Star Wars: A Starfighter Back in Action After 31 Years – The TIE Avenger Breakdown
The TIE Avenger returns for Andor Season 2—but what exactly was it? How might it have changed the course of the galaxy? Let’s find out.
Of all the ships in the Empire’s fleets, the TIE Avenger, or as it was officially designated, the TIE/ad Space Superiority Fighter, was perhaps the most impressive. At least where starfighters were concerned. It was the culmination of the TIE design. It was the pinnacle of Sienar Fleet Systems’ starfighter division.
Perhaps, related, it was the first non-prototype starfighter design to focus on quality over quantity. And did it ever deliver on quality – it could outfly any other ship on either side of the Galactic Civil War. But it wasn’t just faster and more maneuverable than anything else the Imperial or Rebels had to offer; it packed a significant arsenal as well.
At least that was the role it once played, back in the days of Legends. Now, after 31 years, the TIE Avenger is set to return in season 2 of Andor. A new shirt, of all things, heralds its return.
Over on Reddit, someone translated the Aurebesh and it reads TIE Avenger, which seems to confirm that it is, in fact, an Avenger that Cassien Andor has found in the season 2 trailer. While we don’t know what it’ll be capable of in the new canon, we can imagine a lot from how it was in Legends.
TIE Avenger – Design and Capabilities
The TIE Avenger was designed first and foremost as a space superiority fighter. This meant it was intended to take on a variety of targets, including both other starfighters and larger ships like corvettes and frieghters, even the occasional capital ship. To accomplish this, the TIE Avenger had many tools its sister ships lacked.
Perhaps most notably—to pilots—both deflector shields and life support. A suite of Novaldex deflector shield generators gave the Avenger increased survivability over its counterparts. Coupled with an agile hull with a smaller silhouette, the TIE Avenger was surprisingly resilient.
The SFS I-s3a solar ionization reactor combined with the advanced P-sx7.4 Twin Ion Engines gave it a top speed of 1,300 km/h. And the onboard ND9 hyperdrive let it accelerate to hyperspeeds of 133 MGLT—outpacing the X-Wing (and even the A-Wing) in sublight and hyperspace travel.
What About Weapons?
As for weapons, well, Sienar Fleet Systems heard you liked weapons, so they put some weapons on your weapons. No really though. A single TIE Avenger carried a surprising amount of firepower. Its workhorse weapons were a set of quad-linked L-s9.3 laser cannons.
These cannons were more powerful than other TIE laser cannons – a single burst was often enough to break through heavy armor and even dense asteroids. Meaning it was hard to lose one in an asteroid field.
For harder targets there was a pair of M-g-2 warhead launchers. These could deploy a wide variety of warheads, including 8 concussion missles, 6 advanced proton torpedos, 4 heavy rockets, and 2 heavy space bombs.
But what makes them really mean is what pilots called “the beam weapon” – an onboard, short-burst, high-power tractor beam. TIE Avenger pilots were known for using them in dogfights. A quick blast could hold an enemy fighter in the Avenger’s forward firing arc for just long enough to fire off a quad-linked burst, or to fire off a warhead without needing missile lock. Even the advanced proton torpedos (which were notoriously slow in comparison) could land a hit on a starfighter with the tractor beam in play.
A Storied History – In Legends at Least
While the Avenger’s career and role in certain battles is apocryphal—soon we’ll get an idea of what it was capable of. But back in the Legends days, these were developed following the form of Darth Vader’s personal TIE fighter. Sienar Fleet Systems continued the design at the behest of one Admiral Zaarin, who pioneered the inclusion of a revolutionary new hyperdrive model as well as the advanced reactors.
With Zaarin’s zeal, the TIE Avenger was pushed to its limits. To the point that, when Darth Vader saw the demonstration of the prototype model, he immediately authorized its production. But while the Avenger was an elite fighter, it also came with an elite cost.
And the Empire hated spending money more than anything else. So despite having a craft that could turn around the war, the Imperial Bureaucracy only ever authorized a limited number. Wherever the Avengers were deployed, they performed admirably.
By the time enough admirals had raised the desire for more Avengers, Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin turned traitor—and one of his first campaigns was to destroy the TIE Avenger production plants. So even once production was ready, the TIE Avenger never really took off. Not long after, the Battle of Endor brought the Empire to its knees.
Of course, that’s the old canon – can’t wait to see what they have in store for the NEW canon!
