A / SF - 01 B - wing starfighter The A / SF - 01 B - wing starfighter , also designated as the A / SF - 01 B - wing assault starfighter , more commonly referred to as the B - wing , was a heavily armed Rebel Alliance single - pilot starfighter and bomber manufactured by Slayn & Korpil . The B - wing saw action during the Galactic Civil War and was subsequently substituted by the B - wing Mark II . Characteristics . The A / SF - 01 B - wing starfighter , manufactured by Slayn & Korpil , was 16 . 9 meter s long . The B - wing was a relatively poor dogfighter , but it was primarily designed as a " blockade buster " to attack and destroy large capital ship s . As such , it was equipped with weaponry and systems normally reserved for much larger craft . The primary airfoil took up the length of the hull , with the cylindrical cockpit at one end and a weapons pod at the other end , and an engine cluster in between . Two S - foils just below the engine on either side of the main airfoil could be extended to deploy twin laser cannon s . It held a total of four laser cannon s , and was also armed with proton torpedo es , ion cannon s , and bombs . The B - wing also had a unique gyroscopic control system that could keep the rotating cockpit module level with a horizon no matter how the body of the craft was positioned . The starfighter was equipped with a Class - 2 hyperdrive and had four engines capable of reaching 950 km / h in atmosphere . The cockpit had a tactical display for the pilot as well as a targeting computer . The avionics packages were on par with those used by small capital ships . Advanced targeting systems allowed pilots to synchronize attacks across multiple B - wing fighters . The prototype starfighter , B6 , built by the Mon Calamari Quarrie featured a composite - beam laser weapon that could inflict heavy damage upon cruiser - class targets , but its range was short , and use interfered with the hyperdrive . The B6 also had a second gunner ' s cockpit at the opposite end of the main airfoil . Neither of these features were included with later production models , where the primary weaponry focus shifted to missile s . History . The first B - wing prototype , the Prototype B6 Blade Wing , was developed by Quarrie , a Mon Calamari engineer on the planet Shantipole , as part of Project Shantipole . Several of the B - wing ' s distinctive features , such as the gyro - stabilized cockpit and S - foils , originated from Clone Wars era starship s such as the T - 6 shuttle and the V - 19 Torrent starfighter . After being won over by the spirit and piloting skill of Hera Syndulla , Quarrie awarded the prototype — and his services in improving it — to the rebellion . Sabine Wren volunteered to redesign the starfighter ' s weapons package , including its targeting system . Following a successful test strike against the Galactic Empire , Bail Organa , a senator sympathetic to the rebellion , found a manufacturer that agreed to further develop the B - wing in secret . The production - line A / SF - 01 B - wing starfighter was produced by Slayn & Korpil . Although Quarrie described the B6 prototype as " fast " and " agile " , the production versions were anything but . Despite eliminating the heavy gunner position , associated life support systems , and composite - beam laser , the production version of the B - wing was much slower and more ponderous than the other fighters in the Alliance Fleet and the Imperial Navy . It also turned out to be tricky to fly , as the gyro - stabilized cockpit design was awkward to work with for all but the most skilled pilots . The B - wing was imagined as a potential replacement for the Y - wing fighter in its role as an assault fighter . The B - wing was primarily intended to carry a heavy weapons package with the purpose of destroying capital ships , though they proved difficult to maintain and fared poorly in dogfights . These weaknesses led to the Y - wing serving in the Alliance Fleet as late as the Battle of Jakku . The B - wing , however , turned out to be an excellent bomber and assault starfighter , provided that it was provided with enough cover from more maneuverable spacecraft . Despite its weaknesses , it could gain ship - to - ship combat victories in desperate situations , and one Blade Squadron pilot earned three kills in quick succession before being shot down himself in the Battle of Endor . B - wings participated in the Battle of Endor as part of the Rebel Alliance fleet . Several B - wings followed General Lando Calrissian to attack the second Death Star , but broke off when they realized that the shield was still up . Blade Squadron also participated in the battle , destroying the Star Destroyer " Devastator " . Behind the scenes . The B - wing fighter was originally designed by Joe Johnston and Bill George for " " . The craft derives its name from the fact that the crew labeled the two new Rebel Alliance starfighter models in " Return of the Jedi " as " A fighter " and " B fighter " . Bill George had so much input into the starship ' s development , that his colleagues nicknamed it the " Bill - Wing Fighter " . Years later in " Star Wars " Legends the name " Blade wing " was devised as an in - universe nickname , which was canon ized by the " Star Wars Rebels " production team . The craft ' s unusually thin shape was problematic for blue - screen photography , because the model tended to blend into the star field . As a consequence , some planned sequences with the B - wing were cut from the original release of " Return of the Jedi " , and the B - wing is not shown in action during the Battle of Endor in the film . In fact , after the ships fly away from the still - active Death Star II shield at the start of the battle , the B - wing is hardly seen at all . The rotating cockpit design of the B - wing was based on early concept art for the " Millennium Falcon " . In Star Wars Legends continuity , the B - wing was said to have been designed and produced by the Rebel Alliance after the Battle of Yavin , partly as an in - universe explanation as to why the B - wing and A - wing fighters created for " Return of the Jedi " did not participate in the attack on the first Death Star . However , in the new Star Wars canon , both B - wings and A - wings are featured in material taking place well before the Battle of Yavin and have been given earlier origins . The production team for the " Star Wars Rebels " television series , which has featured both ships , explained that the intention is to depict different rebel cells using different fighters in different parts of the galaxy . The A - wings and B - wing appear as the primary star fighters of the Phoenix Squadron in " Rebels " , while the rebel cell led by Jan Dodonna and portrayed in used primarily X - wings and Y - wings . The Battle of Endor , intended to show the first time the entire Rebel Alliance comes together , therefore includes both sets of ships .