TIE/D History
In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, a Droid TIE fighter or TIE/D fighter is a vehicle used by the Galactic Empire. Prior to using clones, the Empire used Droid TIE Fighters in fighting off the New Republic. It is also called the TIE/D Fighter, which is the abbreviation for TIE Drone not TIE Droid.
Designed by Sienar Fleet Systems and General Arndall Lott, who modelled them after the automation of the Katana fleet, TIE/Ds are a vast improvement over his original prototypes. They are fast, small and very expendable. Much like the TIE Fighter, they are powered by twin ion engines but piloted by a droid brain, a Cybot Galactica Ace-6 fighter unit. The computerized units can be programmed with the latest tactics and combat protocols. But the programming has proven to be inferior to the unpredictability and battlefield ingenuity of living pilots.
As the craft did not possess a living pilot and the droid brain weighed considerably less, the extra mass was used to improve its armour plating. The craft also featured rectangular radiator-arrays with cut outs similar to the TIE Interceptor which gave the ship the extra power by letting it radiate more waste-heat — used to improve its maneuverability.
The TIE/D was developed by the Imperial Remnant to serve as expendable support fighters for living TIE pilots, since living pilots were in short supply. Prior to the Battle of Endor, the demand for automated fighters had been low when the Empire had an endless supply of clone and Academy-trained personnel at its disposal. Though the Clone Wars had shown the effectiveness of living pilots over droid starfighters, Imperial engineers were still determined to produce the ultimate automated space combat fighter.
They first saw action against the New Republic in Mon Calamari six years after the Battle of Endor (10 ABY). However, most of the TIE/D factories in existence were aboard the resurrected Emperor Palpatine's World Devastators, which had been destroyed in the Battle of Mon Calamari, and manufacturers have chosen to devote their resources to traditional starfighters, rather than to the TIE/Ds.
