Lancer - class frigate / Legends The " Lancer " - class frigate was a capital ship used for anti - starfighter operations in the Imperial Navy . Description . The " Lancer " - class was a frigate design armed with 20 AG - 2G quad laser cannons , with at least some of these guns capable of being retracted into the main hull of the vessel . The " Lancer " was propelled by four drive engines and had a hangar bay area on its ventral side , where it could dock two shuttles . In addition , the " Lancer " has a docking port located on the top of its bow . The ship ' s bridge was located in the middle of the bow area , below a similar - looking computer / sensor control room . History . Development and usage . An early type of " Lancer " - class frigate saw its initial deployment a few months after the end of the Clone Wars . Imperial starships had long focused on ship - to - ship combat capabilities , relegating smaller capital ships to planetary defense rather than picket duty . As Rebel Alliance pilots learned to exploit the major weaknesses of Star Destroyers , commonly called " Trench Run Disease " , Imperial officers grew increasingly concerned over the growing relative effectiveness of these heavily - armed and shielded starfighters . After the first Death Star ' s destruction at the Battle of Yavin by a handful of Alliance starfighters , the need for greater starfighter defense was clear . Admiral Ilon Drez proposed using the KDY " Lancer " - class ships to screen enemy starfighters to allow dominant Star Destroyers to pummel enemies in ship - to - ship combat . This was then approved by the Imperial Naval Command . The final iteration of the craft ran a slim 250 meters with twenty quad laser cannon batteries designed specifically for starfighter hunting . However , this came at cost of having no capital grade weaponry or shielding , leaving the ships vulnerable to other capital ships . The ship was also quite slow , allowing many fighters to simply outrun it . With a high build cost and requiring a relatively large crew of over 800 , the Imperial Starfleet found the " Lancer " - class too expensive for full fleet deployment . A few frigates made it into various fleets , but most admirals preferred to use , and subsequently lose , their TIE starfighters as anti - starfighter options . As a result , most " Lancer " - class frigates , like smaller ships before them , were assigned to planetary defense and rear guard operations along with interdiction and anti - piracy patrols in the Outer Rim Territories . Imperial Remnant and beyond . It was not until the emergence of Grand Admiral Thrawn in 9 ABY that " Lancer " - class frigates were put to good use . Thrawn used the frigates in raiding missions against key New Republic worlds , where they used their laser cannons to slice through the New Republic ’ s starfighter - based planetary defenses . As the remnants of the Empire collapsed and the New Republic defeated the remaining aggressive warlords , a number of " Lancer " - class frigates were captured by the New Republic Defense Fleet . While the Defense Fleet incorporated some into planetary defense fleets , most were decommissioned , although the design principles of the " Lancer " - class were revisited when the New Republic developed the " Ranger " - class gunship . Moruth Doole used two " Lancers " to defend Kessel . During the Yuuzhan Vong War , the New Republic recommissioned many " Lancer " - class frigates for use against coralskippers .