Droid tri - fighter / Legends The droid tri - fighter , also known as the tri - droid fighter or simply tri - fighter , was a deadly Confederacy droid starfighter designed as a fast , agile and powerful space - superiority starfighter , built to excel in dogfighting . It would be used in large numbers throughout the Clone Wars . Design . The droid tri - fighter was designed by the Colicoid Creation Nest — makers of the deadly droideka — and manufactured by Colla Designs and Phlac - Arphocc Automata Industries . The droid ' s ridged , three - armed design was based on the skull features of a fearsome predator native to the planet Colla IV . The bracing arms surrounded the fighter ' s droid pilot housed in a rotating , gyroscopic core . The droid tri - fighter had three independent thrusters , providing it with great agility , and a powerful reactor and control / communications transceiver that gave the craft unusual range for a fighter drone . It was armed with one heavy laser cannon protruding from the central ball , and a light laser cannon for each of the three arms . They could fire independently or together and could slightly tilt on rails to improve its deadly aim . Two to six missiles of variable payloads were housed within each arm . The nose - like cannon made the droid tri - fighter similar in appearance to the DSD1 dwarf spider droid also used by the Confederacy . The droid tri - fighter was capable of deploying buzz droids via discord missiles fixed to the underside , and quickly became rival to the ARC - 170 starfighter and the Alpha - 3 " Nimbus " - class V - wing starfighter . Although it could not outrun the Eta - 2 " Actis " - class interceptor favored by the Jedi , it was bulkier and more heavily armed , making it a challenge for even the best living starpilots to overcome . History . The droid tri - fighter was introduced into the Confederate Navy relatively late in the conflict , and its usage would further deplete Trade Federation coffers . One of its first recorded uses was on Praesitlyn , where they fought against the T - 19 starfighter s of the Praesitlyn Defense Force . Tri - fighters were also deployed at Sullust , Saleucami , Dathomir and Belderone . It would prove troublesome for even Jedi pilots , as evidenced when three tri - fighters came close to overcoming Jedi ace Saesee Tiin before being taken out by Anakin Skywalker . Many tri - fighters fought during the Battle of Coruscant , where they destroyed ARC - 170 squadrons . Swarms of them also fought in the battle within the city , harassing Jedi and clone pilots . Following the execution of the Separatist Council by Darth Sidious ' s new apprentice , Darth Vader , these units were de - activated . At least one derelict tri - fighter was located in an Imperial junkyard during the Galactic Civil War . Behind the scenes . The tri - fighter concept at one point included snap - on booster rockets that increased the ship ' s speed and range for a limited time . With the boosters , the tri - fighter were essentially fired from a capital ship like missiles . Once within closing distance of enemy starfighters , the tri - fighter would jettison its booster and continue with an accelerated attack . Given the visual chaos inherent in designing the opening space battle , George Lucas ultimately nixed the booster concept , as it contributed unnecessary clutter and confusion on the screen . In the " " animated series , a sleeker , more numerous variant of droid tri - fighters appear , armed only with a central cannon . These fighters swarmed the skies of Coruscant during the battle leading up to the third film . There is still discussion amongst fans as to whether this is a different variant of the droid tri - fighter or simply a design error in the cartoon , which has come into conflict with canon in some other areas . It may also simply be a stylistic interpretation of the movie design . In " " , the laser cannon is replaced with a chaingun and is depicted as requiring a pilot to operate . The latter is most likely for gameplay reasons . LEGO has also produced two models of the Droid Tri - Fighter , the first of which was released in early 2005 , which held a Buzz droid in the core , where the droid brain should be , and the second was released in early 2010 , with a Rocket Battle Droid in the core , the ball was used as a cockpit . In the instruction manuals and the commercial of the second model it is usually together with the 8088 ARC - 170 Starfighter . In late 2014 , another model of this starfighter was released with a Buzz droid and battle droid for the core / cockpit . The set also included a security battle droid and Chancellor Palpatine . Unlike the 2010 version which was based on the the clone wars . The 2014 version was based on Revenge of the Sith .