Corruption or Efficiency? The Story of the Tie Fighter Program

We take a look at Sienar Fleet Systems, one of the most consequential starship manufacturers during the late Republic/Imperial era. Led by the brilliant Raith Sienar we discuss the rise and impact this company had on the Galaxy.

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[barbiquearea]

One could only imagine how insanely wealthy the twin engine design would have made Sienar Fleet Systems had the Empire not risen to power, nationalized and forced the company to focus their attention towards the production of starfighters over commercial vessels. The fact that this revolutionary engine design not only requires less maintenance but is also capable of being powered with just solar panels. That alone would have been a game changer for the freight shipping market.

[OrionInSpace]

GT from the bottom of my heart don’t stop making these kinds of videos. This is the kind of unique and different Star Wars content I look for these days. You aren’t just milking the Acolyte still like some are but you enjoy being different with your kind of content. We need more of it! Never thought in the year 2024 I see a video about starship economics.

[PaulCharlesAllen]

I’ve always loved the TIE Fighter, even from a young age. Watching episode IV, I loved the shape, the speed and of course the iconic scream that it had.

[jeffersonian]

Ironically, TIE’s not having shields was an EU thing, created by West End Games in their Star Wars RPG as a way to allow Rebel players to kill Empire NPC’s while not being as fragile themselves. This got into other EU works as well as official lore.

[lordvader]

Listening to this is like listening to the actual story of a real company. It's so realistic

[Marinealver]

They managed to avoid total Imperial Takeover by simply doing EVERYTHING the Emperor demanded of them.

[dekoldrick]

I like how your video are often worded in a way that can reflect the real world like the problems with unchecked political power and governing systems based on camaraderie instead of merits.

[jamesricker]

The Grand Moff Tarkin was rumored to have had substantial investments in the Kuat Drive Yards. A more detailed investigation into his investments could answer some questions

[thestanleys]

When you have a monopoly on fighter production there's gonna be some corruption

[CharlesMosley]

OFF SUBJECT: i think it is soo wizard having Star Wars cityscapes outside of the window in your videos. perhaps a different city every video: Nar Shaddaa, Malastare, Taris, Cato Niemoidia, Empress Teta, Munnilist, Mygeeto. just a idea but i think it's a cool one.

[TheHipsterGamer]

It’s such a crazy idea to me that a company with a highly bureaucratic structure not unlike many of the companies we see today can last so long that it spans a length of time that could connect ancient Egypt to the modern era… you discuss a formidable star ship design the company produced a whopping 4 thousand years before it engineered the very first TIE fighter. That’s so much galactic history that it just makes many events feel insignificant until the galaxy experiences something like the hyperspace disaster during the high republic era that changes everything. It’s like the changes Europe went through before, during, and after Rome.

[reginaldshort]

I’ll invest in Sienar not because of its TIE fighter per se but because it also has shuttles and transports used by the military and civilians alike. Also like Incom and Koensayr they can maintain relevance just by reselling parts from the Core to the Outer Rim

[AmelityshTV]

He went back to his room on Alderaan. Good for you, Allen

[Hanashibi]

One of the wonders of the TIE Fighter was simple. Any shield small enough to fit on one, was weak enough to be taken down in almost a single shot. And the charging system which fed the Twin Ion Engine vie Solar Panel couldn't maintain the shield generator in addition well.

I imagine several experimental TIE designs for a baseline shield generator having the shield system almost doubling the price of the ship for a durability increase that was measured in single percentile as well as a small loss of maneuverability that in turn undid even that.

It is my opinion that the APEX of the Tie Line wasn't the over-designed Defender but rather the TIE/IN (Interceptor). With the Defender you may as well buy Custom works. Have full livability and comforts. As well as a mass of weapons and fixtures and hot-points for ace pilots. BUT THE INTERCEPTOR, it maintained the (Relative) cheapness, increased the firepower, maximized the maneuverability, kept the dependence. Everything bulky was removed. It was faster, better, and increased survivability against the basic TIE/LN by multiples, justifying the cost, while keeping it cheap enough for it not to be 'ACE PILOT ONLY'.

The only reason I figure the IN didn't replace the LN was that most TIE Fighters acted as policing vessels, flying from their mobile station to escort and monitor local traffic as well as patrol duty in the strange, off hand chance someone got a bright idea to attack one of the larger imperial ships. Meaning if you flew 300 days a year, and most years you never fired your turbo-lasers the LN was flat more than enough for anything your job would entail. While the IN would be more military deployment and high priority mission.

One other 'problem' most TIE Model ships have is the top entry cockpit, large foils, made you require a feat of physical aptitude to even get in your ship if you weren't in a TIE Dock. You could land on the ground but you'd better hope the Starport has some really long ladders or that you're a master climber. The Interceptor's longer fins as opposed to the taller ones meant that it could land easier making it better for lower orbit patrols than its more baseline Counterpart.

Take it from me, back I've been a TIE Advocate most of my imperial, and post imperial career and I still have my Original TIE/IN which after the fall of the Empire has received every Aftermarket Improvement you can imagine. Including a Super Compact Hyperdrive (Compactness over Speed) an Ion Converter for her Turbo Lasers as well as a Tiny Shield Generator. She can get me too and from planets in far away systems in hours. As well as having enough compact storage space for things like basic camping gear and rations. The concept being the Shield Generator reduces attrition and micro-damage from space debris, which, while the base armor and hall is qualified to deal with, farther reduces the already low maintenance time to almost nothing. As she stands she could sit 100 years and all you'd need is new padding in the seats, everything else would still run golden.

TIE is about Survival through Skill. Reliable, robust mechanics, and always being able to outmaneuver your opponents. Anyone changing that fundamental doesn't understand "True Imperial Elegance".

[fnunez]

I'm a bit surprised that Sienar didn't license their design to other companies, so they could also produce the empire's standard fighter. An example from modern day Earth is the AK-47 assault rifle, which was licensed to many companies throughout the soviet union precisely to meet demand across the various satellite states and proxy wars with NATO.

[mattthemouse]

“Palpatine is a deal maker like Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnell”

Why did you have to do Palpatine dirty like that?

[СтавридесКелевра]

@GenerationTech With all that economic videos on Star Wars lore will we ever hear an answer to my personally biggest question on Star Wars corps: what the heck Kuat produced since Ruusan reformation and for the next thousand years?!

They are same, if not bigger, sized as Corellia, and specialized in military production. Yet all the peace time they didn't even produced Dreadnaught-class, it was Rendili - build...

[jiffypoo]

The biggest counter to the Cost Efficency argument for Tie Fighters is the Y-Wing, both cost 60k. A new Y-Wing variant with Twin Ion Engines would be low cost due to reduced R&D and infrastructure cost plus heavy weapons, shields and hyperdrive are a big perk. Even the busted up Rebellion Y-Wings worth 30k have really good odds 1v1 with a Tie.

[CSBastianyGaumnitz]

What the hell? Star wars cannon goes so deep they get into the shareholders take on the Tie fighter.

[BLENDITE]

I am not the biggest star wars fan, but these videos really put into perspective the amount of world building thats gone into the universe, and these videos do the most justice ive seen to it so far