| Sienar Fleet Systems TIE Oppressor Strike Starfighter
A recent development, the TIE Oppressor is being deployed in limited numbers among selected units of the Imperial starfighter cadre elite. It is an attempt to build a variant of the standard TIE hull that can carry heavy weapon payloads with sufficient armor and shielding to allow the ship to operate in the vanguard of an Imperial assault force. It also has enough solar array surface to assist in generation of the energy needed to power it all. All of the offensive and defensive equipment packed into the Oppressor comes at the cost of space for engine installations. Although most Imperial fighters are designed to have superior maneuverability, this is a trait in which the TIE Oppressor is rated by most of its pilots as merely average. This lack of dizzying maneuverability is a result of the Oppressor mounting the same basic engine arrangement as seen on earlier TIE starfighter types, but with its thrust being sapped by much heavier and more solid spaceframe. In return for the deficits in combat maneuvering capability, the Oppressor carries one of the most potent offensive and defensive packages fielded in any Imperial starfighter spaceframe.
Only the most veteran Imperial TIE pilots are being allowed to participate in the Oppressor flight test program as only these personnel are deemed to have the tactical know-how to properly employ the ship as well as the loyalty to be trusted with such as expensive flight article. Although currently serving in the fleet as part of a 'Limited Fielding Test Initiative' and considered a minor trial program by the Imperial Navy, the actual numbers of fighters being fielded would make most Alliance officers wince.
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