With Star Wars: Squadrons, the latest game from the beloved franchise, fans and players get to jump into the cockpit of some of the most iconic ships in history and immerse themselves in the fight as a pilot. The game may be limited, but the eight ships it gives are all fantastic, not least of all the TIE Bomber, a ship not as famous as, say, the TIE Fighter, but one that is pretty great nonetheless.
It obviously does not have the same history, nor is it in as many pieces of content as the TIE Fighter or X-wing, but the TIE Bomber has certainly been around, and there are various things about the ship that a lot of fans may not know.
Sienar Fleet Systems
There are many aspects to Star Wars that more casual fans might not even think existed in a movie property, but Star Wars has lore like any other, and even Earth-based things exist in that Galaxy, including corporations commissioned by the government.
That is how the TIE Line came to be; Grand Moff Wilhuf Tarkin commissioned Sienar Fleet Systems (the family of Grace from Squadrons) to manufacture the ships, including the TIE Bomber. It is safe to assume that Sienar-Jaemus Fleet Systems, which succeeded SFS, created these ships for the First Order, as they did the TIE Fighter class.
The Cost
War costs money, as does Galactic dictatorship and tyranny; with the Empire having no shortage of Imperial credits at their disposal, they did not mind paying anyone any money to meet their needs.
Of the four models of the ship seen in Squadrons, the TIE/sa Bomber cost the most amount of credits, costing 150,000 for a brand new model, and 65,000 for one that had been used previously, more than the TIE Fighter, Interceptor, and Reaper.
Size & Speed
The TIE Bomber is obviously not as huge as the likes of light freighters or anything, but for a single starship, it has a decent size, with a 7.8m length, a 5.1m height/depth, and a quite big 9.3m width.
As for the speed of the bomber, that area is not exactly the known forte of the ship; it is slower than not just the known speedy TIE Interceptor, but the standard TIE, with a max acceleration of 2,380 G (force on gravity) and a max atmospheric speed of 850 kph.
The First Order Has Their Own
TIE Bombers did not have a significant role in the movies, but that role was even further reduced for the First Order version of the Imperial ship, a version not many fans knew existed.
It did not appear in any of the sequel trilogy movies, with the First Order TIE Bomber's only time on-screen being spent in Star Wars: Resistance in which it was featured in two episodes, with one comic issue appearance and a mobile game being the only other mentions of the ship thus far.
'Dupes'
There is something in Star Wars for everyone, and at the moment, a section of fans who are getting some phenomenal content are those who love pilots and starships and that overall side of Star Wars.
Between Squadrons and the ongoing Alphabet Squadron series of novels, there is lots of brilliance as fans get to know pilots better and what their life and personalities are like. Throughout Alphabet Squadron, New Republic pilots are shown to have given nicknames to specific ships, including the TIE Fighter and TIE Bomber, with the latter deemed 'dupes' by the New Republic pilot Wyl Lark.
The Munitions Pod Can Get Modified
The most notable distinction between the TIE Bomber and the other TIE ships is the second pod. The two pods are used for both a pilot, obviously, and the munitions, but the munitions pod can get altered.
Fans of the excellent Star Wars: Rebels will recall the episode in which Hera and the Spectres went to Ryloth, and they utilized a TIE Bomber to infiltrate a capital ship by cleaning out the munitions pod and fitting people in there.
The Reason For Inclined Wings
The TIE Bomber looks very similar to the TIE Advanced x1 that Darth Vader uses, and the main reason for this is the inverted wings and pod shape between them. The inverted wings serve a purpose, though.
Just like they were on the TIE Advanced x1, the inverted wings were useful as they allowed the Bomber to maneuver easier with heavy loads while also maximizing the speed of the ship, unlocking its full potential in that regard.
Range Of Weapons
Each starfighter has its array of weapons as a part of their armament, with the TIE Bomber having more than both the other two main TIE ships, the fighter and interceptor in that regard.
The TIE Bomber is packed with weapons, including its standard L-s1 laser cannon and M-s3 concussion missile launcher, with munitions including concussion missiles, thermal detonators, proton torpedos, orbital mines, and various others.
First Chronological Appearance
As mentioned earlier, the TIE Bomber does not have a huge amount of screen time, only being a part of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi, but the ship was created long before those movies.
It even appeared long before Rebels, a show in which it had a good few appearances. However, its first chronological canon appearance did involve Rebels characters, with the ship making an appearance in A New Dawn alongside Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus, two of the very best original characters of the new canon.
On Board The Death Star, But Not Utilized During The Battle Of Yavin
The Battle of Yavin may be the most important battle in Galactic history alongside the Battle of Endor, to this point in the canon anyway, and was fought between squadrons of rebels and a slew of Imperial forces.
TIE Bombers had not yet been designed, used three years later for the first time; however, they were present at the Death Star. It was elected that a slew of TIE Fighters would be used to fight the rebels instead, with however many TIE Bombers there was on the Death Star remaining there.