The B-Wing was designed to take on the Imperial capital ships. This meant that its weapons had the punch of the capital ships, but at a fraction of the cost.
It was designed by Ackbar, a mere commander in those days, with the aid of the inhabitants from the Verpine Slayn and Korpil colonies. The engineers from these colonies were considered some of the best in the galaxy. The fighter itself is basically flat in design with a cockpit at the end. This appearance is deceptive, as two airfoils fold out from the midpoint during combat. The cockpit has a gyro-stabilisation system that means the ship rotates around the cockpit. This system has the advantage of reducing stresses from quick manoeuvres, but it does tend to lock the wings into position, making it incredibly hard to perform manoeuvres without straining the spaceframe.
The B-Wing has a lot of firepower at its disposal, with each secondary wing having one ion cannon, and a third one in a fixed position at the base of the main wing. The laser cannon is mounted at the end of the main wing, along with an emission-type proton torpedo launcher. A second torpedo launcher is situated just above the engines, which are placed just above the folding airfoils. Auto-blasters are placed at the nose of the cockpit, although these are sometimes replaced with three ion cannons. This means that laser cannons are positioned at the end of the main wing and on each airfoil.
The ion cannons and proton torpedoes can be linked to give the pilot maximum firepower against a target, or they can be split to attack multiple targets. This is thanks to the B-Wing’s advanced targeting system, which also allows the pilot to fire a low-power shot to tag an enemy ship. This is useful as it provides the pilot with all the information needed to track the target, but it also gives the B-Wing’s position away.
The fighter is powered by a single Quadex Kyromaster engine, along with four thrust nozzles which are individually adjusted. Four Slayn & Korpil JZ-5g7 power converters, along with a Vinop 02 K ionisation reactor, feed the engine.
The B-Wing’s Class Two unit hyperdrive gives it a speed half as fast compared to X-Wings and A-Wings. It does have a fairly good sublight capability, and its navigation computer, which most other Rebel starfighters lack, can store two sets of jump co-ordinates.