Within the New Republic’s arsenal of fighter craft, there are no atmospheric fighters. But the V-Wing has put an end to this. Developed by the Verpine Slayn and Korpil colonies, famed for their magnificent B-Wing fighter, the V-Wing has more than proved its worth in over a dozen battles. The most important of these was the Battle of Mon Calamari, where the speeders showed how useful they were when they devastated the ranks of the Empire’s TIE/D fighters.
Although the New Republic already had an airspeeder in the form of the famous T-47 snowspeeders, they could not gain much height during flight. This was rectified by the V-Wing, which can achieve a maximum altitude of one hundred kilometres. The craft have a speed of 1,000 kilometres per hour when using their ion afterburners and repulsorlift engines, but this is increased to 1,400 kilometres per hour when the scramjet booster is utilised. The Chab-Ylwoum scramjet booster uses the air that is forced into it by the ship’s streamlined surface. The scramjet is normally only used to outrun enemies, or get to a site faster. If used during sudden manoeuvres, like those executed during a battle, the scramjet is more likely to tear the V-Wing apart than anything else.
The V-Wings are best used either defending against incoming fighters, or in surprise raids, where their speed is highly advantageous. They are also put into use supporting artillery and ground troops, and this tactic proved very worthwhile during the Battle of Mon Calamari. Since they are airspeeders, V-Wings are normally deployed to planetary bases, but they can also be placed aboard capital starships. When they are on board, they are taken to combat zones by Slayn & Korpil speeder transports. These carry either four or six airpseeders, and need starfighter escorts since they are unarmed. The V-Wings are transported on the outside, and so the pilots go through retractable docking tubes to enter their craft. They enter the craft once the transports enter the upper atmosphere, whereupon the transports release the airspeeders and return immediately to base to take on more V-Wings if necessary. This system means that V-Wings are very cheap to deploy, and so are favoured by many in the New Republic.
The main drawback of the V-Wings is their weaponry. They have only one double laser cannon, which has a range of two kilometres. It s powerful enough to take out most fighters, but is ineffective against heavily-armoured vehicles. Although they may be fast, V-Wings are susceptible to fire from walkers and other fighters. Normally just one direct hit is enough to kill the pilot, who does not even have time to use the ejection system.