Starfighter

"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to describe small, fast, usually one-manned craft designed for armed combat (cf starship).

The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of spaceflight. Exceptions include the Gunstar from The Last Starfighter, the Viper from the reimagined series of Battlestar Galactica, and the Starfury from Babylon 5, which are capable of multidirectional orientation.

Starfighters are popular as the subjects of flight simulator-like space combat video games, such as the "Wing Commander" and "X-Wing" series. This connection was made explicitly as early as the 1984 film The Last Starfighter in which a video game on Earth is used as a recruiting device for an alien civilization whose starfighters require the same skills as the video game.

In the Star Wars Universe, a Starfighter is a blanket term for all small combat space craft, regardless of shields, hyperspace capability, weaponry (unless it carries none), armour, maneuverability and crew. "Snubfighter" (a term first used in Star Wars), though no concise definition has been given, often refers to a fighter carrying shielding, secondary weapons systems such as Proton Torpedoes or concussion missiles, and being hyperspace capable.

Examples

The following are some examples of starfighters from various media franchises:

Babylon 5

The Earth Alliance (Starfury fighters)

The Minbari Federation

Nial-class Fighter

The Narn Regime

Frazi-class Fighter

The Centauri Republic

Sentri-class Fighter

Battlestar Galactica

The Twelve Colonies

Colonial Viper (the Viper Mark II and Viper Mark VII of the 2003 miniseries were modified to maneuver more effectively in space)
Colonial Blackbird (2004 series)

The Cylons

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

The Earth Defense Directorate

Star Fighter (2-person capacity in tandem configuration, four person capacity in side-by-side configuration)
Star Fighter mk II (a tandem-seated Star Fighter with two extra stabilizer fins, used in the second season)