Larger ships also had a bridge, the command center. Larger vessels, like the Super Star Destroyers, were crewed by thousands of personnel, who were responsible for ongoing maintenance and operations. Larger ships also acted as carriers, transporting dozens or hundreds of fighters for combat operations.Ī small, single-person fighter, such as the X-wing starfighter, could be flown by one pilot, with the help of an astromech droid. Some were equipped with deflector shields, countering the effects of laser weaponry, thus protecting the ship from attack and asteroid impacts. Armament Ĭertain vessels were armed with laser cannons, turbolaser emplacements, or missile launchers. Repulsorlift drives were also used to assist in flight within gravity wells. Ships employed a repulsorlift drive during takeoffs from and landings on a planet. Calculations to travel at light speed were left up to a navigation computer or astromech droid.Ī common sublight drive was the ion engine, which had a high power-to-weight ratio, and was used in Imperial TIE fighters and Star Destroyers. Plotting a course to a star system was a highly complex operation. Starships used sublight drives to leave a planet's gravity well and the hyperdrive to travel between stars faster than light speed. Interstellar flight became possible with the invention of the dual-drive system.
