Starfighter

Starfighter
See Also:
SDI Strategic Defense InitiativeStarfighterStarshipSpace Marines

"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to describe relatively small, maneuverable manned spacecraft designed for military combat (cf starship). Strictly speaking, the term "starfighter" only applies to those that can independently perform intersystem travel; "spacefighter" would be a more appropriate title for those that cannot.

The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of space travel. The starfuries in the television series Babylon 5 are a notable exception in at least the attempt to make a more realistic fighter for space combat.

Well-known starfighters include:

The Star Wars media empire:
Republic: ARC-170 starfighter, V-19 Torrent starfighter, Jedi starfighter, Advanced Jedi starfighter
Rebel starfighters: A-wing, B-wing, X-wing, Y-wing, E-wing, Z-95 Headhunter
Imperial starfighters: TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor, TIE Advanced, TIE Defender
Confederacy starfighters: Droid starfighter, Geonosian starfighter, Tri-Fighter
Yuuzhan Vong starfighters: Coralskipper (starfighter), Yorik-Vec (Assault Cruiser), Grutchin
Ssi-Ruuk starfighters: Swarm-class Battle Droid
The Battlestar Galactica property
Colonial Viper (the Viper mk IV and Viper mk VII of the 2003 series were slightly modified to maneuver more realistically in space)
Cylon Raider
The Babylon 5 universe:
Starfury
Thunderbolt
Minbari Fighter
The Veritech starfighters of the Robotech universe:
The VF-1 Valkyrie
The VFA-6 Alpha
Some famous starfighter pilots of the Star wars Universe include:

Wedge Antilles
Luke Skywalker
Corran Horn
Arvel Crynyd
Horton Salm
Biggs Darklighter
Jek Porkins
In Star Trek, the Peregrine class shuttle can also be recognised as a starfighter. Starfighters are popular as the subjects of flight simulator-like space combat video games, such as the "Wing Commander" and "X-Wing" series. This connection is made explicitly in the 1984 film The Last Starfighter in which a video game on Earth is used as a recruiting device for an alien civilization whose starfighters require the same skills as the video game.