Origins
The E-Wing debuted in the pages of Star Wars: Dark Empire, the 1992 Dark Horse Comic series by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy depicting the return of Emperor Palpatine six years after the events of Return of the Jedi. Established there as the new space superiority fighter of the New Republic, after years of Alliance production on other fighters came through defecting research scientists or sparse internal development, the E-Wing was the first starfighter designed entirely under the support of the reformed government, with a budget and technology to match.
The E-Wing was designed as the ultimate evolution of the X-Wing as the New Republic’s multi-role fighter—not as specialized as the A-Wing, Y-Wing, or B-Wing, the E-Wing nevertheless represented an all-around approach to combat, with improved weaponry, shielding and armor, speed, and sensor capability compared to the X-Wing. With the New Republic immediately beset by a series of Imperial successor states, from the Thrawn Campaign to the returned Emperor, the E-Wing was pressed into service alongside prior Alliance navy staples like the X-Wing, even as it was being presented as the starfighter’s eventual replacement.
