Star Wars: The Last Jedi – The 8 Best Ships Introduced in Episode VIII

This Star Wars article contains spoilers. 

Although The Last Jedi’s biggest battles may involve lightsabers this time around, the movie also gives us plenty of action in space, as the Resistance races against time to evade the First Order, which wants revenge for the destruction of Starkiller Base. The First Order brings an enormous amount of firepower to the film, with new types of Star Destroyers, starfighters, and even an enormous flagship wthat’s bigger than the entire city of London!

Some of the usual favorites also make an appearance, such as the Resistance’s newer X-wing model and the Millennium Falcon, which the First Order really hates, according to Finn. And then there’s the return of the A-wing, the speedy starfighter from Return of the Jedi!

Here’s our guide to the best new starships of The Last Jedi:

8. DJ’s Stolen Ship

The codebreaker that Finn and Rose accidentally find on Canto Bight is morally bankrupt and financially well-off after turning the Resistance members in to the First Order. In the course of their adventures he steals the Libertine, an elegant yacht owned by a weapons dealer. It’s more suited for peace than war, with opulent decorations and no prominent weapons, but its former owner conducted the business of war on board.

7. The Ninka

While watching The Last Jedi,you may notice that Vice Admiral Holdo was originally in command of the Ninka, the H-shaped Free Virgillia-class Bunkerbustership in the Resistance fleet. It’s a well-armed cruiser that packs space for starfighter hangars and plasma bombs into its spindly frame. While the Ninka’s ability as a “Bunkerbuster” is useful for bringing a barrage down on enemy ships, its legacy in The Last Jedi is more as Holdo’s origin story than anything else.

6. Resistance Bombers

Paige Tico’s sacrifice in a MG-100 StarFortress bomber paves the way for her sister Rose to play a big role in The Last Jedi. These vertically-oriented ships are designed like B-Wing fighters but on a much larger scale. Manufactured during the final defeat of the Empire and during the time of peace afterward, they carry 1,048 proton bombs each. Along with the payload of bombs, each ship has fore and aft cannons. Each bomber usually carries five people: a pilot, a bombardier, two specialist gunners, and one flight engineer. During the evacuation of D’Qar, the Resistance’s StarFortresses were organized into two squadrons, Cobalt and Crimson.

5. The Raddus

The flagship for the Resistance is the Raddus, General Leia Organa’s base of operations after the evacuation of D’Qar. Under the command of her old ally Admiral Ackbar, the Raddus is equipped with turbolaser batteries, powerful shields, and room for starfighters. It’s particularly suitable for the Resistance because it’s designed to be flown with a skeleton crew, but the evacuation of D’Qar actually forces the crew to run the ship with more people than expected.

4. Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer

Like Darth Vader before him, Kylo Ren sets himself apart from the TIE Fighter hoi polloi with a custom starship. The prototype TIE Silencer includes a wide variety of weapons, including heavy laser cannons, torpedoes, and retractable ordnance bays stashed in between the bifurcated wings. Like other TIE fighters, it features highly efficient layers of solar panels on its wings. The Silencer is also more heavily armored and shielded than other TIE Fighters, protecting its unique (and fussy) occupant.

3. The Dreadnought

One of the First Order’s greatest weapons is the Siege Dreadnought Fulminatrix. Brought to bear against the remnants of the Resistance fleet, the Dreadnought is also equipped with the orbital bombardment canon that poses a serious threat to the Resistance base on D’Qar. It’s under the command of Captain Modan Canady, a former Imperial commander of a Star Destroyer. The Star Wars: The Last Jedi Visual Dictionary reveals that he considers the younger members of the First Order to be undisciplined and ineffective. His ship still packs a serious punch in space, though, with its point-defense turrets posing a threat to passing starships that might want to take out the orbital cannons.

2. RZ-2 A-wing

The Resistance has upgraded to a new model of A-Wing, the speedy RZ-2. Less well-armed than X-wings but very fast and maneuverable, the RZ-2 is the successor to the RZ-1 used in the Galactic Civil War. Equipped with missiles and cannons and painted in dramatic red stripes, the A-Wing Interceptor is also useful as a workhorse that can tow other star fighters on the ground.      

1. Snoke’s Flagship

The Supremacy hosts Supreme Leader Snoke’s dramatic throne room at the top of the wedge-shaped starship. It’s technically a Mega-class Star Destroyer, but you could be forgiven for not recognizing that from the silhouette: it’s the only ship of its class. Along with featuring the type of turbolaser batteries and starfighter hangars expected on Imperial Star Destroyers, it also contains factories that can produce machines like AT-ATs and other Star Destroyers. The Supremacy is staffed by some of the First Order’s youngest members, teenagers raised in the First Order’s creches with blind loyalty to their cause.