Entertainment Weekly Reveals the Secrets of the TIE Striker from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story!

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In a similar fashion like with The Force Awakens, Entertainment Weekly started a series of video introductions to some of the more important vehicles and techs from the upcoming first Star Wars stand alone movie – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Check out their first video on the menacing TIE Striker…

 

 

Before we delve into EW’s video here’s Wookieepedia’s description of the craft for those of you that are still not familiar with it:

 

The TIE Striker was a streamlined variant of the TIE line starfighters used by the Galactic Empire for in-atmosphere engagements and the defense of important Imperial bases. Though designed for atmosphere, it could also function in space and accompany traditional TIE fighters. Equipped with advanced high-speed wings, it was faster than the standard TIE/LN starfighter and had an extra pair of laser barrels.

 

 

And here’s what EW’s Anthony Breznican revealed in their first video dedicated to Rogue One:

 

 

 

Entertainment Weekly promised that they will share more videos examining the tech from Rogue One in the coming weeks.

 

 

Title image by ToyArk.

 

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

51 thoughts on “Entertainment Weekly Reveals the Secrets of the TIE Striker from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story!

  • October 31, 2016 at 9:37 pm
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    Great looking TIE – should of been used in TFA though IMO to show progress. What we saw was a different coloured TIE that sits 2 people……..wow….

    • October 31, 2016 at 9:47 pm
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      Always with the negative

      • October 31, 2016 at 9:56 pm
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        Well it both a positive and negative if you’re picking hairs…

    • October 31, 2016 at 9:50 pm
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      Agree 100%

    • October 31, 2016 at 10:15 pm
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      I agree. But when you were sitting watching TFA did it REALLY bother you so much that it was all you could think about? It didn’t for me. Ship advancements were probably the least of the problems I’ve had. Anyways the way I see it is that after RotJ and the Battle of Jakku the remnants of the Empire and what would become the First Order were hiding out in the unknown regions/outer rim (I don’t recall which but its at the end of the Lost Stars novel) and had to recoup numbers as well as weaponry (ships, blasters, etc). It’s only been 30 years and they were recovering after a severe beating, its not wholly out of the realm of reality to say that what was presented in TFA makes logical sense for their progression. I’m sure there were plenty of things they could improve on but given their situation it would make sense that steps in technological advancement would be saved for things Snoke or whomever was in direct command thought should be given priority. I mean look at cars or planes between 1986 and now that have been manufactured. And these are from countries that weren’t brought to their knees in the mid 80s. The greatest advancement we can say we have seen is that their more visually appealing and fuel efficient as well as also include more network related functions. I dunno if this is just ramblings but I guess the point I was trying to make by playing devil’s advocate is that it isn’t too far fetched to say that the tech we’ve been presented with where we’re at in the Present SW timeline makes sense given the history of certain factions.

      • October 31, 2016 at 10:34 pm
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        No it didn’t bother watching the film, didn’t give it a 2nd thought. Watching the designs being released for R1 though made me think how much more stylish it was compared to TFA TIEs. Personal preference, but I would of liked to have seem Poe and Finn escape in the R1 TIE.

        I’m not going to get into the debate in regard to resources because I still can’t comprehend how Starkiller Base was built in the timeframe. Yes its not a solid structure, but when you look at the scale of the thing to the Death Star 2 its still massive and would take a ton of resource beyond that of the remnants of the Empire. My only explanation is it was started under Palpatine.

        • October 31, 2016 at 11:17 pm
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          we also only saw one part of their total power. hopefully episode viii will give us more new stuff(for both sides).

        • October 31, 2016 at 11:49 pm
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          It was 30 years after ROTJ.

          • November 1, 2016 at 9:19 am
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            And? It was 20 years between RotS & ANH with an Empire with a ton of resources. Questions on whom started building it, why, and when are allowed I think. The First Order doesn’t have the Empire’s resources AND hasn’t been a force for those full 30 years.

          • November 1, 2016 at 4:44 pm
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            Long delayed DS as said on the ROGUE ONE materials.

          • November 1, 2016 at 7:12 pm
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            I don’t have a problem with that, its a new technology, but so is Starkiller….

        • November 1, 2016 at 5:22 am
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          In my retelling of The Force awakens I always imagined it as a Republic Weapon that was a deterant against another empire esk force rising up
          And it fell into the wrong hands. I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this but that’s how I would have handled Starkiller Base. I also wouldn’t have killed off Han before we got to see him Luke and Leia on screen together one last time, but maybe when they reboot the franchise in 50 years when I’m in my 80s it’ll work out differently.

        • November 2, 2016 at 8:16 pm
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          “…its still massive and would take a ton of resource beyond that of the remnants of the Empire.”

          We really don’t know anything about the resources the First Order had at its disposal.

          • November 3, 2016 at 11:06 am
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            Agreed – which is kinda part of my gripe.

          • November 3, 2016 at 1:29 pm
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            That doesn’t bother me a bit. I really don’t care about the First Order’s finances. They occupied some of the unknown regions for a few decades, located a slew of materials, drummed up some labor, and built a big weapon. End of story. An elaborate backstory about how they managed to fund such a project isn’t something that would interest too many people.

          • November 3, 2016 at 1:42 pm
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            It doesn’t require an elaborate back story, just a plausible explanation. The explanation you use isn’t even plausible, having the Empire at least start it is. Do you not care for example where Snoke comes from, or does him just appearing as an elusive dark sider sit ok?

          • November 3, 2016 at 4:03 pm
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            “The explanation you use isn’t even plausible,…”

            No? It’s not plausible that the First Order, in their occupation of the unknown territories, drummed up the resources to build this thing? Why not? Who really knows what they found there?

            Snoke is completely different. The origin of a major antagonist is a bit more important (and interesting) than the finances of the First Order military. During the OT era, most folks were fiercely interested in Vader’s origin. Nobody really cared about how the Death Star was paid for.

          • November 3, 2016 at 6:23 pm
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            Why not? Well the First Order is portrayed as the remnants of the Empire, so its not secret covert hidden group. The Resistance or even the Republic will have the sense to use spies, which are going to pick up on the vast movement of slaves, equipment, etc for the building of Starkiller, not going to be a quick job converting a planet which is massively a far bigger project than the two Death Stars combined.

            Vader isn’t at the same level as Snoke, in comparison it would be the Emperor., who’s origins were not addressed in the OT.

          • November 3, 2016 at 7:25 pm
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            But the Imperial Remnant fled to the unknown regions after the collapse of the Empire. Those regions were aptly named. These regions were not empty. They were unknown. So, nobody is in any sort of position to say what or what not the First Order was able to drum up there in terms of resources.

            Spies. Whatever. Maybe Luke should have just used the Force and found out what they were doing. And the general impression from the novels is that the Republic was pretty busy getting its act together and dealing with its own disparate, internal challenges. The remnants of the Empire were known to be out there somewhere, but it seemed to be an increasingly distant threat that folks were largely dismissing by the time The Force Awakens takes place.

            “Vader isn’t at the same level as Snoke, in comparison it would be the Emperor., who’s origins were not addressed in the OT.”

            You’re completely missing the point. Character origins are interesting. The financial origins of weapons and equipment are not.

          • November 3, 2016 at 7:50 pm
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            Not to you, but others have raised the question on the timeframe of building the Death Stars. You phrase it as though I want an accountants report, not at all, just an explantation on when it started its construction and who commissioned it. It might well be part of Snoke’s background, but as with the Emperor’s it might not be dealt with within this trilogy.

          • November 3, 2016 at 8:42 pm
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            “…but others have raised the question on the timeframe of building the Death Stars.”

            I don’t much care what other folks are losing sleep over. It’s no hair off my back if we never get an explanation for any of that. But, I imagine that we eventually will. If there’s a story to be told there, I’m sure we’ll get it. Did you read Bloodline? Some of what you might be looking for is hinted upon in that story. With the absence of centralized control in the degree that the Empire wielded, some of the farther placed criminal groups operate with greater freedom. One of them seems to be funneling money to an unknown location.

    • October 31, 2016 at 11:42 pm
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      I personally see the Striker as the missing link between the Gen 2 Jedi Starfighters and Tie Fighters,; it fits perfectly at that point in the timeline.

    • October 31, 2016 at 11:55 pm
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      Hmmm, the TFA 2-seat TIE fighter was really only for the benefit of the narrative…. and as always I’d argue that that was another case of lazy writing. I mean, the new 2-seat /rear gunner thing is okay and serves its own purpose, but it might have been more fun to have crammed two people into one conventional 1-seat TIE cockpit !! :o)

      • November 1, 2016 at 12:36 am
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        I presume that’s so they both had an opportunity to display some heroism rather than one of them being stuck as a cramped passenger.

        The FO did also have regular (updated) single-seat TIEs — the ones chasing the Falcon on Jakku weren’t the special forces 2-seater.

      • November 1, 2016 at 12:55 am
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        Ships with two aren’t unheard of. See the Snowspeeder,

        • November 1, 2016 at 4:06 am
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          Or Y- wing with the rear gunner.

      • November 1, 2016 at 5:10 am
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        Yeah. It was lazy writing that had them go with the original TIE design. Brilliant deduction.

  • October 31, 2016 at 9:51 pm
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    I can’t play the video! grrr

    • November 1, 2016 at 6:21 pm
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      watch on the EW page, you’ve been around long enough to know this 😉

      • November 1, 2016 at 7:22 pm
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        Actually I haven’t thought of that, but thanks.

  • October 31, 2016 at 10:05 pm
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    I hate that video player so much! Fullscreen button doesn’t work and instead sends me to the end of the video, and then I can’t just rewind to watch it, I have to refresh the whole page.

    • October 31, 2016 at 11:48 pm
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      Sorry we can’t help with that. It’s an EW embed.

    • November 1, 2016 at 6:21 pm
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      just watch it on the EW page, it works perfectly there.

  • October 31, 2016 at 11:12 pm
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    so fast like a tie interceptor, but a little extra fire power, i like the sound of that! still waiting for the empire to figure out the ground breaking idea of adding shields, though. 😉

    • October 31, 2016 at 11:40 pm
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      Before the EU purge, it was commonly stated that both shields and life support were removed from most TIE designs to keep the costs down. The Empire figures they have the numerical superiority to overwhelm foes It’s still a colossally stupid strategy…training new pilots takes time.

      • November 1, 2016 at 12:24 am
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        kind of like how the OT stormtrooper armour pales in comparison to the clone trooper armour. i guess palps would rather spend his tax revenue on death stars then the soldiers in field.

      • November 1, 2016 at 5:08 am
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        TIEs definitely have life support now. See Rebels.

        • November 2, 2016 at 9:22 pm
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          This really annoyed me about Rebels during season 1. The whole reason TIEpilots wore the helmets was due to lack of life support. TIEs were supposed to be small and cramped, but they regularly have 2 or 3 people in the cockpit in rebels. I’m not a person who ever moans about the old EU, but this did bug me!

          • November 3, 2016 at 7:05 pm
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            It did me too. But to be fair, all the reasons we were told TIEs were the way they were came from EU sources. Ah well.

      • November 2, 2016 at 8:13 pm
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        I always assumed that TIEs had life support. I sort of guessed that the TIE Pilot suits were used in the event that the hulls were compromised; must like modern fighter pilots who fly prepared for cabin depressurization at high altitudes.

  • November 1, 2016 at 12:42 am
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    I always like seeing new variants of things like this. It’s nice to get a more in-atmosphere fighter

  • November 1, 2016 at 5:58 am
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    It looks so much like the Jedi Starfighter. Has Lucasfilm already run out of starship ideas, Doug Chang is better than this. There are only so many variants on the tie, I think we’ve officially ran out. And its funny, but not surprising that the Anthony didn’t mention the design link to the prequels. It looks as much like something from the clone wars than from the galactic civil war.

    • November 1, 2016 at 9:28 am
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      It is also close to the CW on the time line. So why shoulden the Empire not use some of the Repulic designes?

  • November 1, 2016 at 8:39 pm
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    It’s strangr to see all of these “new” vehicles and it really disrupts the timeline. If they had the tie striker, why wasn’t it used to defend the Death Star against the rebel attack in ANH? At the same time, if the rebels had the ultrafast and sleek A-Wings, as shown in Rebels, why didnt they use those in the Battle of Yavin instead of the basically twenty year old design of the X-Wing starfighter. And, why are they still using X-wings in TFA? That would be the equivilent of using an F4 Phantom incurrent operations in the mid-east. These film’s continuity has very little on commom with real life wear and tear.

    • November 2, 2016 at 12:27 am
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      Re: “why are they still using X-wings in TFA? That would be the equivilent of
      using an F4 Phantom incurrent operations in the mid-east”

      TFA x-wings are a new/different version of the craft. NOT the same as the ones from ANH/shown in OT period.

      • November 2, 2016 at 12:33 am
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        They are the same except for the shape of the intakes. Same basic design. I thought that they would come up with a next-gen fighter. As I understand it, the rebellion was shaping the bottom of the barrel with the Incom T-65’s. You would figure 35 years later the NR and Resistance would have enough cash for something newer and better.

        • November 2, 2016 at 12:51 am
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          Re: “same except for the shape of the intakes.”
          Besides engines being different the wings are also “split” & fit *together*.

          I don’t disagree that it makes sense for new designs.
          However, IF…say the X-wing (shape) design makes sense for some very good reason – coming up with a new version of it also makes sense.

          Additionally, if say the new design from TFA came out well after the T-65s, the same logic follows – The Resistance is not the New Republic & is also scraping same barrel & on a shoe-string budget.

    • November 2, 2016 at 12:55 am
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      None of this makes a whole lot of sense. When we’re talking about a galaxy-spanning conflict, what we see in the films is really only a very tiny slice of it. It’s only realistic to expect that we’ve seen a small sampling of what both the Imperial and Rebel military machines are able to muster. It’s sort of like watching six hours of footage from World War II and expecting to have seen every weapon and vehicle in use through the course of the conflict.

      The comparison with X-Wings and the F4 Phantom breaks down when we’re looking at how long these technologies have existed. The Star Wars universe has had spaceflight for thousands of years. How much innovation and design change would you really expect to see over the course of 30 years? And really, while the new X-Wings resemble their Classic Trilogy ancestors, we’re not sure what’s changed tech-wise. Maybe quite a bit.

      • November 2, 2016 at 1:04 am
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        Well, the First Order adapted a larger Star Destroyer design, and began using missles, which were not seen in the OT. Then there are the SF Ties, which have swivel cannons and a gunner position. Looks like they’ve done pretty well in upgrading their ship designs. The Republic looks to still be using Dreadnaughts and X wings.

        As far as not seeing A-wings, when ROTJ came out, those were supposed to be the newest star fighters, recently brought in by newer races who had joined the Rebellion. But now they are seen protecting Corvettes in Rebels. Since Yavin was a Major battle, you would figure to se them there.

        • November 2, 2016 at 2:36 pm
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          “…those were supposed to be the newest star fighters, recently brought in by newer races who had joined the Rebellion.”

          Yeah. I think that’s mentioned in some of the old West End Games materials somewhere. I love the stuff WEG developed for Star Wars, but it’s not canon anymore…if it ever was. But really, who cares? So there are A-Wings in pre-ROTJ storylines…big deal.

          And regarding that other stuff…same response. Who cares? If you’re tossing your hands up in frustration because Star Destroyers now carry missiles, I think you might do yourself some good by remembering that these are fictional movies and that the technology we’ve seen in a Star Wars movie doesn’t need to follow any sort of real path of progression that we’ve seen develop in our world. Because…well…it’s not our own world.

          Star Wars is fantasy. So the computer panels in the Death Star don’t need to make sense to us. The likelihood of Jawas making a viable living by scrounging for metal in a desert doesn’t need to make sense to us. Using a walking war machine instead of one that hovers doesn’t need to make sense to us. And when we try and reconcile these things with real-world reasons that gel with our sense of logic, it takes a lot of the majesty and magic out of these films.

  • November 2, 2016 at 2:10 am
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    Is…is that a NERF launcher under the wing? Goddamn you, Habro, goddamn you to the deepest circle of Hell.

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