Series 0 TIE Bomber

Series 0 TIE Bombers were prototype predecessors of the TIE Bomber. Developed by ISB's internal Navy supervisors to provide a stable bomber to replace the old ARC-170 starfighters, they were equipped specifically to first pummel enemy buildings and capital ships and be able to fire concussion missiles at oncoming starfighters (specifically the Y-wings that the Rebels were using so effectively). They were not widely used, mostly because they were replaced by the standard TIE Bomber before the Galactic Civil War started becoming more intense. Many of these were stationed at the Imperial Maw facility that developed experimental superweapon technology, most notably the Death Stars.

Series 0 bombers were built similarly to its successor, although it had only one cylindrical cockpit instead of two. Most of the bombers were equipped with expensive, but powerful, cluster missiles, which acted similarly to concussion missiles, only six could be deployed in one shot with no reduction in amount of ammunition. These proved to experimenters to be extremely effective against large targets, such as capital ships, and very capable of overwhelming conventional defenses. The cluster missiles could not only be used to deal impressive damage to enemy buildings, but also target half a dozen enemy starfighters at once, each at the receiving end of a blast capable of tearing apart any ship that wasn't sufficiently armored.

The Series 0 TIE Bomber's armament consisted of two low-power laser cannons, two cluster missile launchers (which were refitted with proton torpedoes later on to reduce cost) capable of an ordinance of up to 20 cluster missiles, and a rear blaster cannon manned by a gunner or specially programmed astromech droid.

During the earliest stages of the Galactic Civil War, the Series 0 TIE Bomber proved most effective against Rebel Z-95 Headhunters. Cluster missiles were the perfect response to the tight-knit squadrons of only adequately maneuverable fighters, and a single TIE Bomber carried enough cluster missiles to down 120 enemies.

The only difficulty was against Corellian Corvettes and other armed transports of its class. The Series 0 was too slow to outmaneuver the turbolasers on enemy ships, though cluster missiles could be confused when aimed at distant targets, so firing from a safe range was not an option. This was one of the prime reasons the Empire researched alternative bomber technologies in order to have a way to punish the larger of Rebel ships, most especially some of the newly minted Mon Calamari Cruisers, in ways that didn't require the somewhat strained lines of Star Destroyers.

Behind the scenes

 * The Series 0 TIE Bomber was created for Star Wars:Avian Hunt.