Terms

H

* **Hyperdrive class:** Designation for Star Wars ship Hyperdrive unit ratings
* **Hyperdrive Multiplyer:** Alternative term for Star Wars ship Hyperdrive unit ratings, used alongside the journey times in the Galactic Gazetteer to calculate travel times for non Class 1 ships.

L

* **Light year:** The distance light travels in one year. Most Science fiction franchises are set in the Milky Way Galaxy, meaning a year is defined as 365.25 days, equal to 8766 hours.
* **LYPH:** Light Year Per Hour: Used to measure Faster Than Light speed of starships.

M

* **MGLT:** Megalight. Used to measure the relative sublight speed of Star Wars starships in realspace. For example, the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor was markedly faster (120 MGLT) than the BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bomber (70 MGLT).

R

* **RU** was a unit of measurement for hull rating in Star Wars starships. The value indicated how much damage the vessel could withstand before breaking up. It was applied to vessels from starfighters to capital ships. If a vessel was equipped with a deflector shield, the hull rating was often accompanied by SBD, the deflector shield strength. An Imperial TIE fighter hull was rated at 9 RU. The EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate had a hull rating of 448 RU and shield-strength rating of 960 SBD.

S

* **SBD** was a common unit of measurement for deflector shields on Star Wars starships. The value indicated how much damage the vessel could withstand before the hull started taking damage. From starfighters to capital ships, vessels equipped with a deflector measured the shield recharge rate with SBD. It was often followed by the vessel's hull rating, measured in RU. For example, a T65 X-Wing starfighter shields are rated at 50 SBD with a 20 RU rated hull. By comparison, an Imperial Class Star Destroyer shields are measured at 4800 SBD with a 2272 RU rated hull. The SBD rating for some vessels appeared to vary based on whether the information came from a Galactic Empire or Alliance to Restore the Republic source, which may indicate different rating scales or faulty intelligence on one or both sides.

W

* **Warp Factor:** Primary used in Star Trek, warp factors measure speeds attained using warp drive. The term was often shortened to warp when followed by its value. There are two official scales used:
	+ **TOS Scale:** Used in Star Trek The Original Series, Star Trek The Animated Series, the Original Series Movies, Star Trek Enterprise and Star Trek Discovery, this is based on a geometric progression, where the speed of a vessel (measured in multiples of c, the speed of light) is equal to the cube of the given warp factor. generally expressed as warp to the power of 3, or 9 divided by 3 - ie 8 times Light Speed for warp 2, 27 times light speed for warp 3, etc.
	+ **TNG Scale:** Used in Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager and the Next Generation Movies, this is based on a recalibration of the scale used in the Original Series. Rather than a simple geometric progression based on relative speed, warp factors were established to be based upon the amount of power required to transition from one warp plateau to another.

## Notes

1. ↑ Star Wars is the main exception as, at least before the rights were acquired by Disney, the Galactic Standard Calendar used a year of 368 days, equal to 8832 hours.
2. ↑ Primarily used for ships not featured in Star Trek and Star Wars.
3. ↑ The MGLT unit originated in a reference chart comparing the propulsive capabilities of starfighters, drawn by Industrial Light & Magic during the production of Return of the Jedi. Some of the figures provided in *Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away* are markedly different than those shown on the original diagram. According to the Standard Units page of the Star Wars Technical Commentaries website, MGLT could be a measurement of acceleration, with 1 MGLT equaling at least 400m/s². This is about 40g in terms of Earth gravity, or 29gs in terms of Coruscant gravity.
4. ↑ RU was first used in the 1993 LucasArts starfighter simulator *Star Wars: X-Wing*. It was later defined in *The Stele Chronicles*, a short booklet included in the package of the LucasArts PC video game *Star Wars: TIE Fighter*. The term was consistently used in subsequent games including *Star Wars: TIE Fighter*, *Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter*, and *Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance*.
5. ↑ SBD was first used in the 1993 LucasArts starfighter simulator, Star Wars: X-Wing. It was later defined in *The Stele Chronicles*, a short booklet included in the package of the LucasArts PC video game, *Star Wars: TIE Fighter*. The term was consistently used in subsequent games including Star Wars: TIE Fighter, *Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter,* and *Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance*. Different systems of shield measurement are used by the West End Games and Wizards of the Coast role-playing games and by the *Dark Forces saga* series of video games.
6. ↑ Technically, this scale is actually two scales in one. Factors up to and including warp 9.0 use a modified version of the TOS Scale, expressed as warp to the power of 3.33, or 10 divided by 3 - ie 10 times Light Speed for warp 2, 39 times light speed for warp 3, etc. Between warp 9.0 and the ultimate limit of warp 10, extra elements are added to account for local conditions.

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Return of the Jedi Sketchbook*, page 95
3. ↑ https://www.theforce.net/swtc/units.html