For the Rebel Alliance, the X-wing starfighter’s greatest asset was its versatility. X-wings were nimble enough to dogfight with TIE fighters while tough enough to slug it out with Imperial ships of the line. That made them a good choice for the Alliance in its showdown with the first Death Star, where X-wings had to combat starfighters and turbolaser emplacements, then perform a bombing run down a narrow trench on the battle station’s surface.

While often flying in conjunction with other starfighter models, X-wings remained the backbone of the rebels’ starfighter corps after the Battle of Yavin. They ably performed escort duty during the evacuation of Hoth’s Echo Base and proved critical to the attack on the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor.

When he went into exile on Ahch-To, Luke sunk his X-wing offshore – but returned as a Jedi spirit and used the Force to raise and repair it for Rey. She piloted the starfighter to Exegol, transmitting Luke’s old Alliance callsign so the Resistance could follow her.