It's a bummer that the ARC 170 was phased out after the Clone Wars. Imagine if the Rebel Alliance get their hands on them to use in fighting the Galactic Empire as they ain't picky on Clone Wars era weapons, vehicles and equipment.
The rebels definitely used ARC 170's. Just not that extensively because: 1. They were produced in lesser numbers than other Clone Wars era fighters such as the Y-Wing and Z-95 2. They required a crew of 3 to be used to the greatest efficacy and the Alliance was constantly short of pilots
They would have been a great addition for using as scouts to shadow imperial fleets or scout out ahead of raids and fly as wingmen to Y-Wings on bombing runs and they probably could have rigged up a few new variants like a CAS or heavy escort fighter.
The alliance had two major issues being lack of funding and lack of personnel. The funding extends to maintaining stuff like ships and fighters but the lack of personnel is the big thing with the ARC-170. It's intricate enough that trying to maintain it would suck but more importantly the rebels did not have the sheer manpower to put three people in one fighter for a fight. Now having one or two ARC-170s per fleet would be great for the rebels but that is only for the major fleets the rebels were able to put together for scouting reasons.
"Aggressive Reconnaissance" colloquially known as "Kicking the beehive". A tactic of hitting a static enemy to see how they respond and gather intel on that response.
A modified ARC-160 would have been a far better choice for Mando -Extra space for passengers / bounty. - Long range - Guns protecting the rear arc. - Stronger shield
Id have to disagree. The 170 is by far my favorite fighter in all of star wars. But if I was bounty hinting I'd always go cargo style ship. The razorcrest and slave one fit the bill perfect. You want a motor home. Lots of cargo for bikes or beasts, storage for cryo frozen bounties, and modify it with a shit ton of weapons. The arc would be a cool idea. I really don't know how he's living out of an N1 right now but hey it was definitely cool to see it in the show
The 2nd too actually ARE.. those 2 combined have the right mix of speed, armor, an firepower in large numbers or good sized elite units without support fighters an Interceptors... Which basically is part of why Imp SDs have so many of them these fighters you mentioned would savage an butchered most Star Destroyer types. Cuz they're huge slow targets with not nearly enough anti fighter arms by itself otherwise
@@robertagu5533the problem was the isd was one of the fastest capital ships, and such mostly all support ships couldn't keep up, though it should have carried more fighters
@@derrickmeade4891 yeah but that'd trade the problem of a famous battleship ALSO being a bit of a carrier being JUST mostly a famous carrier, NOT nearly as fearsome AND STILL create a problem of needing that Force Projection an Battleship that's capable of singlehandedly invading an bombarding planets along with taking on whatever minimal rebellious security elements at same time too thing.. something They probably can't afford or won't go out way to spare so they DONT look weak, vulnerable an invite more issues then they shoulda known better then already creat or make worse then was already
I can see the tactic that can be used with this combination The ARCs can be used to localize jamming of the destroyer's sensors. The X-Wings take on the tie fighters. And the Y-Wings tear the destroyer apart.
@@derrickmeade4891The Empire could have solved this easily by building fast escort ships that always accompany an ISD. The Raider Corvette already fits the bill, and it can do other tricks like recon, and well raiding. It's Hangars are unnecessary but still could be used to collect Tie stragglers when the ISD jumps. And to deploy Ties on the far side of an enemy force or installation so that the ISDs Ties can attack in a pincer movement. But a fast anti fighter Corvette or just increasing the speed of the Lancer Frigate would have made ISDs "rebel-proof."
The ARC-170 feels more like a gun boat than a fighter to me. It's size and armament makes it a cross between the two. Usually, IRL, such vessels are used for recon, as you mentioned.
Nah, it's still a fighter. But I'd classify it as a "heavy fighter", and lump it in among the B-wing and Tie Defender, very capable and specilized fighter. In the early CLone Wars it served this role, the V-19 was the standard fighter, then the Z-95, but essentially with Clone losses mounting the Republic shifted to quantity over quality, the Y-wing saw less and less use aling with the Z-95, and soon the doctrine shifted to an interesting state, the ARC-170 served a duel purpose as fighter and sometimes bomber, it would do the heaviest work against capital ships while the V-wing the new Interceptor focused more on dogfighting. Clones became more specialized to make up for their ever thinning numbers, all they could do as they could never outnumber the droids. Then I guess with the Clone Wars over the EMpire shifted it's doctrine, no longer fighting a huge galactic war liek the Republic it switched to using the V-wing, minus the Astromech, the V-wing was more producable and served the Empire well as they just dealt with pirates and small Rebel cells, worked well enough till the Tie Fighter was introduced and like the Clones, both fighters were fully replaced, now rlegated to scrap, sold off, stolen by pirates, or kept in semi Imperial service with defense forces and smaller Imperial loyal groups.
@@TheZamaron I wouldn't lump the Defender in with the B-Wing/ARC-170 "heavy" designation. Defender was a superiority fighter from the ground up: fast, maneuverable, hard hitting. It was the same size (roughly) as an X-Wing and served the same primary role: denying control of the battlefield to enemy fighters. Heavy fighters tend to fill more of a light bomber offensive role or an anti-bomber/anti-gunship defensive role. Bigger but usually slower guns than a superiority-type fighter. Heavier missile payload. Heavier shields/armor. ARC-170 would have been the "sports car" of the heavy fighter category when measured against its contemporaries like the B-Wing, Y-Wing, TIE Bomber, Xg-1 Assault Gunboat, but it's not mixing it up successfully against any superiority fighter
@@Another64driver Defender in Legends was very much a fighter-bomber, and it was why the thing was an utter nightmare for the RA/NR. It could swap between Proton Torpedo and Concussion Missile loadouts, was more heavily shielded than Y/X Wings, AND had the speed/maneuverability of the TIE Interceptor. It was basically the ultimate small craft package for its time, and SW Cannon looked to be going in the same direction until they just outright had the Defender Program shutdown with the loss of Thrawn. The one drawback it had was that it was expensive to produce, but as the "perfect" squad leader or hunter-killer, you only ever would need a few produced for desired results. I would classify it as an "Advanced Fighter" since it absolutely is multirole yet with an emphasis on fighter superiority; but giving it the "heavy fighter" designation is only a misnomer in just how bloody fast the thing is when compared with other heavy fighters.
Ot is the N26 or the clone wars. Big enough to have the firepower to be a light tactical bombers in a fighterbomber role, while having the speed and maneuverability to dogfight with a ME-262.
The title is my words exactly. I am glad somebody is finally addressing this. Lets not forget that the ARC-170 was based off of the P-61, one of the first US aircraft to have a radar, which was also in it's nose.
You keep breaking down starships, and I'll just keep rewatching it a hundred times, or so. Please let these recent breakdowns lead to another long compilation 🫡
THANK YOU! Finally someone covers how misused the ARC-170 was. I personally think the GAR should have mounted a Gatling gun to is for CAS capabilities to operate more like an A-10 Thunderbolt Warthog, but that’s just me. Additionally the ARC-170 had bombing capabilities so it should have also operated as a dive bomber instead of a fighter. The ARC-170 was designed as a long range recon ship with many other capabilities which makes it an amazing ship for many roles. It could be a fighter if needed, but that isn’t what it’s supposed to act as. As it’s pretty cool you put in the picture of George HW Bush in his WW2 plane, did you know he barely escaped being eaten by Japanese officers in the Philippines in 1944? It’s an interesting story and Bush earned the distinguished flying cross for actions that day.
Damn, close air support would be a decent role for that! Or, barring the Gatling gun, retune the massive medium laser cannons on the wings to have a lower power higher fire rate mode. akin to the AT-TEs mass driver as seen in the clone wars episode where Anakin and Ashoka rescue rotta, once they get the ATTE to the top of the butte and the droids come back to retake it, we see the mass driver shooting rapid but weaker shots. Adding a fire mode similar to that to the ARC-170s guns could also get the same effect with adequate stopping power as a medium laser cannon is already so overkill for a fighter bomber. Sorry, ARCs my fav ship and I just went off on a big tangent 😂
@@GenerationTechI still stand by the video you guys did like 4 years ago talking about the flaws of this ship. TLDR: 10 flaws, and one of the biggest ones is - it's terrible for stealth/recon .
Agreed, the ARC-170 had such great potential and definitely would have benefited as a modular chassis with dedicated variants in other roles. Interestingly, the Republic had the PTB-625 which looks like a bomber variant of the ARC-170, but sadly it was only a planetary vessel.
The ARC 170 has always been one of my favourite Star Wars starships, ever since I was a kid, simply because I love the fact it is a Prequel/Republic era version of the X-Wing. As a kid, I loved those sort of connectivities (callbacks through connective tissue) between the two trilogies/eras - whether it be the Venator-class Star Destroyer, the clone armour, or, of course, the ARC 170! This idea of George's was the perfect way to build the Prequels as predecessors to the Originals; simply genius, and oh-so satisfying when you watch Revenge of the Sith and are witnessing the gradual decline of the Republic into the Empire, as well as the Republican relics that would be adapted by the Rebels. On that note, I don't see many people talk about this: I LOVE the grey, gritty tone of Episode III, which ships such as the ARC 170 and Venator-class Star Destroyer had, as well as the clones on Utapau and Kashyyk (once again a superb way of building the bleak atmosphere that would culminate in the Empire.) Thank you for giving this underrated ship the love it deserves, Alan! P.S. Oh my goodness, the sound that ship makes - so epic and heavy!
Alan this is an awesome video about an underrated fighter. The older and slower devastator Torpedo bomber was deployed at midway because the Avenger was not ready yet. You are right that US torpedo squadrons struggled at midway All of Torpedo Squadron 8 was lost.
Not so much that it wasn't ready, there just wasn't that many at the time. The few we could deploy were sent to Midway's air field and as Alan said did not fare all that well.
It’s the night fighter version of the Ju-88 for me. -larger than other fighters -heavy armament -reliance on electronics (onboard radar / sensors) -versatile enough to provide different services
While the ARC-170 is heavily visually based on the P-61, and its role is more similar to something like a PBJ, this story heavily reminds me of the F-4 Phantom. Large, expensive aircraft that is built for a specific purpose, but due to the nature of a specific, high profile conflict, that aircraft does somewhat poorly. This is taken as that aircraft being ineffective and then future aircraft design is based on smaller, cheaper, less effective aircraft that create operational limitations and require extensive upgrades to make them viable. So i guess in this example the V-Wing is like, and F-5 and the TIE fighter is a super early Block F-16
@@p_serdiuk while you're absolutely correct, the production models of the F-16 always had missiles, some of the people involved in the procurement process wanted a guns only fighter for the F-16. Smarter people said that would limit the aircraft too much so strapped on Sidewinders and Sparrows, but a lot of the design of the aircraft incentivises close-in gunfights
@@jeremygrover5979 This story is actually a lie made up by one specific man, Pierre Sprey, but that's a WILDLY different and huge topic lmao The F-16 isn't really built for gunfights, it's built to acquire Sidewinder lock-ons while in a merge.
@@p_serdiuk interesting. I knew what the fighter mafia said was bantha poodoo, but didn't realize that even that aspect of the F-16 story was made up by them. I also now associate aircraft like the Hornet, Fulcrum, Flanker, and the Raptor to be more heatseeker based cause of their 1 circle capability, but that's probably just because of things like the AIM9X and the R73 that I think that. Makes sense that something equipped with 9Ms or worse would want to fight 2 circle
Summed it up pretty well with that title. Like most aircraft, the ARC-170 was meant to do a certain job, and would not do well if you didn't put it in that job. However, if you put it in the recon or capital ship attack roles it was designed for and give it an escort, it is a great platform.
Basically in the battle of Corascant; it was pretty much like the battle of Leyte Gulf. Where a bunch of reserve carriers were launching every plane they got into the air to do anything. The Arc 170s were sent out because this was the republics main city; they couldn't afford to lose. If it could fly that day; it flew.
It reminds me more of the DeHavilland Mosquito than the PBY. It's fast, somewhat fragile, not that maneuverable, very long ranged, and can do recon, some dogfighting, bombing runs, and anti-capital strikes, depending on the mission. And, it's associated with a lot of politicking :)
Sorry but the Mosquito was quite agile, crews had to be careful with some maneuvers such as being too aggressive with the rudder at high speeds and it having a high landing speed to keep from stalling though recovering from a stall the plane was very forgiving.... but german pilots that were sent to intercept them very often went home frustrated because they couldn't bring it down. It was quite robust considering its method of construction The ARC170 resembles the P61 Black Widow night fighter more than anything
@@celticlad3251 It wasn't as agile at a full combat load, similar to how the ARC-170 is shown. Like, it certainly _could_ fight, it just preferred not to unless at an advantage. The night strike variant, if I read it correctly, with 4x 20 mm cannons, 2x 500 kg bombs, drop tanks with fuel, and an onboard radar, is really similar. Very do-it-all.
@@isaackim7675 well they are much faster and more likely to survive.......to be honest the bombers there looked more suitable for carpet bombing against unprotected civil settlements rather against dreadnought, so the movie was very weird
@@isaackim7675that crap the 2nd Generation Rebels fielded in that movie was an eye sore and embarrassing abomination so bad it was a disaster in their reality AND ours alike... MAYBE if they emptied all those of basically anyone an stuffed them full of High Explosives an sent them to Kamikaze that absurdly huge Imp paper football it'd been clever, awesome, funny... An for the most part WORKED.. but even attempting such a thing an showing it is probably way too much to ask for an expect with Disney
@@robertagu5533 To be honest i enjoyed the first movie.....had some sour points, not once before it was established that Rey had experience with repairing or piloting, so suddenly she can do both was breaking the narrative. I would divided the Abilties between the 3 protagonist, Finn can repair and is good at ground combat, while Poe pilot, Rey would be a beast in melee. Basically also a missed opportunity to portray all likeable.....like Poe, an arrogant hotshot pilot, humbled and learn leadership, Finn a stormtrooper who basically rebelled against his indoctrination and is socially awkward because he hasnt established his moral leaning and Rey an orphan who longed for a family. The first movie wasnt that bad. The second movie pissed me really off, lets introduce new characters, to make them appear capable lets dumb the environment down. Poe became stupid. Finn a coward who run away and needed to be saved. Rey became suddenly a messiah. Third movie was equal hated by me, bassically it could be named "Damage Control", lets retcon everything and make Finn the black wohoo guy. Basically they broke the immersion so much like lets steal Abrahams Star Trek scenes, with flicker jumping. More broken storyline, the deathstar exploded and for some reason its fell mainly intact on the planet etc. To give some fan service lets give Chewie his medal, which kinda mocked Chewies character since everyone in his family is dead. And Rey got promoted from Messiah to half god. Now she is a Palpatine and Skywalker like a very bad rpg character who is half angel and half demon, with superpowers that nobody has and can do everything better than anyone. What i dislike in general that from cinematic standpoint. The second movie was meaningless, they started where they ended. Holdo didnt looked competent, she lost all ships, so why didnt she sacrificed one ship in the beginning and saved us 2h obsolete story. I mean Rogue One is great, we have several good series for Star Wars, but the sequels basically doomed Star Wars. We have now the stupid culture war in Star Wars....star wars means escapism, romance and heroic tales. Andor had this....Mandalorian had this......Rogue One had this. And i cant even try to enjoy the acolyte, because i get crap from several sides....when i say well that isnt great, that is something i enjoyed. Its like a christmas with a very toxic family where everyone scream and put each other down. From Ahsoka i enjoyed Rosario Dawson,Ray Stevenson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and partially Ivanna Sakhno but really hated this Thrawn and the complete storyline.
I always thought that Palpatine was cuffering for the main weakness of the ISG's because the Arc 170 was the perfect counter for those ships, especially if you full it with proton torpedoes and have a carrier close by to come in after they dropped their payloads
Note: Avengers weren't fielded yet at Midway. It was the older TBD Devastator torpedo bombers that were separated from the their fighter escort that were annihilated. Also, I think a dive bomber like the SBD Dauntless that can accomplish more roles, especially scouting, is a closer analogue.
Used one of these boys in a SWttrpg to great effect. I installed two astromechs to help with the load on the pilot(me) in and out of combat. It allowed me to sleep while the droids flew the fighter as well as manage the sensors and weapons while on missions.
As it is for all strike fighter space craft in the Star Wars universe. Each one will have there own flaws and disadvantages if not used for what they mainly designed for. Sadly, it's the losses of not just the crafts them selves but, the tole of the lives lost before actions are taken on all sides.
Before watching: Always thought it was more of a Scout Craft than a screen-fighter craft. 5:31 Yeah Recon Fighter/Bomber should have had Z(ed?)-95 escorts as to guide them on bombing runs. But only because X-wings and U-wings hadn't been invented yet.
I'm pretty sure "zed" is just the British way of saying "z." So I'm not sure why Allen says it that way (he doesn't sound very British and it is Z-95).
Hi every one, I have a question and did not know where to post it. Here it is- If your traveling at hyper space speed what would that speed be if you where traveling at warp speed. Tried to figure it out, but did not know even where to start.
6:26 🛑✋🏻🤚🏻Alan, it's a dorsal hanger, not ventral hanger for the Venator. Star Destroyers have ventral hangers. Think "dorsal fin" in sharks and dolphins.
Of course.. *Palpatine* wasn't a scared prisoner, he was excitedly watching the battle through the panoramic bridge windows, anticipating his big deception and his betrayal of Dooku. This might have been one of the happiest moments of his life, he would look back and reflect on how _this_ went _almost_ perfectly (except for Obi-Wan surviving.. "I should have told Dooku to make sure he killed Obi-Wan as his opening move"). So he would remember the visuals out of the windows of ARC-170s being blown away in furball dogfights by very light stripped down fighters. If instead the battle near the Invisible Hand had been Head-hunters pawning droid fighters left and right, then the Empire might have gone in a different direction.
I would do a modified design on the ARC 170 so I didn't have the co-pilot spot and maybe shrunk the wings down. In short a trimmed down version to decrease its target profile.
I like to think of the ARC as the fantasy version of the Bf-110. It had an awful record as an air superiority fighter but was perfect for multi roles especially night fighting where it bulk and was able to handle extra equipment and sensors
I still stand by the video you guys did like 4 years ago talking about the flaws of this ship. TLDR: 10 flaws, and one of the biggest ones is - it's terrible for stealth/recon .
The Battle of Coruscant had to be terrifying for the citizens of Coruscant. Giant chunks of starships and so many starfighters falling into the planet hitting the surface at hundreds of miles per hour. Causing massive explosions across the planets surface, I can only imagine what devastation a hyperdrive exploding could cause. It had to have been a planet wide disaster. It's actually kind of surprising that Palpatine wasn't removed as chancellor after that. You likely would of had a lot of angry citizens, who watched family members die. In my opinion this attack on the capital planet on the Republic would of made Palpatine look incompetent and weak. Kind of similarly how Putin has to be looking in real life as the Ukrainians invade Russia.
My surprise, just like Jedi misusing Clone Commandos, other special units/equipment throughout the Clone Wars, they misused the ARC-170 also leading to catastrophic losses. We do see V-Wings in the background throughout The Battle of Corusant, just a shame they didn't have an escort of V-19s, V-Wings or Headhunter Starfighters while providing escort to Obiwan and Anakin. Probably would have a had a lot less needless deaths associated with this ship. With the Tarkin Doctrine, it makes sense the Empire fading the ARC-170 out of service, although it would have probably been a good idea to keep sone for elite/special fighter units. A tactic I use in Star Wars Empire at War, I use my recon units (Z-95, TIE Scout or TIE Phantom squadrons) to scout out where the enemy space station or space forces are at and drop a heavily armed and armored fleet right on top of the enemies position. Usually my recon Squadron (although my TIE Scout Squadron dies more often, it's a little slower then the Z-95 Squadron, and doesn't have stealth and speed like the Phantom Squadron) survives and I have them retreat after discovering the enemy location and having my forces deploy so they can live to gight another day..... use that same tactic in the next invasion.
I had forgotten about this little ship or large starfighter but I agree great for the role it was built for but not what it was used for. I think taking Policing into account having an underslung space for prisoner transport(1 or 2) wouldn't be bad or even removing the tailgunner and instead perhaps upgrading the astromech to run that and use that space for a single prisoner.
I always wonder exactly what why the fold-oit wings actually do. My best thought is that it's related to control surfaces not for aerodynamics, but for the gravity/repulsor system, effectively giving additional rotational axis planes.
YEEEEEEEESSS, Finally my favorite ship of all time, I always hated the ARC 170 didn't get more love and appearance, I treat it the same as Clone Commandos like Gregor, they have firepower, operating behind enemy lines using stealth, self reliant, until it's time for fireworks AND both have such a great look
Allen could you imagine if they would have launched all of the Arc 170s before they entered the Corisant system. Then entered with their crusiers. Engaged the Seperatists. Then the Arc 170s could have come in from another direction and straffed the Seperatists crusiers. I think that would have worked.
The rebels in canon and legends for the first part of the GC did utilize ARC-170's in their designed role as scout/recon fighters until they got recon models of the A-wing, Y-wing, and X-wing in service.
I always imagined this thing to be like an A-6 Intruder. Long range recon/ECM/precise anti material is its bread and butter. Also, this and the Venator would have been perfect for the Empire's need to police vast swaths of space.
Definitely one of my favourite Republic Era fighters. I need to finish that story I was doing as a few of the characters use ARC-170's in their operations for the Hutts during the Galactic Civil War (basically a space station crew who oversee a mining operation for a low level Hutt and they have a lot of Republic and Separatist equipment so they get hired to do a job and they have their own ARC-170's on the station)
Considering how big the ARC 170 is portrayed, I would have thought it was an ideal ship for someone like Din Djarin to use after losing the Razor Crest. The N1 fighter he ended up with, while nimble and and excellent fighter on its own, seemed like a poor choice for a character who's main source of income is collecting bounties.
I think another reason for the rejection of older styles was branding. The empire wanted to present a specific image, especially under the tarkin doctrine. Tie fighters could easily be used as a constructed omen of bad things to come in ways a more diverse fleet couldnt
😮💨And the sad thing is you're right: This is my #1 Favorite Starfighter in all of Star Wars and it is grossly under-utilized; I would say it's slightly better than even the Y-Wing ( And that's saying a lot!)
An ARC 170 accompanied by 2-4 tri droids would be a nasty combo. The tri droids could attach to the ARC 170 for hyper jumps. We saw R2 control vulture droids, I bet an astromech could order some tri fighters around.
My head canon is that Anakin gave it the Aggressive Reconnaissance name similar to his line about agressive negogiations - negotiations with a lightsaber - line in AotC.
from playing the x-wing miniatures game, I can say with certainty that the ARC-170 is a beast. so much firepower for how durable it is. and a firing line of them is terrifying to take out. since they have tail guns and the firing arcs overlap, attacking from either front or rear is nearly a death sentence. you need to chew through them from the side. but that makes it so you are hard pressed to take out the most essential pilots who are kept at the center of the line. and when attacking from the side rather than front or rear, it's really hard to stay on target since your movement vector is pointed away from where your foe will be next turn. and if you turn off course you'll have multiple ARCs filling you with cannon fire. I've not a very good pilot when it comes to the x-wing miniatures game, but even for a skilled pilot a squad of ARCs when flown well is a real challenge to face.
The Arc-170 was quite similar to the ww2 German Ju 87 G-1 . With its massive 2 Cannons under Slung its Wings. And I imagine it would fill a similar role as an Anti ground armor aircraft,
I'd say the ARC-170 was like a hybrid of the PBY Catalina flying boat and the Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber. it would work best as a reconnaissance vessel and as a ship-killer but not as a dogfighter. The way it was used in Revenge of the Sith was like bringing a sniper rifle to a room-to-room house battle.
Besides the X-wing and the Millennium Falcon the ARC-170 Starfighter remains one of my favorite Republic Starfighters doesn't matter what anyone says about it
Bare in mind in the very early stages of the F-35 development, with eyes on the specs , the Israeli air force said it needs to been a Two seater ( and three if we could :).. because of its enormous ISR capability.. you build it we’ ll buy it ..
I don't think Palpatine made those decisions I think he left those decisions to people like Tarkin who had their own ideas about military doctrine and the ARC-170 just doesn't fit in that doctrine regardless of its performance. Plus I don't think the ARC-170 was misused. War and combat doesn't wait for you to be ready and so sometimes you're forced to ride or die with what you got.
The ARC-170 really reminds me of the British WW2 planes the Mosquito, Beaufighter or the US P38 Lightning or P61 Black Widow in night fighter variants. I would argue it is more a night fighter style plane than a torpedo bomber.
The general doctrine of the Empire seems to come back again and again to the desire to focus most of their assets onto big fighter-carriers on which all subordinate ships would largely be reliant on. Many of the smaller ships that didn't need to rely on Star Destroyers got sidelined to weird places for not fitting into the official doctrine.
Not just the P-61 Black Widow, the ARC-170 is comparable to the Messerchmitt Bf 110, Junkers Ju 88, or Petlyakov Pe-3 "Peshka" which were medium bombers converted to long range heavy patrol fighters.
I always wondered if these things entered into civilian hands. I like the idea of writing a story about a fighter wing who work for the Hutts as part of a space station's defence force above a mining planet when they are given a shady mission by their Hutt boss and one of their craft is a modified ARC-170, replacing the crew compliment with a living pilot but the navigator and rear gunner with an astro-mech and some engine and systems changes. It seems like it would be great as a heavy fighter option for say pirates of groups like The one in thinking of while the rest of their wing force would be lighter fighters like cloaks or something comparable.
For those wandering: The ww2 plane you are looking for to represent the arc170 is the P-61 black widow, a heavy night fighter desing to intercept bombers by its radar and take them down with 4 20mm guns. So that is why it had such a long nose and the exctra crewman to operate the radar and guide the pilot
Yeah found the ARC-170 to be pretty mediocre vs fighters, it's excellent for supporting/escorting bombers, lighter warships like gunships/corvettes/frigates/light cruisers melt when targeted by bombers with ARC-170's in support.
I think it may have been a personnel issue more than a ship problem for the Empire. It would mean having more pilots that would need to be trained and be on longer missions away from a Cruiser. This would mean leaving the cruisers more vulnerable.
as something right of the bat; the ARC-170 was inspired by the P-61 black widow, a night fighter, converted into a scout plane the F-15 (not related to THAT F-15) with that huge sensor nose and that aft position for a machinegun. Then, a few modifications that could be achieve Improving the capacity, not as a dogfighter but rather to achieve something akin to what the empire did in legends with the missile boat, a large compliment of missiles to saturate the battle mounted on its wide wing and winglet, coupled with the presence of a weapon officer on board, the perfect addition for such task If one wants something that could be more geared toward forward facing enemy and a more starfighter role; extra lascanon could be added on the wingtips in a manner similar to the X-Wing. Finally, another one, if a heavy, more independent long range bomber, two option can be discussed. Either a rework of the bomb bay in a larger one or, a rather risky one as it compromise its value as an anti-fighter fighter, the use of mass drivers instead of medium laser canon, as mass drivers don't have to deal with pesky shields in the vacuum, making it into a deadly killer for any capital ships, as the Mandalorian built Canderous tank shows in surface battles and the medium sized vengeance frigate shows in space.
The Z-95 Headhunter is by far the best bang for your buck starfighter. Decent hyperdrive, good offense and defense for a cheap price. It would have been smarter for the Empire to put twin ion engines and rapid canons in the Z-95 over the Tie Fighters.
When the Mandalorian needed a new ship after the Razorcrest, I hoped the Arc 170 would be it, with few modifications it makes for the best small bounty hunter ship, faster guns, maybe smaller engines, better mobility, prison cabin, a way better choice than the N1 hot rod
Aside from the X-Wing and B-Wing the Arc-170 would be my choice of ship for traveling. Like in the Mandalorian how Din choose the Naboo starfighter and made modifications. I would choose Arc-170 also making modifications.
It's a bummer that the ARC 170 was phased out after the Clone Wars. Imagine if the Rebel Alliance get their hands on them to use in fighting the Galactic Empire as they ain't picky on Clone Wars era weapons, vehicles and equipment.
They actually did in Cannon
The rebels definitely used ARC 170's. Just not that extensively because:
1. They were produced in lesser numbers than other Clone Wars era fighters such as the Y-Wing and Z-95
2. They required a crew of 3 to be used to the greatest efficacy and the Alliance was constantly short of pilots
They would have been a great addition for using as scouts to shadow imperial fleets or scout out ahead of raids and fly as wingmen to Y-Wings on bombing runs and they probably could have rigged up a few new variants like a CAS or heavy escort fighter.
The X-Wing and Y-Wing were a cheaper option.
Given the resources available to the Rebels, it makes sense
The alliance had two major issues being lack of funding and lack of personnel. The funding extends to maintaining stuff like ships and fighters but the lack of personnel is the big thing with the ARC-170. It's intricate enough that trying to maintain it would suck but more importantly the rebels did not have the sheer manpower to put three people in one fighter for a fight.
Now having one or two ARC-170s per fleet would be great for the rebels but that is only for the major fleets the rebels were able to put together for scouting reasons.
"Aggressive Reconnaissance" colloquially known as "Kicking the beehive". A tactic of hitting a static enemy to see how they respond and gather intel on that response.
The misuse of the ARC-170 was almost criminal. Much like the first Geonosian battle with clones.
and yet they didn't abandon the clone program after that battle.
@@Virtue2721They knew the clones were for them to just throw at the enemy.
A modified ARC-160 would have been a far better choice for Mando
-Extra space for passengers / bounty.
- Long range
- Guns protecting the rear arc.
- Stronger shield
I was about to say the same.
Id have to disagree. The 170 is by far my favorite fighter in all of star wars. But if I was bounty hinting I'd always go cargo style ship. The razorcrest and slave one fit the bill perfect. You want a motor home. Lots of cargo for bikes or beasts, storage for cryo frozen bounties, and modify it with a shit ton of weapons. The arc would be a cool idea. I really don't know how he's living out of an N1 right now but hey it was definitely cool to see it in the show
@@Shute47 Sure, but better compared to N1.
I'm not the only one who thought about it! Nois ^^
@@Shute47 to be fair, I said it would be a “better choice”, and not “the ideal choice”. It is still a better alternative to the N-1 Starfighter
The ARC-170 has been my favorite star fighter ever since it first showed up on screen in episode 3. I absolutely love it
agreed!
Same. It was the engine sound for me. So cool.
The ARC-170, the Y-Wing and the X-Wing would definitely be a nightmare for an Imperial Star Destroyer.
The 2nd too actually ARE.. those 2 combined have the right mix of speed, armor, an firepower in large numbers or good sized elite units without support fighters an Interceptors... Which basically is part of why Imp SDs have so many of them these fighters you mentioned would savage an butchered most Star Destroyer types. Cuz they're huge slow targets with not nearly enough anti fighter arms by itself otherwise
@@robertagu5533the problem was the isd was one of the fastest capital ships, and such mostly all support ships couldn't keep up, though it should have carried more fighters
@@derrickmeade4891 yeah but that'd trade the problem of a famous battleship ALSO being a bit of a carrier being JUST mostly a famous carrier, NOT nearly as fearsome AND STILL create a problem of needing that Force Projection an Battleship that's capable of singlehandedly invading an bombarding planets along with taking on whatever minimal rebellious security elements at same time too thing.. something They probably can't afford or won't go out way to spare so they DONT look weak, vulnerable an invite more issues then they shoulda known better then already creat or make worse then was already
I can see the tactic that can be used with this combination
The ARCs can be used to localize jamming of the destroyer's sensors. The X-Wings take on the tie fighters. And the Y-Wings tear the destroyer apart.
@@derrickmeade4891The Empire could have solved this easily by building fast escort ships that always accompany an ISD.
The Raider Corvette already fits the bill, and it can do other tricks like recon, and well raiding.
It's Hangars are unnecessary but still could be used to collect Tie stragglers when the ISD jumps.
And to deploy Ties on the far side of an enemy force or installation so that the ISDs Ties can attack in a pincer movement.
But a fast anti fighter Corvette or just increasing the speed of the Lancer Frigate would have made ISDs "rebel-proof."
The ARC-170 feels more like a gun boat than a fighter to me. It's size and armament makes it a cross between the two. Usually, IRL, such vessels are used for recon, as you mentioned.
Nah, it's still a fighter. But I'd classify it as a "heavy fighter", and lump it in among the B-wing and Tie Defender, very capable and specilized fighter. In the early CLone Wars it served this role, the V-19 was the standard fighter, then the Z-95, but essentially with Clone losses mounting the Republic shifted to quantity over quality, the Y-wing saw less and less use aling with the Z-95, and soon the doctrine shifted to an interesting state, the ARC-170 served a duel purpose as fighter and sometimes bomber, it would do the heaviest work against capital ships while the V-wing the new Interceptor focused more on dogfighting. Clones became more specialized to make up for their ever thinning numbers, all they could do as they could never outnumber the droids. Then I guess with the Clone Wars over the EMpire shifted it's doctrine, no longer fighting a huge galactic war liek the Republic it switched to using the V-wing, minus the Astromech, the V-wing was more producable and served the Empire well as they just dealt with pirates and small Rebel cells, worked well enough till the Tie Fighter was introduced and like the Clones, both fighters were fully replaced, now rlegated to scrap, sold off, stolen by pirates, or kept in semi Imperial service with defense forces and smaller Imperial loyal groups.
@@TheZamaron I wouldn't lump the Defender in with the B-Wing/ARC-170 "heavy" designation. Defender was a superiority fighter from the ground up: fast, maneuverable, hard hitting. It was the same size (roughly) as an X-Wing and served the same primary role: denying control of the battlefield to enemy fighters.
Heavy fighters tend to fill more of a light bomber offensive role or an anti-bomber/anti-gunship defensive role. Bigger but usually slower guns than a superiority-type fighter. Heavier missile payload. Heavier shields/armor. ARC-170 would have been the "sports car" of the heavy fighter category when measured against its contemporaries like the B-Wing, Y-Wing, TIE Bomber, Xg-1 Assault Gunboat, but it's not mixing it up successfully against any superiority fighter
There's kind of a gap in the setting for good little gunboats
@@Another64driver Defender in Legends was very much a fighter-bomber, and it was why the thing was an utter nightmare for the RA/NR. It could swap between Proton Torpedo and Concussion Missile loadouts, was more heavily shielded than Y/X Wings, AND had the speed/maneuverability of the TIE Interceptor. It was basically the ultimate small craft package for its time, and SW Cannon looked to be going in the same direction until they just outright had the Defender Program shutdown with the loss of Thrawn. The one drawback it had was that it was expensive to produce, but as the "perfect" squad leader or hunter-killer, you only ever would need a few produced for desired results. I would classify it as an "Advanced Fighter" since it absolutely is multirole yet with an emphasis on fighter superiority; but giving it the "heavy fighter" designation is only a misnomer in just how bloody fast the thing is when compared with other heavy fighters.
Ot is the N26 or the clone wars. Big enough to have the firepower to be a light tactical bombers in a fighterbomber role, while having the speed and maneuverability to dogfight with a ME-262.
The title is my words exactly. I am glad somebody is finally addressing this.
Lets not forget that the ARC-170 was based off of the P-61, one of the first US aircraft to have a radar, which was also in it's nose.
The Black Widow is even funnier looking in real life. One of my favorites.
Many fighter radars ARE located in the nose of their craft...
@@jtjames79 I love the black widows. built a model of one back when i was 10 or 11
@@melangellatc1718most fighters do, actually
@@Parocha because of the Black Widow.
You keep breaking down starships, and I'll just keep rewatching it a hundred times, or so. Please let these recent breakdowns lead to another long compilation 🫡
THANK YOU! Finally someone covers how misused the ARC-170 was. I personally think the GAR should have mounted a Gatling gun to is for CAS capabilities to operate more like an A-10 Thunderbolt Warthog, but that’s just me. Additionally the ARC-170 had bombing capabilities so it should have also operated as a dive bomber instead of a fighter. The ARC-170 was designed as a long range recon ship with many other capabilities which makes it an amazing ship for many roles. It could be a fighter if needed, but that isn’t what it’s supposed to act as.
As it’s pretty cool you put in the picture of George HW Bush in his WW2 plane, did you know he barely escaped being eaten by Japanese officers in the Philippines in 1944? It’s an interesting story and Bush earned the distinguished flying cross for actions that day.
That is kind of interesting idea, big stable platform, plenty of armor...although it would probably messup the sensors on top.
Damn, close air support would be a decent role for that! Or, barring the Gatling gun, retune the massive medium laser cannons on the wings to have a lower power higher fire rate mode.
akin to the AT-TEs mass driver as seen in the clone wars episode where Anakin and Ashoka rescue rotta, once they get the ATTE to the top of the butte and the droids come back to retake it, we see the mass driver shooting rapid but weaker shots. Adding a fire mode similar to that to the ARC-170s guns could also get the same effect with adequate stopping power as a medium laser cannon is already so overkill for a fighter bomber.
Sorry, ARCs my fav ship and I just went off on a big tangent 😂
@@JediSentinal no problem bro, the ARC-170 is also my favorite ship in Star Wars
@@GenerationTechI still stand by the video you guys did like 4 years ago talking about the flaws of this ship.
TLDR: 10 flaws, and one of the biggest ones is - it's terrible for stealth/recon .
Agreed, the ARC-170 had such great potential and definitely would have benefited as a modular chassis with dedicated variants in other roles. Interestingly, the Republic had the PTB-625 which looks like a bomber variant of the ARC-170, but sadly it was only a planetary vessel.
Always felt the arc 170 was a heavy fighter/attacker craft and glad im not the only one who noticed it.
The ARC 170 has always been one of my favourite Star Wars starships, ever since I was a kid, simply because I love the fact it is a Prequel/Republic era version of the X-Wing. As a kid, I loved those sort of connectivities (callbacks through connective tissue) between the two trilogies/eras - whether it be the Venator-class Star Destroyer, the clone armour, or, of course, the ARC 170! This idea of George's was the perfect way to build the Prequels as predecessors to the Originals; simply genius, and oh-so satisfying when you watch Revenge of the Sith and are witnessing the gradual decline of the Republic into the Empire, as well as the Republican relics that would be adapted by the Rebels. On that note, I don't see many people talk about this: I LOVE the grey, gritty tone of Episode III, which ships such as the ARC 170 and Venator-class Star Destroyer had, as well as the clones on Utapau and Kashyyk (once again a superb way of building the bleak atmosphere that would culminate in the Empire.) Thank you for giving this underrated ship the love it deserves, Alan! P.S. Oh my goodness, the sound that ship makes - so epic and heavy!
Alan this is an awesome video about an underrated fighter. The older and slower devastator Torpedo bomber was deployed at midway because the Avenger was not ready yet. You are right that US torpedo squadrons struggled at midway All of Torpedo Squadron 8 was lost.
Not so much that it wasn't ready, there just wasn't that many at the time. The few we could deploy were sent to Midway's air field and as Alan said did not fare all that well.
You know TBH the ARC-170 to me always made me think of the Dive bombers and Torpedo bombers used in the Pacific Theater
Made me think of the A10
It's based on the P-61
Definitely has D-44 Dauntless vibes
It is definitely inspired by the P61 Black Widow
It’s the night fighter version of the Ju-88 for me.
-larger than other fighters
-heavy armament
-reliance on electronics (onboard radar / sensors)
-versatile enough to provide different services
While the ARC-170 is heavily visually based on the P-61, and its role is more similar to something like a PBJ, this story heavily reminds me of the F-4 Phantom.
Large, expensive aircraft that is built for a specific purpose, but due to the nature of a specific, high profile conflict, that aircraft does somewhat poorly. This is taken as that aircraft being ineffective and then future aircraft design is based on smaller, cheaper, less effective aircraft that create operational limitations and require extensive upgrades to make them viable.
So i guess in this example the V-Wing is like, and F-5 and the TIE fighter is a super early Block F-16
Nah the TIE is like an early jet Mig, it doesn't have missiles
@@p_serdiuk while you're absolutely correct, the production models of the F-16 always had missiles, some of the people involved in the procurement process wanted a guns only fighter for the F-16. Smarter people said that would limit the aircraft too much so strapped on Sidewinders and Sparrows, but a lot of the design of the aircraft incentivises close-in gunfights
@@jeremygrover5979 This story is actually a lie made up by one specific man, Pierre Sprey, but that's a WILDLY different and huge topic lmao
The F-16 isn't really built for gunfights, it's built to acquire Sidewinder lock-ons while in a merge.
@@p_serdiuk interesting. I knew what the fighter mafia said was bantha poodoo, but didn't realize that even that aspect of the F-16 story was made up by them. I also now associate aircraft like the Hornet, Fulcrum, Flanker, and the Raptor to be more heatseeker based cause of their 1 circle capability, but that's probably just because of things like the AIM9X and the R73 that I think that. Makes sense that something equipped with 9Ms or worse would want to fight 2 circle
@p_serdiuk oh don't get me started on Pierre Sprey. He made a career holding onto coattails.
Summed it up pretty well with that title.
Like most aircraft, the ARC-170 was meant to do a certain job, and would not do well if you didn't put it in that job. However, if you put it in the recon or capital ship attack roles it was designed for and give it an escort, it is a great platform.
One of my favorite starfighter (along with the TIE Defender and B-wing). I would definitely call it a Fighter-Bomber or Heavy Fighter
B-Wings are bomb. (Pun intended.) 🥇
Basically in the battle of Corascant; it was pretty much like the battle of Leyte Gulf. Where a bunch of reserve carriers were launching every plane they got into the air to do anything.
The Arc 170s were sent out because this was the republics main city; they couldn't afford to lose. If it could fly that day; it flew.
It reminds me more of the DeHavilland Mosquito than the PBY. It's fast, somewhat fragile, not that maneuverable, very long ranged, and can do recon, some dogfighting, bombing runs, and anti-capital strikes, depending on the mission. And, it's associated with a lot of politicking :)
Sorry but the Mosquito was quite agile, crews had to be careful with some maneuvers such as being too aggressive with the rudder at high speeds and it having a high landing speed to keep from stalling though recovering from a stall the plane was very forgiving.... but german pilots that were sent to intercept them very often went home frustrated because they couldn't bring it down. It was quite robust considering its method of construction
The ARC170 resembles the P61 Black Widow night fighter more than anything
@@celticlad3251 It wasn't as agile at a full combat load, similar to how the ARC-170 is shown. Like, it certainly _could_ fight, it just preferred not to unless at an advantage. The night strike variant, if I read it correctly, with 4x 20 mm cannons, 2x 500 kg bombs, drop tanks with fuel, and an onboard radar, is really similar. Very do-it-all.
Would use ARC 170 as deep strike bomber and long range strike craft
It would be nice to see a Mark II during the New Republic era. That would’ve been more suitable for that bombing run on the First Order’s Dreadnaught
@@isaackim7675 well they are much faster and more likely to survive.......to be honest the bombers there looked more suitable for carpet bombing against unprotected civil settlements rather against dreadnought, so the movie was very weird
@@isaackim7675that crap the 2nd Generation Rebels fielded in that movie was an eye sore and embarrassing abomination so bad it was a disaster in their reality AND ours alike... MAYBE if they emptied all those of basically anyone an stuffed them full of High Explosives an sent them to Kamikaze that absurdly huge Imp paper football it'd been clever, awesome, funny... An for the most part WORKED.. but even attempting such a thing an showing it is probably way too much to ask for an expect with Disney
@@robertagu5533 That ship would’ve better off for a mining operation
@@robertagu5533 To be honest i enjoyed the first movie.....had some sour points, not once before it was established that Rey had experience with repairing or piloting, so suddenly she can do both was breaking the narrative. I would divided the Abilties between the 3 protagonist, Finn can repair and is good at ground combat, while Poe pilot, Rey would be a beast in melee. Basically also a missed opportunity to portray all likeable.....like Poe, an arrogant hotshot pilot, humbled and learn leadership, Finn a stormtrooper who basically rebelled against his indoctrination and is socially awkward because he hasnt established his moral leaning and Rey an orphan who longed for a family. The first movie wasnt that bad. The second movie pissed me really off, lets introduce new characters, to make them appear capable lets dumb the environment down. Poe became stupid. Finn a coward who run away and needed to be saved. Rey became suddenly a messiah. Third movie was equal hated by me, bassically it could be named "Damage Control", lets retcon everything and make Finn the black wohoo guy. Basically they broke the immersion so much like lets steal Abrahams Star Trek scenes, with flicker jumping. More broken storyline, the deathstar exploded and for some reason its fell mainly intact on the planet etc. To give some fan service lets give Chewie his medal, which kinda mocked Chewies character since everyone in his family is dead. And Rey got promoted from Messiah to half god. Now she is a Palpatine and Skywalker like a very bad rpg character who is half angel and half demon, with superpowers that nobody has and can do everything better than anyone. What i dislike in general that from cinematic standpoint. The second movie was meaningless, they started where they ended. Holdo didnt looked competent, she lost all ships, so why didnt she sacrificed one ship in the beginning and saved us 2h obsolete story. I mean Rogue One is great, we have several good series for Star Wars, but the sequels basically doomed Star Wars. We have now the stupid culture war in Star Wars....star wars means escapism, romance and heroic tales. Andor had this....Mandalorian had this......Rogue One had this. And i cant even try to enjoy the acolyte, because i get crap from several sides....when i say well that isnt great, that is something i enjoyed. Its like a christmas with a very toxic family where everyone scream and put each other down. From Ahsoka i enjoyed Rosario Dawson,Ray Stevenson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and partially Ivanna Sakhno but really hated this Thrawn and the complete storyline.
15:12 is the end
Thanks dude I would've never guessed
Great video as always Allan. I’m glad to know more about the medium cannons and that they are operated by the co-pilot. Have a good week sir
Oh absolutely the ARC-170 was underrated! It’s my favorite starfighter ever!
Love your shows my friend!
I always thought that Palpatine was cuffering for the main weakness of the ISG's because the Arc 170 was the perfect counter for those ships, especially if you full it with proton torpedoes and have a carrier close by to come in after they dropped their payloads
It's a good thing that the empire didn't use the ARC-170s because they would have slaughtered the rebels with them.
Note: Avengers weren't fielded yet at Midway. It was the older TBD Devastator torpedo bombers that were separated from the their fighter escort that were annihilated. Also, I think a dive bomber like the SBD Dauntless that can accomplish more roles, especially scouting, is a closer analogue.
When you record your videos from outside it always looks so pretty and peaceful !
Used one of these boys in a SWttrpg to great effect. I installed two astromechs to help with the load on the pilot(me) in and out of combat. It allowed me to sleep while the droids flew the fighter as well as manage the sensors and weapons while on missions.
As it is for all strike fighter space craft in the Star Wars universe. Each one will have there own flaws and disadvantages if not used for what they mainly designed for. Sadly, it's the losses of not just the crafts them selves but, the tole of the lives lost before actions are taken on all sides.
0:01 is the start
Thanks. I hope you clarified it for everyone.
Thank you captain obvious
Thank you so much! I forgot
Man I was so confused
0:00 is the real start thats fake news
Before watching: Always thought it was more of a Scout Craft than a screen-fighter craft.
5:31 Yeah Recon Fighter/Bomber should have had Z(ed?)-95 escorts as to guide them on bombing runs.
But only because X-wings and U-wings hadn't been invented yet.
I'm pretty sure "zed" is just the British way of saying "z." So I'm not sure why Allen says it that way (he doesn't sound very British and it is Z-95).
@@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem I know that just translating for out British friends.
From what I remember it barely got used during the clone wars series(s).
Hi every one, I have a question and did not know where to post it. Here it is- If your traveling at hyper space speed what would that speed be if you where traveling at warp speed. Tried to figure it out, but did not know even where to start.
10:41 Heeeeeere kitty kitty! Pspspspspspspsps!!! 🥰
6:26 🛑✋🏻🤚🏻Alan, it's a dorsal hanger, not ventral hanger for the Venator. Star Destroyers have ventral hangers. Think "dorsal fin" in sharks and dolphins.
Of course..
*Palpatine* wasn't a scared prisoner, he was excitedly watching the battle through the panoramic bridge windows, anticipating his big deception and his betrayal of Dooku.
This might have been one of the happiest moments of his life, he would look back and reflect on how _this_ went _almost_ perfectly (except for Obi-Wan surviving.. "I should have told Dooku to make sure he killed Obi-Wan as his opening move").
So he would remember the visuals out of the windows of ARC-170s being blown away in furball dogfights by very light stripped down fighters.
If instead the battle near the Invisible Hand had been Head-hunters pawning droid fighters left and right, then the Empire might have gone in a different direction.
Favorite star fighter toy! I loved the Star Wars toys from this era. The V wing is a cool ship as well.
I would do a modified design on the ARC 170 so I didn't have the co-pilot spot and maybe shrunk the wings down. In short a trimmed down version to decrease its target profile.
It and the Y wing are my favorites. Straight up.
I like to think of the ARC as the fantasy version of the Bf-110. It had an awful record as an air superiority fighter but was perfect for multi roles especially night fighting where it bulk and was able to handle extra equipment and sensors
I still stand by the video you guys did like 4 years ago talking about the flaws of this ship.
TLDR: 10 flaws, and one of the biggest ones is - it's terrible for stealth/recon .
I love the ARC-170.
It's by far one of my favorite small ship designs in universe and is definitely a potent little ship in it's intended roles.
i love the literal wind sock you've got going on there hahahaha iykyk
The Battle of Coruscant had to be terrifying for the citizens of Coruscant. Giant chunks of starships and so many starfighters falling into the planet hitting the surface at hundreds of miles per hour. Causing massive explosions across the planets surface, I can only imagine what devastation a hyperdrive exploding could cause. It had to have been a planet wide disaster. It's actually kind of surprising that Palpatine wasn't removed as chancellor after that. You likely would of had a lot of angry citizens, who watched family members die. In my opinion this attack on the capital planet on the Republic would of made Palpatine look incompetent and weak. Kind of similarly how Putin has to be looking in real life as the Ukrainians invade Russia.
It’s unlikely that many big chunks of ships made it past the atmosphere. Though sure, it would’ve made Palpatine look terribly in the public’s eyes
@@hlo695 That was likely why he aranged to be kidnapped during the attack make him look more like the victim and give him a chance to shift the blame
Twas always my favorite honestly. That’s a lot of capability packed into one ship.
F35 of Star Wars
Great Analysis !!
My surprise, just like Jedi misusing Clone Commandos, other special units/equipment throughout the Clone Wars, they misused the ARC-170 also leading to catastrophic losses. We do see V-Wings in the background throughout The Battle of Corusant, just a shame they didn't have an escort of V-19s, V-Wings or Headhunter Starfighters while providing escort to Obiwan and Anakin. Probably would have a had a lot less needless deaths associated with this ship. With the Tarkin Doctrine, it makes sense the Empire fading the ARC-170 out of service, although it would have probably been a good idea to keep sone for elite/special fighter units. A tactic I use in Star Wars Empire at War, I use my recon units (Z-95, TIE Scout or TIE Phantom squadrons) to scout out where the enemy space station or space forces are at and drop a heavily armed and armored fleet right on top of the enemies position. Usually my recon Squadron (although my TIE Scout Squadron dies more often, it's a little slower then the Z-95 Squadron, and doesn't have stealth and speed like the Phantom Squadron) survives and I have them retreat after discovering the enemy location and having my forces deploy so they can live to gight another day..... use that same tactic in the next invasion.
Alan have you ever not posted anything for at least a week? I swear your consistency with uploads is insane.
I had forgotten about this little ship or large starfighter but I agree great for the role it was built for but not what it was used for. I think taking Policing into account having an underslung space for prisoner transport(1 or 2) wouldn't be bad or even removing the tailgunner and instead perhaps upgrading the astromech to run that and use that space for a single prisoner.
I love the ARC-170.
Something I'd love to see you do a video on: MandalMotors StarViper. It's easily my favorite starfighter...
I’ve always loved the arc 170, it’s one of my favorite fighters
The ARC was my favorite ship in Star Wars Galaxies -- had a ton of fun in that sweet little ship! ^_^
I always wonder exactly what why the fold-oit wings actually do. My best thought is that it's related to control surfaces not for aerodynamics, but for the gravity/repulsor system, effectively giving additional rotational axis planes.
Every time Alan says "robust", take a drink.
YEEEEEEEESSS, Finally my favorite ship of all time, I always hated the ARC 170 didn't get more love and appearance, I treat it the same as Clone Commandos like Gregor, they have firepower, operating behind enemy lines using stealth, self reliant, until it's time for fireworks AND both have such a great look
Allen could you imagine if they would have launched all of the Arc 170s before they entered the Corisant system. Then entered with their crusiers. Engaged the Seperatists. Then the Arc 170s could have come in from another direction and straffed the Seperatists crusiers. I think that would have worked.
The rebels in canon and legends for the first part of the GC did utilize ARC-170's in their designed role as scout/recon fighters until they got recon models of the A-wing, Y-wing, and X-wing in service.
The Arc 170 would’ve been better than the Airspeeders used at Hoth. The proton torpedoes would’ve destroyed the AT-ATs.
I always imagined this thing to be like an A-6 Intruder. Long range recon/ECM/precise anti material is its bread and butter.
Also, this and the Venator would have been perfect for the Empire's need to police vast swaths of space.
Definitely one of my favourite Republic Era fighters. I need to finish that story I was doing as a few of the characters use ARC-170's in their operations for the Hutts during the Galactic Civil War (basically a space station crew who oversee a mining operation for a low level Hutt and they have a lot of Republic and Separatist equipment so they get hired to do a job and they have their own ARC-170's on the station)
Whether whatever era is your favorite, we can all agree how beautiful and powerful clone wars tech is.
always liked this ship, good heavy escort and scout ship. my fav clone war era fighter tho is the alpha nimbus, ever since STBF2 on the ps2 lol
Considering how big the ARC 170 is portrayed, I would have thought it was an ideal ship for someone like Din Djarin to use after losing the Razor Crest. The N1 fighter he ended up with, while nimble and and excellent fighter on its own, seemed like a poor choice for a character who's main source of income is collecting bounties.
I like the microphone sock, if it works, it works!
I would say they are more like a P-61 though - the similarity between them makes me think that they were directly inspired by them
I think another reason for the rejection of older styles was branding. The empire wanted to present a specific image, especially under the tarkin doctrine. Tie fighters could easily be used as a constructed omen of bad things to come in ways a more diverse fleet couldnt
😮💨And the sad thing is you're right: This is my #1 Favorite Starfighter in all of Star Wars and it is grossly under-utilized; I would say it's slightly better than even the Y-Wing ( And that's saying a lot!)
Just a fascinating topic. From the movie alone, the ARC does not fare well in performance. Glad to see and understand the true capabilities.
Please make a video on 200 First Order Stormtroopers vs 200 Clone Troopers
An ARC 170 accompanied by 2-4 tri droids would be a nasty combo.
The tri droids could attach to the ARC 170 for hyper jumps.
We saw R2 control vulture droids, I bet an astromech could order some tri fighters around.
The ARC 170 is still one of my favorite ships to this day.
Still my favorite starwars fighter
10:39 Kitty!!!!
I was gonna comment that but yes, kitty indeed.👍
My head canon is that Anakin gave it the Aggressive Reconnaissance name similar to his line about agressive negogiations - negotiations with a lightsaber - line in AotC.
from playing the x-wing miniatures game, I can say with certainty that the ARC-170 is a beast. so much firepower for how durable it is. and a firing line of them is terrifying to take out. since they have tail guns and the firing arcs overlap, attacking from either front or rear is nearly a death sentence. you need to chew through them from the side. but that makes it so you are hard pressed to take out the most essential pilots who are kept at the center of the line. and when attacking from the side rather than front or rear, it's really hard to stay on target since your movement vector is pointed away from where your foe will be next turn. and if you turn off course you'll have multiple ARCs filling you with cannon fire.
I've not a very good pilot when it comes to the x-wing miniatures game, but even for a skilled pilot a squad of ARCs when flown well is a real challenge to face.
The Arc-170 was quite similar to the ww2 German Ju 87 G-1 . With its massive 2 Cannons under Slung its Wings. And I imagine it would fill a similar role as an Anti ground armor aircraft,
The ARC-170 is hands down my favorite star wars fighter
I'd say the ARC-170 was like a hybrid of the PBY Catalina flying boat and the Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber. it would work best as a reconnaissance vessel and as a ship-killer but not as a dogfighter. The way it was used in Revenge of the Sith was like bringing a sniper rifle to a room-to-room house battle.
Besides the X-wing and the Millennium Falcon the ARC-170 Starfighter remains one of my favorite Republic Starfighters doesn't matter what anyone says about it
Bare in mind in the very early stages of the F-35 development, with eyes on the specs , the Israeli air force said it needs to been a Two seater ( and three if we could :).. because of its enormous ISR capability.. you build it we’ ll buy it ..
I don't think Palpatine made those decisions I think he left those decisions to people like Tarkin who had their own ideas about military doctrine and the ARC-170 just doesn't fit in that doctrine regardless of its performance. Plus I don't think the ARC-170 was misused. War and combat doesn't wait for you to be ready and so sometimes you're forced to ride or die with what you got.
The ARC-170 really reminds me of the British WW2 planes the Mosquito, Beaufighter or the US P38 Lightning or P61 Black Widow in night fighter variants. I would argue it is more a night fighter style plane than a torpedo bomber.
I’d say the ARC170 is based more on the P61 heavy fighter than a PB type plane.
Both are long range 2-3 man aircraft with a heavy firepower turret.
ARC 170 has always been my favorite fighter
The general doctrine of the Empire seems to come back again and again to the desire to focus most of their assets onto big fighter-carriers on which all subordinate ships would largely be reliant on. Many of the smaller ships that didn't need to rely on Star Destroyers got sidelined to weird places for not fitting into the official doctrine.
Not just the P-61 Black Widow, the ARC-170 is comparable to the Messerchmitt Bf 110, Junkers Ju 88, or Petlyakov Pe-3 "Peshka" which were medium bombers converted to long range heavy patrol fighters.
I always wondered if these things entered into civilian hands. I like the idea of writing a story about a fighter wing who work for the Hutts as part of a space station's defence force above a mining planet when they are given a shady mission by their Hutt boss and one of their craft is a modified ARC-170, replacing the crew compliment with a living pilot but the navigator and rear gunner with an astro-mech and some engine and systems changes. It seems like it would be great as a heavy fighter option for say pirates of groups like The one in thinking of while the rest of their wing force would be lighter fighters like cloaks or something comparable.
For those wandering:
The ww2 plane you are looking for to represent the arc170 is the P-61 black widow, a heavy night fighter desing to intercept bombers by its radar and take them down with 4 20mm guns. So that is why it had such a long nose and the exctra crewman to operate the radar and guide the pilot
Yeah found the ARC-170 to be pretty mediocre vs fighters, it's excellent for supporting/escorting bombers, lighter warships like gunships/corvettes/frigates/light cruisers melt when targeted by bombers with ARC-170's in support.
The 170 will always be my favorite Star Wars starfighter.
I think it may have been a personnel issue more than a ship problem for the Empire.
It would mean having more pilots that would need to be trained and be on longer missions away from a Cruiser. This would mean leaving the cruisers more vulnerable.
Sounds to me like a perfect CAS (close air support) ship with the y wings for ground Support if u add some bombs and take some Sensors
as something right of the bat; the ARC-170 was inspired by the P-61 black widow, a night fighter, converted into a scout plane the F-15 (not related to THAT F-15) with that huge sensor nose and that aft position for a machinegun.
Then, a few modifications that could be achieve
Improving the capacity, not as a dogfighter but rather to achieve something akin to what the empire did in legends with the missile boat, a large compliment of missiles to saturate the battle mounted on its wide wing and winglet, coupled with the presence of a weapon officer on board, the perfect addition for such task
If one wants something that could be more geared toward forward facing enemy and a more starfighter role; extra lascanon could be added on the wingtips in a manner similar to the X-Wing.
Finally, another one, if a heavy, more independent long range bomber, two option can be discussed. Either a rework of the bomb bay in a larger one or, a rather risky one as it compromise its value as an anti-fighter fighter, the use of mass drivers instead of medium laser canon, as mass drivers don't have to deal with pesky shields in the vacuum, making it into a deadly killer for any capital ships, as the Mandalorian built Canderous tank shows in surface battles and the medium sized vengeance frigate shows in space.
The Z-95 Headhunter is by far the best bang for your buck starfighter. Decent hyperdrive, good offense and defense for a cheap price. It would have been smarter for the Empire to put twin ion engines and rapid canons in the Z-95 over the Tie Fighters.
When the Mandalorian needed a new ship after the Razorcrest, I hoped the Arc 170 would be it, with few modifications it makes for the best small bounty hunter ship, faster guns, maybe smaller engines, better mobility, prison cabin, a way better choice than the N1 hot rod
Aside from the X-Wing and B-Wing the Arc-170 would be my choice of ship for traveling. Like in the Mandalorian how Din choose the Naboo starfighter and made modifications. I would choose Arc-170 also making modifications.
I always liked that the front of the arc-170 looked like sebulba's face.
It's one of my favourite ships in the franchise.