TIE Reconnaissance

During the height of the Empire, TIE fighters were produced in countless numbers by Sienar Fleet Systems. To meet specific mission profiles, a small percentage of these fighters were modified and delineated by two-letter suffixes. The standard TIE fighter of the line was known as the TIE/ln. The TIE/rc was specially suited for reconnaissance missions.

Extra-sensitive sensors and long-range communications gear allow the TIE/rc to serve as remote spotlights for larger capital ships. Not equipped with hyperdrives, TIE/rc fighters are still short range craft, but can often extend the reach of carrier ship or launch base sensors. TIE/rc fighters are sometimes dispatched into asteroid fields or areas of dense starship traffic that may limit a larger vessel's mobility, for example. In squadron activities, a TIE/rc may range ahead of a main starfighter force and send back vital pre-engagement data.

To make room for the added equipment, the TIE/rc only has a single laser cannon. One variant of the TIE/rc is the TIE/rc vanguard, a ship often pressed into scouting and spy missions. This model features slightly angled solar gather panels to increase sensor visibility, and has limited deflector shields to protect whatever intelligence it may have gathered.