TIE/IN interceptor

The TIE/IN interceptor, also known as the TIE Interceptor, or TIE/in was a type of TIE fighter used by the Galactic Empire, most notably during the Battle of Endor. The interceptor was identifiable by the addition of four arrow-shaped panels tipped with laser cannons. They were nicknamed "Squints" due to their narrow shape.
==Characteristics==
The TIE/IN interceptorStar Wars Battlefront II or TIE/inStarships and Speeders was a far deadlier opponent than the standard TIE/ln space superiority starfighter and featured four very recognizable pointed solar panels. These panels, based on the "bent-wing" configuration used on the prototype TIE Advanced flown by Darth Vader, were given a dagger like design, which gave a TIE fighter pilot a wider field of vision.Star Wars: Complete Vehicles
===Engines and power===
Lacking both shields and a hyperdrive, the TIE/in made up for its lack of defensive capabilities with a top speed of 1,250 kph owing to enlarged P-s5.6 twin ion engines as well as an autothruster providing considerably improved maneuverability and speed. In order to achieve optimal performance and collect as much power from the enlarged solar panels, Sienar also equipped the TIE/in with an SFS I-a3a solar ionization reactor, whose extra power allowed pilots to overclock their engines and execute tight turns and rolls not possible in most other starfighters.
===Armament===
Despite the LS-series hardpoints on the cockpit being intentionally left empty to reduce weight, four L-s9.3 laser cannons on the TIE/in's wingtips allowed for far more firepower to overload the shields on an enemy craft. Binocular scanner modules were also placed in the midline of the TIE/in's engines, creating an overlapping stereoscopic field for the targeting computer which ensured that the weapons were unlikely to miss once locked on. With the Empire placing its elite pilots into Interceptor cockpits to maximize the craft's effectiveness, interceptors were ideally suited for their main function: chasing down and eliminating rebel starfighters.
==History==
===Time of the Empire===
====Development====
The TIE Interceptor was developed by Sienar Fleet Systems as an alternative to the TIE Advanced x1, which was determined to be too costly to mass-produce.Star Wars: Ships of the Galaxy Heavily influenced by other Sienar bent-wing prototypes, such as the TIE Advanced v1 which was tested on Lothal by flight baron Valen Rudor, the TIE/IN was stripped of the Advanced's hyperdrive and equipped with heavier weapons. To achieve an improved fight performance, Sienar also removed the L-s1 laser cannons from the standard hardpoints in the cockpit module and reduced the armor. A prototype TIE/IN was developed by 14 BBYStar Wars: Timelines and tested by the Inquisitorius' Second SisterStar Wars: Galaxy of Heroes who also used it on Bracca to investigate reports of a surviving Jedi.Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order The TIE/IN soon entered production in the Sienar factories as the third full-production TIE fighter series variant after the TIE/ln and the TIE/sa.
In 3 BBY, the Empire began to officially field TIE Interceptors to serve as the Empire's direct response to the Rebel Alliance's introduction of faster starships, although it was not as fast as the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor, being 50 kph slower. The improved TIE units were distributed to elite starfighter squadrons, including the 128th Fighter Group and the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing, while some were offered to the commanders of TIE/ln squadrons as their personal starfighter.
====Operational history====
Three TIE Interceptors carried out the massacre near Teralov. The first confrontations between the Rebellion's X-wing fighters and the Empire's TIE interceptors came with the Battle of Turkana. General Weir flew a TIE interceptor.Star Wars: Starfighter Missions When defecting Imperials Jon Melton and Bevelyn, who were both secretly agents of Crimson Dawn, sought to reveal the existence of the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station by escaping aboard the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Scopium, three TIE interceptors were deployed from the Death Star and chased after the defectors. However, they managed to escape.Star Wars (2020) 27
Some interceptors belonging to elite pilots featured additional red and dark grey markings. In 2 BBY,Dawn of Rebellion dates the events of Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow seventeen years after the end of the Clone Wars, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 19 BBY; therefore, the events of Steps Into Shadow must take place in 2 BBY. According to Star Wars: On the Front Lines, Mon Mothma's denunciation of the Galactic Empire and the Declaration of the Rebel Alliance take place 2 years before the Battle of Yavin or 2 BBY. As "The Antilles Extraction" is set between Steps Into Shadow and "Secret Cargo," it must also take place in 2 BBY. Vult Skerris flew one of these starfighters, when he was based at Skystrike Academy.
TIE Interceptors also took part in the battle against Crimson DawnHidden Empire 1 and the Battle at Amaxine Station. A group of crimson interceptors escorted the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle carrying Imperial leaders Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader into the station.Hidden Empire 4 By the time of the Battle of Endor, the TIE Interceptor made up one-fifth of the Empire's starfighter fleet.Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles Nash Windrider piloted a TIE Interceptor during the Battle of Jakku.
===Era of the New Republic===
Around 9 ABY, Gideon's remnant of the fallen Empire possessed a massive force of TIE ships, including many interceptors, through the support of the Shadow Council. An interceptor squadron supported the force of TIE/sa bombers that targeted Kryze Castle on Kalevala. Mandalorians Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin, returning to Kelavala after their mission to the Mines of Mandalore, engaged the TIE ships until their true numbers were revealed. Faced with the many TIE ships and surpised, both retreated.
===Legacy===
By the time of the Cold War, the First Order used the TIE/ba Baron Space Superiority Interceptor, which served as its own version of a TIE interceptor.
During the reign of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, the First Order also fielded the TIE/wi Interceptor and TIE/wi modified interceptor.
==Behind the scenes==
The Databank entry for the TIE interceptor on StarWars.com states that it was first deployed sixteen years after the fall of the Galactic Republic in 3 BBY.Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the fall of the Galactic Republic to 19 BBY. As states the TIE/IN interceptor was first deployed sixteen years after the Republic's fall, they must have been deployed in 3 BBY. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order later showed the TIE interceptor being used by the Second SisterStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 14 BBY. The mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes later established that the Second Sister's craft was a TIE/IN Interceptor Prototype. However, another TIE/IN is featured in Fallen Order on Kashyyyk. The status of this second TIE/IN has not been clarified. However, the Electronic Arts website provided an explanation for the 3 BBY inconsistency, clarifying that year was only the ship's official deployment.
The 2023 comic Hidden Empire 4 canonized the crimson variant of the TIE interceptor, depicting them escorting a shuttle carrying Vader and Palpatine during a massive battle against Crimson Dawn. While unexplained in the comic itself, Star Wars Legends sources had previously established these to be a Emperor's Royal Guard variant of the interceptor.Rebellion Era Campaign Guide
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
*LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
*
*
*
*
*
*
*LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
*
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
==External links==
*
Category:Starship classes of the Galactic Empire
I-IN