This Could Go On All Day

30 years later, and they’re still using X-Wings?


The Star Wars universe has caused Jeremy some more emotional distress, particularly due to their engineering.  This time, a Picture Of The New X-Wing was released recently, and there hasn't been a lot of progress.  


So, by this point, everybody knows that there is going to be a new Star Wars trilogy coming out starting next year.  Based on the astonishing quality of the Episode 1-3 prequels, the Episode 7-9 trilogy is most likely going to suck.  It's okay to admit that, Star Wars fans.  They'll still draw lines around the block for the first showings and make millions upon millions of dollars.  

There are rumors about the plot for the upcoming films, but we don't need to bother with any of that.  The main point to know is that the sequels will be set approximately 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, with everyone who was left alive at the end of that film reprising their roles.  There will also be lots of CGI aliens and at least 83 minutes worth of alien-planet establishing shots before any action takes place on screen.  

I have certainly Railed On The Star Wars Universe in the past for their poor engineering, particularly by the Empire.  Now, we have a glimpse into that world 30 fewer years in the past (remember, it was long ago in a galaxy far far away), and they're still using the same old beat-up X-Wings they were during the rebellion?  This seems lame.  Let's put things into perspective.

I submit that it's safe to say that the Rebel-Empire war would be considered a "War To End All Wars," making it analogous to Earth's World War I.  The next great war for Terrans would then be World War 2, which started 21 years after the first ended.  It's close enough for this comparison.  Comparing only aircraft, between WWI and WWII, we went from cloth biplanes like the Sopwith Camel and the Red Baron's Albatros variations (don't even say, "but the Red Baron flew a Fokker Dr1 Triplane"...do your homework) all the way to the heavy bombers like the B29 and early jet fighters such as the Lockheed P80.  In 33% more time than this quantum leap in flight took us, the Rebels who took over control of the galaxy went from X-Wings all the way to...uhmmm....X-Wings.  

This is unacceptable.  Especially when you consider just how amazingly bad the X-Wings were.  They were tiny little fighters which required a physical robot to do repairs on the fly.  They carried 4 rockets which couldn't even be targeted remotely, relying on "The Force" to hit a 2 meter exhaust port.  (Nobody's been able to explain to my satisfaction why they need to expand the wings into the X configuration during dogfights in space...wind resistance and maneuverability in space can not possibly be a reason.)  Sure, they're quick and nimble little things, but they couldn't even take a single shot from a Tie Fighter without blowing the heck up.  Hopefully, some under-the-hood advancements have been made in the 30 years since the Emperor was tossed down the reactor shaft, because if there's been no advancement in their engineering in the 30 years since the war, it's going to be pretty tough times for the former rebels in the next three movies...or maybe that's the point.