TIE Avenger

In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the TIE Avenger was the production model based on Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1 prototype. It made its first appearance in Star Wars: TIE Fighter''.

Appearance and capabilities
Oddly, however, while Darth Vader's craft resembles a single pod TIE Bomber, the TIE Avenger's wings and body are very similar to the TIE Defender, although the Avenger features the traditional bi-wing configuration instead of the revolutionary tri-wing of the Defender. The finished TIE Avenger featured Novaldex shields and an extended twin ion engine propulsion system. It also featured a hyperdrive, enabling it to operate independently of capital ships. A SFS I-s3a ionization reactor powered the fighter, and twin P-sx7.4 ion engines propelled it through space. It featured four wingtip-mounted L-s9.3 laser cannons, and could be outfitted with a pair of warhead launchers which could accommodate concussion missiles or proton torpedoes. In the TIE Fighter game, the Avenger could also carry a tractor beam which enabled it to snare enemy fighters. New Republic pilot slang christened these fighters "brights" due to their great speed.

Use of TIE Avenger
The TIE Avenger was a very competent starfighter, capable of meeting most any opponent on even ground and providing an overmatch for the majority of enemy starfighters in service. The most notable use of the Avenger was during the computer game TIE Fighter, when loyalist Imperial forces made heavy use of the Avengers against the traitorous Grand Admiral Zaarin's TIE Defender-equipped forces. Even though the TIE Defender was (slightly) superior in performance and had more weapons, the loyalist Imperial forces were better led. The Avenger's main advantage in the games was that it has a smaller profile than the Defender; enabling it to dodge defensive firepower from capital ships more easily. However, the Avenger had half the shield strength and warhead load of the Defender and the lack of ion cannons makes the Avenger far less flexible for tasks outside of dogfighting. For instance, it is unable to participate in capture or boarding missions unless there is an accompanying craft with ion cannons. Also, many players have taken advantage of ion cannons to disable shield-less capital ships to make them easy targets, something the Avenger cannot do.

Most notable among the pilots that flew the Avenger was General Maarek Stele, one of the Empire's legendary top aces. The TIE Avenger was Steele's fighter of choice, even while flying against the superior performance of the TIE Defenders. Steele was eventually transferred to the elite 181st Imperial Fighter Group, and was last reported to have been patrolling the borders of Imperial space just prior to the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. While the Imperial 181st was equipped with TIE Defenders, it seems that General Steele was able to retain his TIE Avenger.

Star Wars flight simulators
In the game Star Wars: TIE Fighter, the TIE Avenger was officially called the TIE Advanced and was operated exclusively by the Avenger squadron, so ingame designations were "TIE/Ad: Avenger n". Some fans advocated changing the name of the craft to TIE Avenger to avoid confusion with Darth Vader's personal craft, also known as the TIE Advanced although Vader's ship did not make an appearance in the game.

In Tour of Duty Four, the TIE Avenger was said to have been developed from Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1, which was one of the first shielded and hyperdrive-capable TIEs, although the similarities are not apparent since the x1 more resembles the TIE Bomber. During that campaign, Admiral Zaarin fought off the Rebellion to acquire the special hyperdrive that would fit in the Avenger. Shortly afterwards, Admiral Harkov received several squadrons of the Avenger while he ended the Sepan Civil War (Tour of Duty 2), but he defected to the Rebellion afterwards. Zaarin had likely designed the Defender to trump the rebel-affiliated Avengers, although his real intention was to use them to overthrow the Emperor.

In Defender of the Empire, Tour of Duty Eight, the TIE Avenger production facilities in the Omar System were destroyed by the trecherous Admiral Zaarin, despite the best efforts of the loyalists Admiral Thrawn and pilot Maarek Stele. This is one reason why TIE Avenger deployment was not widespread, even less so than the Defender. (It was also very costly, only exceeded by its successor, the TIE Defender.)

Like its TIE Defender cousin, the TIE Avenger was toned down considerably in X-Wing Alliance, particularly its speed and agility. Nonetheless, both craft were still superior to regular Imperial TIEs and rebel starfighters alike; despite their reduced total shield strength, they still had faster-recharging shields.

Development and uptake
The Avenger was initially developed by Sienar Fleet Systems as an intended replacement for the rapidly aging TIE/In starfighter, but the Avenger's cost did not endear it to the Empire's massive bureacracy. When a rival SFS design team unveiled the TIE interceptor earlier before the Avenger's hyperdrive was finished, the Navy was quick to take note of the Interceptor's similar performance and greatly decreased pricetag and the TIE Avenger never saw widespread deployment. Where the TIE Interceptor was more numerous than the Avenger, so too was the TIE Defender more capable and versatile. (The Avenger also saw even less service than the Defender because of the destruction of Avenger factories in the Omar system.) Consequently, the TIE Avenger became the middle child of Imperial starfighter development, never achieving the notoriety of either of its closest relatives.

External link

 * TIE avenger at Star Wars Databank