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TIE Defender

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an advanced form of TIE Fighter developed in secrecy by the Imperial Navy, the TIE Defender was produced as a response to the success of the Alliance's starfighter pilots. This 10-meter starfighter, known as the TIE/D, took the stability and agility of the TIE Interceptor's bent-wing design and added a third bent-wing to it. Note that The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels indicates that the TIE Defender measured just 6.6 meters in length. Not much was known about the TIE/D, as it was never fully accepted in battle and never mass-produced. It was thought to have had a maximum speed of 155 MGLT, with 4 L-s9.3 laser cannons, 2 NK-3 ion cannons, 2 M-g-2 warhead launchers, 200 SBD shields, and a 20 RU hull. The fighter was propelled by the newer P-sz9.7 twin ion engines from Sienar Fleet Systems, which gave the ship atmospheric speeds of 1,680 kilometers per hour, and was equipped with Novaldex shield generators. The TIE Defender was used to defeat Admiral Zaarin, although the missions were so secret that very few Imperial officials were unaware of its role. The TIE Defender was produced at a cost of over 300,000 credits per fighter, about five times the cost of a TIE/ln. This, plus the political upheaval created by the Battle of Endor and the fact that it had an aft blindspot created by the wing placement, led to the demise of the TIE Defender as a widely-accepted starfighter. Its only known deployment during the Galactic Civil War was as part of Onyx Squadron during the Battle of Endor, but the TIE Defender design was later adopted by the Imperial Remnant as one of its primary starfighters.