The TIE fighters don't need windows because Vader and other high ranking force users tested the TIE and though it was great. They just forgot that "normal" pilots can't feel the enemy.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Remember to fully cook your porgs and ewoks to avoid food poisioning!

I Think the shields are wot makes the big difference... If our airplanes had shields like in Star Wars or Star Trek... Long range combat would be less effective... You'd need to get in closer so you can more effectively whittle down the shields and destroy your target.

The design of the original tie fighter canopy really is a perfect metaphor for the imperial military as a whole. The imperials WANTED their soldiers to have tunnel vision. Never straying from their forward path for the good of the empire. Like blinders on horses the tie fighter design itself kept the pilot in line with the empire.

One thing I think people tend to forget is the "closed eco-system" effect that most modern militaries have access to that make long range missile only combat more practical. Things like mil sats, AWACs, capitol ships, and in the US's case global sensor sights set up across the world outside it's own borders. In Starwars both the rebels and the Imperials aren't guarantee to be fighting on worlds with advanced sensor platforms and other critical assist to help one side or the other achieve space superiority. So with this in mind it's not really fair to compare combat in this setting to how we wage wars today. If anything you're lucky to have off platform tactical intelligence greater then what a US combat pilot would of had access to during the 50's or maybe 60's.

Well, 2 reasons, really. Reason 1: Starfighter combat in Star Wars is just meant to look visceral and on the edge. When a TIE Fighter drops in behind you, you're supposed to feel sympathetic towards the pilot about to get waxed, kind of like the classic Hollywood shots of WW2 plane movies at the time. Reason 2: This is actually based off of dialogue from ANH; it is more than likely that all starfighters and capital ships have electronic countermeasures. I point towards when the TIEs attacked in ANH; the base warned the X-wings that TIEs were on the way, but nobody could see them on sensors and Red Leader told them to 'pick up on their visual scanning', ie, go mark 1 eyeball. This would largely explain why combat is done at knife fighting ranges to begin with; with all the electronic jamming, a missile would have a hard time finding a target to lock onto. The other problem was one encountered by the americans during I think the korean war; namely, a) missiles are limited by the spacecraft that carries them. The Rebellion, for example, fights TIEs. Lots of TIEs. So, if an X-wing is armed with, say, 6 missiles, and fires all of them, well, it's killed 6 TIEs... and now has to face the rest without any kind of weaponry. b) Missiles are also standoff weapons and have a minimum range where they can track effectively. So in this case, if a fighter isn't detected until it penetrates that minimum range, ie, where you're using the mark 1 eyeball, then your missiles are going to be useless most of the time. This was the problem, in fact, faced by the F4 Phantom; it was initially designed as a pure missile fighter, but when facing other fighters, it was quickly realized that just carrying missiles alone was bad, and they had to glue back on a cannon. All in all, enjoyed the video and the points raised.

Whoa what happened to your mic

Missiles were used fairly extensively in the "X-Wing" and "TIE Fighter" games. Concussion missiles were a better choice than Proton Torpedoes against starfighters though, due to being more maneuverable. Get a hit with a torpedo though, and the enemy fighter was done. I think "Rogue Squadron" used missiles/torpedoes as well.

It’s Thanksgiving, can’t wait to eat that roasted Ewok

2:09 If light is reflected - that's not cloaking, it is crucial thing for visibility ;)

its amazing how much these critical analysis of star wars tech and warfare have helped my party in our Star Wars D&D game they allow us to use details and weakness/strengths of what we're dealing with to come up with creative tactics you guys go into so much detail as if we were really in the star wars universe that it really helps with connecting things into actual use

I really wouldn't be surprised if it was a logistical thing that made them use lasers over long range missiles alongside your point on the enemy having more time to react. The Imperial ii has food supplies for 2 YEARS and who knows how long the rebellion sat around waiting for a target. With missiles they would need far more resupply runs adding huge logistical strain, using lasers as the primary weapons cuts that down significantly.

Well, according to the X- Wing novels, Rebel fighters made common use of guided Proton Torpedoes in Dogfights

Hey tech have a good thanksgiving and everyone else to!

Awesome videos bro! As a big fan of both Star Wars and WWII-era military combat, this tactical analysis series has been amazing to watch! You are certainly an expert in all things Star Wars and military history. Happy Thanksgiving and May the force be with you and your family man.

GREAT VIDEO! Next please tell everyone why you choose the Colt M1911 45ACP and an AK47 with an ACOG sight when inside the Star Wars universe?!

You are at the cusp of truly understanding space combat, based on your assessment near the end. Well done.

Great video (as always) I love this kind of comparing (with context of the reality).

another reason would be the ammunition the missile would have a limit impact, while the laser allows a very large number of shot sorry for spelling I'm french

Were those proton torpedoes that the stealth ship used on Admiral Trench? I thought proton torpedoes have a distinct look and color attached to them. Besides Trench was using a specific type of shielding called "thermo-shields" that allowed the ship to withstand greater firepower when seen bearing down on the Republic fleet led by Anakin and how he's able to withstand the torpedoes used by the stealth ship. The tactics of using proton torpedoes in conjunction with laser cannons is to allow torpedoes greater damage. They still do impressive amounts of damage as seen with the Malevolence even with the shields. TIE fighters don't show up on fighter scanners as can be seen in the battle of the first Death Star. They are too small, thin, and don't have a whole lot of excess energy signatures like shielding. They are still able to be detected through other means though including targeting computers. The best way for ships to be undetected from scanners when coming out of hyperspace is to exit at the far side of the system or behind planetary bodies in the system that could shield the ship from scanners. The ships can then set themselves up for orbital bombardments on the planet if they have shield generators thereby catching them unawares with the shield down or prevent escape through interdictors. You also forgot that ships are equipped with flares like the stealth ship seen with Anakin. Like modern Earth fighters, starfighters can deploy flares when missiles target them as countermeasures and it's up to the skills of the pilot to avoid the missile and have it collide with the flare. Starships and space combat have used missiles in combat for a long time although not always in the same way that we do. Most if not all have some form of tracking capabilities from the homing missiles used by Slave I to the Discord missiles used by Droid Tri-Fighters. Capital ships are equipped with missile launchers from proton torpedoes to concussion missiles to homing missiles but unfortunately they are not always depicted.

My problem is, why don't most TIE fighter pilots spin on their axis as they fight rather than banking to take the shot. The only time I've seen it done was Darth Vader in SW Rebels. in BSG 2003, it was doctrine to do as such but everybody in the SW universe believe they must treat space flight like it was in atmosphere.

Great analysis Allan, Happy Thanksgiving. Another awesome video, love how you guys make the Star Wars universe relatable...keep up the great work!

Great video. Love the analysis and explanation, dude.

liked your comments on aerial combat. well researched. I use to be Navy. We have helmet lock on target systems. yes we look now, then destroy.through a flight helmet. love the channel man.

Well thought out, Alan.

Excellent analysis.. Great review

I understand the design issues with the X-Wing and TIE series regarding the cockpit visibility issues, however they were equipped with 360 degree scanners. The A-Wing shows the advancement of cockpit design during the OT, I guess mirroring the changes also made to their WWII equivalent. Always enjoy these vids, btw :)

i spent my entire childhood using guided missiles in rogue squadron... homing cluster missiles.

As a veteran of the ood xwing alliance game I do remember a wide range of guided weapons, such as concussion missiles, ion torpedoes and heqvy rockets. They tended to be effective, but sometimes it paid to not get a lock but actually fire them before the lock. Like when you went head-to-head but you had to be very accurate and time the shooting so they would hit before the enemy got in firing range.

Great video, that analysis actually improved the dogfighting scenes for me. I always hated how it seemed so outdated and foolish to not use guided munitions but you made some excellent points!

the xm 3 novawing from tie fighter was the exeption to this rule at used concussion missiles as at primary weapon instead of laser cannons

Solid arguments and I do have to agree, it does look pretty cool.

One major factor in play is cost efficiency. Tibanna gas is the fuel used to power most ships in Star Wars, extremely energy dense with powerful ionic properties makes it a superfuel. But it’s also the primary source of ammunition for all blaster technology. As such it leads to interesting design choices for ships. Most fighters in an effort to remain as small, efficient, and compact as possible employ a shared source of fuel for both engines and weapons systems. And considering fighters don’t use unreasonably large quantities of fuel (an X-wing being capable of operating for up to a week under cruising thrust) it means that the blasters can be fired for an effectively indefinite period of time barring overheating. So refueling a star fighter may cost a few hundred to a few thousand credits at most, whereas reloading even a single proton torpedo may cost multiple tens of thousands of credits. Combine these factors with the fact that most dogfights happened between a half dozen to up to a few HUNDRED fighters the issue of cost of ammunition would have dramatic effects on total operational costs

The Stealth Ship didn't have Proton Torpedoes but rather the same "generic" Guided Discord missiles used by Vulture Droids and seemed to be identical to the Tracking Torpedoes used by the Invincible (Just without the ability to track a Target's magnetic signature). Proton Torpedoes are tiny but extremely powerful Mini-Fusion warheads shaped like cones they typically emitted a red pulsating glow during flight (However those used by the Naboo and the Empire had a blue glow). The Stealth Ship's Torpedoes were relatively medium sized Projectiles vastly different from Proton Torpedoes. In the episode guide they do identify the weapons as Proton Torpedoes but this isn't confirmed in dialogue.

Ha! That pilot climbing down at about the 4:50 mark...his callsign is "Porkins!"

Thanks for recording this video on a radio broadcast from the 1980's, Alan.

You are one of my most favorite youtubers of all time

8:30 we already tried this strategy in Vietnam with the F4 Phantom. It didn't work then and it won't work now especially when your leaders force you to comply to ridiculous rules of engagement. Like you couldn't engage a Target that you couldn't verify the identity of visually. They hampered the effectiveness of their Superior technology by limiting its usage.

The shape on the back of the TIE is a rear viewport and TIE Fighter gave lots more viewports as well.

I think that is a good analogy, especially at the end about avoiding something coming at you for a good few minutes, lol. the other angle is the ability of the sensor on your missile being able to see a miniscule target at such distances vs what your ships much larger systems can detect, and if you can even get the missile to even lock onto the target at all. Similar happened back in Vietnam, when the first wave of fighter jets arrived with missiles and no gun. Countless enemies got away simply because the missiles would not lock on, and there were no short-range weapons on the jet to throw slugs at them. Later versions of the jet, had a gun pod added to the plain that took up one of the missile mounts. Your missiles are only as good, as there ability to lock onto a target, lol.

Another reason is that in space speeds are hundreds of times faster then anything we have and the speeds we see in the wiki is IN ATMOSPHERE so it could be assumed that there speeds are near the max of what they could go and that tracking missiles go to around the same speed unlike the ones we have that are faster then are ones it also means that ships like fighters close the distance ridiculously fast and hyperspace lanes means there always within that few second flight speed as for why they dog fight slower it’s Becuase with those stupid fast speeds you run the risk of just flying into something So fighters slow down to not die

In 90-th there were two games: "X-Wing" and "Tie fighter". In both there were guided missiles purposed as an anti-fighter weapon. Their range, however was only 1.5km, or so

My opinion on Star Wars dog fighting: Really really stupid & impractical, but also really really fun to watch.

You forgot one very relevant scene in either episode 2 or 3. Guided missiles were launched at Anakins fighter, but those were very barely faster than the fighter (in our world, missiles are much faster than fighters) and they had really poor guidance (doing several barrel rolls made the missiles crash into each-other). With missiles this bad, it's no wonder they prefer to get close and shoot.

Great video guys, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Is the Sonata a joke? If it really cost $150K, it had better come with Strippers and a lot of cocaine.

Finally someone mentions the F-35 is the better jet. My friends always bring up the SU-35 and I'm like, yes if it was close to the F-35, but since the F-35 would strike from a distance, the SU-35 probably wouldn't have a chance to get close. They also said even with the variant of F-35A a F-16, F-18, Typhoon and Eurofighter could defeat the F-35a. May be true but again, that's in close range combat. As for China I'm not sure what their newest jets are, the J-20? Its like saying a man with a M16 or a M4 could beat a man with a M110 (sniper rifle). Up close yes, not at range.

Solid analysis. I like this series.

Just a note about TIE fighters lack of visibility - you are right, the pilot can not see anywhere but ahead of them - however TIEs are designed to work in conjunction with their capital ship, which has loads of sensors and picture compilation capability, far more than any pilot on a fighter could manage, and the TIE will be taking the tactical picture from their home ship. So while a TIE pilot can not look out the window to see a threat, they have a display that shows all the threats, and they can point their tunnel vision at their next target and go from there. In many ways, a TIE pilot would have better situational awareness than any enemy fighter squadron operating independently of their carrier could hope to have.

That makes a lot of sense. I do remember hearing that most small to mid range capital ships have secondary weapons systems consisting of guided munitions, such as the Cardorf VII interceptor (GCW) and Regiins Mol (CW). They aren't mentioned much, but seem to be present. Why are they rolled out so much if they have such limited use?

I think you’re spot on as far as you went. But consider: prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union there was quite a healthy competition between missile detections methods and counter measures. While the Chinese do have some good missile tech, it’s not quite the same as it was. In Star Wars, what we may be seeing is the end-state of such a competition. All fighters are simply assumed to have, and likely do have these extensive counter measures, so as mentioned with the middle range issue you mentioned near the end, it’s simply unthinkable to expect a missile to be useful from any real distance.

Alan Great video! You hit the bail on the head with WWll tactics. I will say that in WWl calvary were actually still important in most theaters except for the Western Front. They did have calvary but it was to exploit breakthroughs but that rarely happened. The Star Wars universe is a bit odd. You have hyperspace but fighters are slower than modern 4th Generation Earth aircraft. The weapons seem to be slow to. Laser cannons are like tracers and blasters seem to be as slow as Civil War bullets. There seems to be contradictory technology all over the place. I guess an easy explanation/dialogue that could sum it up is that its "different hardware from different worlds where technology is ahead or behind current Earth time." I guess that sortof works. Anyways Star Wars is pretty funky on that stuff.

6:38 According to Star Wars Rebels, both factions started the war with advanced tech. It's a little strange that we didn't see it until after Episode 5 when Rebels said it was here all along.

Cool videos, what about ground vehicles, repulsor lift vehicles, mechanized walkers, wheels etc.

Interesting video. Works for me

I always assumed on my headcanon that these ships 1) fight in a extreme electronic warfare environments, which is why guns are still largely manned, and even capital ships general engage within visual range as well, 2) the extreme speeds of space and the physics defying ability for most ships to easily change direction make it very difficult for a missile with limited energy to track and kill something at long range.

I really love the old Battlefront 2 Interceptor class starfighters. The missiles are fast and it got high firing rate too!

The slogan for proton torpedoes. Proton torpedoes: not to be confused with other similarly named the antimatter weapon from another franchise.

One thing people fail to remember is the war between ECM and sensors. Star Wars is a universe where ECM has basically won, and sensors are not capable of effectively targeting beyond visual range. This is why most weapons in Star Wars are manually targeted; you can't so easily jam the Mk. 1 Eyeball. Remember: even the Millenium Falcon was able to jam the military-grade communications of a TIE Fighter in Episode IV.

Cool vids love these type of video.

Main reason why, they were hard to do in special effects back in the days. X-wing/Tie Fighter PC games had good warhead usage as well as some of the EU.

By that logic, the best-designed starfighters were probably the Dodonna-Blissex A-wing, the Incom ARC-170, and the Y-Wing fighter-bomber. 360° visibility relative to plane of reference on all three models to one extent or another, plus upgraded armour on the Y-Wing and upgraded propulsion and maneuverability on the A-Wing, and the rearward-facing turret on the 170 gave them far better odds for surviving a close-in dogfight than either the Slayn and Korpel B-Wing, the Incom X-wing models, or any of the Sienar TIE models (which were essentially flying eggshells with weapons.).

I wish they went into more detail about the construction of the Xwing in rebels. It seemed like such a turning point in ship to ship combat superiority. I'm also curious to see where you read up about black market proton torpedoes. Was this detailed in an EU book? Just wondering where in Star Wars lore that is located because it seems like an interesting subject in the star wars universe.

To be honest, the Death star trench attack rips of even more from 633 squadron than it does from the Dam busters movie.

I’ve been thinking of a sci-fi universe with part of the idea being that missiles and cannons (rail or coil guns) are not used by many to avoid leaving missed weaponry floating in space. Remember, in a vacuum a grain of sand can kill a spacecraft. So even with shield the risk of leaving ordinance could be too great a risk. I believe it’s touched on in either Dead Space or Mass Effect as well. I will say I never thought about FTL drives being an issue too though.

@Generation Tech I love your channel and I love the tactics of star wars videos. Alan, we might be twins, because im also asian, love history, and love star wars and halo. Difference being i have way more time to research things from not being on a deadline. So, here in the US we use three types of air to air missiles; Fox 1, Fox 2, and Fox 3. Fox 1 is a missile is a fire and forget missile. All the targeting is taken over by the missile as soon as it launches so the pilot is then free to manuever. These are used mainly in times of war where there is a simple enemy that needs to be neutralized. Fox 2 is a missile that the pilot controls all the way to the target. The purpose of these missiles is so that if there is a last second abort the pilot can choose to detonate the warhead before it impacts whatever the pilot was shooting at. It requires a constant lock, but it can avoid an international incident. It also means that all the targeting is done by the fighter and the missile doesn't need independent targeting software; they just fly where they're told. Fox 3 is a hybrid of both. For a set range the missile is under the pilots's control, but after reaching that set destination it switches over to its own targeting data. The proton torpedoes and missiles in star wars use similar systems. Most of the targeting is handled by astromechs if they have them. That's how Rogue Squadron was able to coordinate targeting data from a shuttle targeting a lancer class frigate, and even though the xwings were out of range(not wanting to be torn apart by the lancer) they could still launch their proton torpedoes and kill the frigate. The pilot flies, the astromech handles the targeting, and so even if the torpedoes are launched in the complete wrong direction the astromech can aim them. Concussion missiles are purely fire and forget munitions that rely on their own targeting software to hit where they were initially aimed at. Due to their advanced sensors, pilots can actually aim at specific systems on enemy fighters and capital ships. Jamming tech in star wars allows ships to disrupt targeting information. The longer a ship has to crack the targeting system inside the warheads, the better chance the system has of disabling the missiles. Also the longer the missiles and torpedoes have to travel, the higher chance the point defense systems have of shooting down the missiles. The only way to fire warheads without worrying about jamming is to "dumb" fire them which means they will just fly straight. They still have to get through point defense and fighter screens though, and so the only practical use is to fire them right up close. Information sources are pulled from the X-Wing series of books and X-Wing Alliance the videogame, so sadly this is all legends, but until disney states otherwise this was how the mechanics worked out.

By the way, the real problems with the F-35 aren't it's manoeuvrability. It's a nightmare to keep in the air due to technical issues. An example. in 2018, the UK held the RAF's 100 birthday fly-by. Of 16 F-35s bought by the UK, only 3 were still in working order, the others were all grounded due to technical faults due to "above average humididty issues" if I'm not mistaken. There is no point being briliant at stealth if you can't take off in the first place.

Another factor is that the empire usually engaged fighters using overwhelming numbers of their own, if you add in guided munitions to the mix that means you are more likely to have friendly fire and factor in the fact that the tie fighters didn't usually have shields or any sort of protection that ment your odds of taking out 1 of your own fighters was probably greater then taking out any of the rebellion/resistance fighters, the federation got away with this because their droid forces ment their own units were completely expendable and easily replaced, further they had a emphasis on droids software meaning they had easy access to ready to go guidance software as well, combine that with the fact that federation missiles could contain buzz droids that ment you had even less of a chance of friendly damage while simultaneously ensuring your weapon causes maximum damage possible to the target, making it a ideal weapon for them to use.

Very interesting.

Asking why a jump-capable craft doesn't use BVR weapons is like asking why musketeers didn't use longbows.

Awesome!! Happy Thanksgiving 👍☯️👍

I think a big part of it also comes down to the numbers. How many guided munitions can you carry on a star fighter vs how many shots you might need to take. For instance if you removed all the laser cannons on an x wing and replaced them with guided rockets you may take down 5-10 TIE fighters but now you’re out of munitions... and for fighting a larger enemy ship how do you plan on taking down their shields and then destroying it with such a small number of payloads

Everything you just said was completely.....correct.

Solid analysis, it makes a lot of sense. It makes you realize how terribly designed many of the ships actually are.

A point you missed (or left out?) is the possibility of scrambling sensors. I think the US fighters using this are called "Wild Weasel". Though the US idea includes destroying radar positions with guided missiles from afar in this term. But that´s what came to my mind concerning guided weapons in Star Wars.

I hear you about the obstructed canopy but don't they have screens and sensors to compensate for that?

I’d eventually like to see a comparison between Star Trek and Star Wars weapons. I’m sure they both have advantages and disadvantages over the other

I think another factor is laser cannons don't run out of ammo. A missile based ship is only effective until they run out of ammo but a laser based fighter can fight for as long as it remains operational. Also I have to point out the P-47 was the most powerful piston engine fighter of ww2, especially the P-47N.

Your absolutely correct about the F-35! Funny you mention the F-35 on thanksgiving being that people (both expert and civie) say that its a flying turkey......

With enough skills numbers and speed close quarters is technically just something that will happen eventually weather you try to come into it or not. Just conflicts have not been large enough scale to have fewer ways to limit it happening for a while.

@5:58 The TIE Fighter sound a lot like the Naboo N1 Starfighter all of a sudden.

Playing through the X-Wing/TIE Fighter series of games, all available starfighters have sensors that allow them to keep tabs on their surroundings, although these can be damaged (if I remember correctly) and taken out of commission, forcing the pilot to rely on visual acquisition. I would imagine that starfighter combat in the entirety of the SW universe operates largely the same way, but I'm not entirely sure.

Nice video

5:57 That's not a good comparison; during the Cold War the Old USCG Hamilton Class Cutters had 127mm Deck guns when first built. Then even when eventually replaced with a smaller modern 76mm gun it was also given Harpoon Anti-Ship Missiles, a CIWIS point defense gun and anti-submarine torpedoes.

2:36 I always assumed that the proton torpedoes got sucked in by backdraft from the exhaust vent

Question. Given the visual abilities in a lot of Star Wars helmets, is it not possible TIE fighter pilots could have a display in their helmets that allows them to see, via cameras, wherever the pilot is looking? I mean, if he looked to his left straight at the wing, cameras mounted there could give him a display? I am not saying this is incorporated into the movies or legends or anything, just asking if it could be done.

One thing you've completely missed it that aircraft with similar countermeasures may very well get within visual range before combat begins. If the F35 were to go up against anther combat aircraft that is equally difficult to detect, they may very well be right on top of each other before they know the other is there. The F35 still has guns just in case they ever find themselves getting close and personal with another aircraft.

Proton Torpedoes were primarily an anti-capital armament. For space superiority you'd typically used Concussion Missiles, for context you wouldn't use cruise missiles against an enemy fighter instead you have air-to-air missiles

8:00 I noticed this statement and here is my response. If you actually look at the F-35’s radar stealth it is pretty good, but like the F-22 it can only engage targets beyond visual range with an active radar. This means that every aircraft can instantly see exactly where you are, at twice he range you can see them. The Russian equivalent(Su-57) is better in more or less every way

I think a very important factor is the range of sensors in star wars. Missile range is effectively limited by what sensors you can pack on a packet of explosives, and the sensor technology in star wars seems to lag far behind the propulsion and weapon capabilities, and you can assume that any given fight will be within visual range, because they don't have any sort of proper tracking capability. Whenever missiles are launched, it is still at visual range, so I think that sensors are to blame

The fighters might just also have some passive countermeasures/protection that jams the missiles coming at them. It would explain why the missiles turn slower even thought they should be more precise than a human pilot.

What about concussion missiles, they seemed more commonplace and maneuverable for ship to ship? Proton torpedos seem more like the equivalent of a submarine/ship torpedo, as they can change direction, but not as much as a missile can. They pack a larger punch though due to increased size.

I think it's a to do with the advanced countermeasures that they would have in place, even just to the lengths of being able to detect the missiles and shoot them down effectively... I also like the idea of the tracking systems in place in the x wing and tie fighter games, which give you a great sense of position within whatever scenario you're playing out. Something notable absent in the battlefront games, which after playing the X wing games, makes you feel like you're flying half blind.

You forgot all about the concussion missile that is used by several starfighters in combat. Though of course they are used to quickly take down other fighters during the opening phase of combat, as they close in on each other, yet still outside the range of lasers.

I like how TIE Fighter had it Most of the time Y/X/B Wing/TIE Bomber - Proton Torpedoes A Wing/Most other TIEs - Concussion Missiles TIE Fighter - Hope you like those Laser Cannons... Occasionally All ships - whatever the hell the mission designer wanted

The dog fights are exciting, but a really good reason for a pilot to know how to dog fight is to enhance their flying skills. What a pilot do if on a mission and there is a malfunction with your weapons? The best pilots are ready for just such a event

now that I think about the only reason I can make sense of is that missiles are by far slower than any laser shot and in space the fighters are extremely maneuvarble making it very hard to hit long range BVR attacks like nowadays. So the only time it really makes sense is super short range or using them against bigger targets for more explosive power.

11:37 That reminded me Battlestar Galactica, always jumping away berore the missilew hit her

I think the only reason dogfights occur in star wars is because it looks awesome on screen. I love the old ww2 dogfight style they run with but with the tech they have, even with shields missiles would still be more effective. There are weapons in universe like the wookie bow caster that could fire solid projectiles enveloped with a blaster bolt and this idea plus capacitors to keep the bolt at full power plus some maneuvering thrusters would be a very cheap weapon especially for the rebellion. Remember tie fighters didn't have shields for the vast majority of their service life so a single bowcaster style missile would oneshot them. So in summary the reason they don't use missiles is the same reason they don't show pilots employing the whole ambush tactics of that ww2 ace, dogfights are really cool and visually stunning.

Did you cover the mic or something for this video?