TIE Droid
The TIE/D fighters, which first saw duty at the Battle of Calamari, saw the Empire moving towards a more automated rule. TIE/Ds (TIE/droid) meant that human pilots were not needed, and so much larger fleets of starfighters could be fielded in battle.
The fighters can be piloted by an onboard droid brain, or by a remote pilot aboard a capital ship. The droid brains weigh under ten kilograms and, due to their smallness, can be installed in virtually any fighter which allows the computer interface. The brains are the advanced Cybot Galactica Ace-6 units, designed specifically for combat. Logic circuits within the brains allow the droids to apparently pilot a fighter with the same ability as a human, although tests have proved this to be untrue. There is not a droid brain on the market that can outmatch a human in any way.
Rectangular solar array panels distinguish the TIE/Ds from the more usual TIE/Lns, although they do have the same power and engine configurations. Although the droid fighters have heavier armour plating, the lack of a pilot gives the fighter the same weight as the standard TIE fighter.
The weapons are the same as other fighters in the TIE range. Twin chin-mounted laser cannons provide the TIE/Ds weapons capabilities, although they are as powerful as those found on the TIE interceptor. The pod is virtually the same as others in the TIE range.
Although the droid brains can be configured and upgraded with new tactics, it is impossible for them to be as clever and inventive as human brains. During the Calamari battle, New Republic pilots took advantage of this, and calculated how the TIE/Ds would move. They knew they were not up against humans, and so thefighters were far more predictable. Typically, the Empire decided to win by numbers. They fielded scores and scores of their droid fighters, and overwhelmed the New Republic.
The costs of preparing factories and other ship-manufacturing stations were high, but the Empire believed that these costs would come down once production of the fighters got under way. Unfortunately for them, their theory was never proved. Since the fighters had been introduced at Calamari, most of them were aboard the World Devastators, and were still aboard when the world-eating machines were destroyed.
Despite this setback, Imperial engineers are still convinced that they can invent a droid brain that can outmatch a human. The manufacturers, however, are more sceptical, and continue to produce the normal TIE series fighters.