a ton of current New Republic-only fighters, today we WILL be looking at EU ships.
5. Z-95 Headhunter
The Z-95 Headhunter is one of the most underrated ships in all of Star Wars. It often gets written off as just a worse version of the X-Wing; it’s slower and has half the lasers and a concussion missile launcher instead of proton torpedoes.
It also lacks an astromech slot, and not all versions have hyperdrives. On the flip side, it does turn tighter and is a lot cheaper than an X-wing. The Z-95 is a nearly ubiquitous ship with many variants and has been used by factions from the Old Republic to Black Sun to the New Republic.
It’s often flown by outlaws and rogues. That means it is the perfect ship to use for undercover missions or for operatives to get on location. Somewhere famously used in the New Republic’s taking of Coruscant (Legends), which is why I’ve included them here.
4. E-wing Escort Starfighter
The E-Wing was introduced as a replacement for the X-wing. It looks sort of similar and has advanced features. While it only has three laser cannons, not four, the E-Wing’s are heavier, it also has increased speed and armor and retains good shields, a hyperdrive, and an astromech slot.
While the E-wing is pretty popular among both fans and in-universe pilots, it never really took off as an X-wing replacement, likely because the X-Wing looks cooler. Its current canon status is iffy (it’s shown in a comic but not discussed), but people still love it. It might just be the most classic New Republic Starfighter.
3. MG-100 StarFortress SF-17
The MG-100 is… ahahaha, who am I kidding, this ship is TRASH.
2. BTL-S8 K-wing Assault Starfighter
Do you like guns? Bombs? Missiles? Turrets? Well, the K-Wing has them all for you. This fighter might just be the ugliest duckling of them all, but it has a place in our hearts.
It’s tough, blocky, and packs the firepower of a small fleet. It’s effectively the A-10 Warthog of Star Wars. The K-Wing has got a quad turbolaster turret, a dual laser cannon turret, and 18 hard points for anything from proton torpedoes to ion bombs (ignore the fact that almost nothing else in Star Wars uses these kinds of hard points).
It’s also got an Enterprise-like detachable cockpit. Gosh, I love this stupid ship!
1. StealthX
The StealthX is what happens when a bunch of Jedi fanboys come together and think up something super OP but also pretty dang cool. This is an X-wing variant made to be used exclusively by Jedi.
Technically, these aren’t used by the New Republic but by the New Jedi Order. However, they flew missions on behalf of the Republic and the Jedi aren’t getting their own list. Also, Wedge did use one once.
The StealthX was designed to be a super stealth fighter, hence the name. To achieve this, it trades armor and some of its shielding for stealth mods. Also, it has limited scanner abilities and can’t use any form of communications device, lest it gives its position away. While this might slow then other pilots, the Jedi can simply communicate through the Force.
In addition, it can’t fire regular proton torpedoes without giving itself away. To deal with that, it uses Shadow Bombs, in effect super overpowered proton torpedoes that have all the propulsion removed for more boom power.
The Jedi pilot simply uses the Force to throw and guide the invisible bomb to its target. These ships are basically invisible superpower fighters flow by super-powered pilots. You don’t stand a chance against them. It truly is one of the best New Republic Starfighters.
Let us know what your favorite New Republic fighter is, down in the comments!
