A B-Wing fighter is relatively slow, but can hold many missiles, and it has strong shields and hull. It also has 3 ion cannons, which are useful for disabling enemy ships of interest.

When dogfighting is expected, the B-Wing is usually supported with X-Wings and/or A-Wings.

B-wings are heavy attack fighters, analogous in role to the Imperial Assault Gunboat (not in the films, I'll grant you, but I'm trying to give people a frame of reference. Ever play TIE fighter? Well why not??). They are only lopsided in their folded position. When their S-foils are open, they look completely different, rather like a cross with a blob on the top and a fat pile of engines. For a good picture, see http://starreacher99.tripod.com/picture/B-wing.html.

The B-wing name stands for blade wing (not bomber wing as often thought), referring to its dagger-like appearance. It was commissioned by the rebel alliance to combat the introduction of Nebulon-B frigates by the Empire. The Alliance at this time had no medium cruisers, could not spare the Mon Calimari cruisers from their more pressing front-line duties. Thus a heavy strike fighter, armed with both lasers and ion cannons, as well as a heavy warhead loadout, was designed. However, less favourable to the B-wing is its low speed (comparable to a Y-wing) and its low manouverability. On the other hand, its high levels of shielding and strong hull offset this disadvantage.

The Slayn & Korpil B-51 Heavy Assault Bomber, also called the B-Wing, was designed by Admiral Ackbar (then a Commander) and a group of Verpine to replace the Y-Wing as the standard Rebel Alliance bomber craft. B-Wings are still slow like the Y-Wing, but with their 3 laser cannons, 3 ion cannons and a payload of up to sixteen Proton torpedoes, B-Wings are a bigger threat to capital ships then the almost outmoded Y-Wing. In a dogfight, B-Wings do not excel as they are generally slow and not very agile, so they are usually supported by smaller, lighter fighter craft such as the X-Wing. The B-Wing was given its name through the somewhat misguided belief that when you draw imaginary lines linking the cockpit and the tip of each S-Foil (when the B-Wing is in attack position) you get two back to back angular Bs (It does not stand for bomber wing or blade wing). If this is the naming system for rebel fighter craft then it should have been called a kite wing because that is the only thing that anyone with some small modicum of sense could see that this is the only shape formed when drawing such imaginary lines.

Stats

Designers: Slayn & Korpil

Model: B-51

Type: Heavy Assault Starfighter

Length: 16.9 m

Width: 2.9 m

Height: 2.5 m (7.3 m w/ S-Foils in Attack Position)

Cargo Capacity: 45 kg

Power System: Slayn & Korpil JZ-5g7 Power Converter

Propulsion: 4 Slayn & Korpil JZ-5 Fusial Thrust (290 KTU)

Hyperdrive: Class 2 Slayn & Korpil HYd-997 Hyperdrive Motivator Unit

Top Atmospheric Speed: 950 kph

Top Sublight Speed: 91 MGLT

Acceleration: 16 MGLT/s

Astrogation: Microaxial LpM-549 Computer System

Flight Control System: Narmox HG.6w Flight Control Avionics Package

Maneuverability: 70 DPF

Sensor Array: Fabritech ANv-9q w/ Long Range PTDA #PH-5s & Short Range PTAG #PK-8f

Targeting System: Fabritech ANq 3.6 Tracking Computer & IN-344-B "Sightline" Imaging System

Armament: 3 Gyrhil R-9X Laser Cannon, 3 ArMek SW-7a Ion

Cannons, 2 Krupex MG-9 Proton Torpedo Launchers (8 Torpedoes each)

Shield Rating: 100 SBD (Chempat Shields)

Hull Rating: 60 RU (Titanium Reinforced Alloy Hull)

Crew: 1 Pilot

Used By: Rebel Alliance