Republic - class Star Destroyer The " Republic " - class Star Destroyer was Walex Blissex ' s follow - up design to his " Victory " - class Star Destroyer . Characteristics . The " Republic " - class Star Destroyer was manufactured by Rendili StarDrive for the New Republic . It was advertised as a Rendili design owing to its architect , the former Rendili designer Walex Blissex . However , this was more of a political move designed to draw Rendili away from the Galactic Empire , and the ship ' s bulbous , organic - like shape spoke of significant influence from the Mon Calamari Shipyards . The " Republic " - class was smaller than the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer , designed by Blissex ' s daughter Lira , but was a much more efficient design . Although the " Republic " - class was only half the cost of an " Imperial " - class and required one - fifth the crew size , it boasted 20 percent more firepower than an " Imperial I " - class vessel . However , it was still outmatched by the " Imperial II " - class Star Destroyer and the various Super Star Destroyers . Armament consisted of 40 heavy turbolaser batteries , 40 heavy turbolaser cannons , 20 ion cannons , and 10 tractor beam projectors . The " Republic " - class was also equipped with a Class 2 hyperdrive , the same as was found on the " Imperial " - class . The " Republic " - class was only 1 , 250 meters long , significantly smaller than the 1 , 600 - meter - long " Imperial " - class . Because the smaller ship retained a similar level of weaponry , it had to sacrifice cargo space and endurance . The " Republic " - class held enough consumables to operate without resupply for 2 years , compared to 2 years for the " Imperial I " - class and 6 years for the " Imperial II " - class . Only a single regiment of 3 , 200 ground troops could be carried aboard , as well as a single standard New Republic wing of 72 fighters . " Republic " - class ships usually carried long - range starfighters , rather than short - range fighters such as Defender and K - wing starfighters . History . The " Republic " - class was one of the early warship models developed for the New Republic ' s standardization programs . Hampered by a resurgence in fighting due to the Thrawn campaign in 9 ABY and the return of Emperor Palpatine the following year , production on the " Republic " - class and other vessels was eventually restarted at a smaller level and the new ships were dispersed throughout the fleet . The " Republic " - class Star Destroyer was not incorporated into the New Class Modernization Program , which chose instead to develop its largest ships from Republic Engineering Corporation ' s " Nebula " - class Star Destroyer hull - design . Despite this , by the time of the Black Fleet Crisis , the New Republic had managed to build a considerable number of " Republic " s . Behind the scenes . The first official image of the " Republic " - class Star Destroyer is found in " Cracken ' s Threat Dossier " . The ship has many round features , a striking deviation from standard Star Destroyer designs . A subsequent depiction in " " confirmed this design . In Part 12 of Jason Fry ' s endnotes for " The Essential Guide to Warfare " , Paul Urquhart considered mentioning in the book that the " Republic " - class Star Destroyer and the MC80B Star Cruiser were intended to be the same ship under different names , but it was ultimately cut from the final version .