Whether you’ve enjoyed the ride so far or chosen to eject from the franchise, it’s no lie that Star Wars has been greatly expanded under Disney’s supervision in the post-George Lucas era. Beyond the Jedi and Sith Orders, this has also affected the selection of cool spaceships that we get to admire on screen (and inevitably acquire as Lego Star Wars sets), with Skeleton Crew‘s Onyx Cinder being the latest addition.
Last year, The Acolyte brought an all-new era of the Star Wars timeline into live-action, bringing some awesome High Republic-era ships to life in stunning detail. They were pretty cool — we’d definitely pay a bunch of Republic credits for many of them — but the Civil War, New Republic, and First Order-era installments introduced more fan favorites.
With all that in mind, we’ve compiled our list of the top 10 best Disney-era Star Wars ships (in no particular order). Some of them may not look like much, but they’ve all got it where it counts.
Polan-717 Jedi transport
OK, we just said that the Civil War, New Republic, and First Order had the coolest ships, and here we are starting with a High Republic-era ship. However, the Polan-717 Jedi transport is undeniably a Disney-era ship, just as it’s undeniably awesome-looking.
Despite all the High Republic comics, games, and novels that we’ve had over the years, this hybrid space shuttle was introduced for the first time in The Acolyte. In the show, it was used by Master Sol and the other Jedi during the mission to find both Osha and Mae Aniseya and to uncover the identity of a mysterious Sith warrior.
This transport ship was commonly used by the Jedi during missions that required more than two members of the Order (Jedi Vector fighters were used for smaller operations). Its most striking ability was the capacity to detach from the bulky external hyperdrive to gain more agility and reach higher sublight speeds, similar to the late-Republic-era Jedi starfighters.
The Marauder (Omicron-class attack shuttle)
Technically a Clone Wars-era ship, Clone Force 99’s (aka The Bad Batch) attack shuttle saw the most action during the early years of the Galactic Empire’s dark reign, before a proper Rebel Alliance was formed. It was the squad’s main means of transport during their undercover missions and desperate attacks on Imperial facilities.
Though it was designed with the transport of troops and covert operations in mind (like the later Imperial shuttles), the ship was also fitted with a rear double-laser cannon for defensive purposes, two fixed heavy cannons, and five more traditional wingtip-mounted light laser cannons. Though not very agile, this shuttle served Clone Force 99 well and essentially became the squad’s only home during their struggle against the early Empire before it was eventually destroyed around 18 BBY (before the Battle of Yavin) on Pabu.
The Stinger Mantis (S-161 ‘Stinger’ XL luxury yacht)
Owned and piloted by the Latero captain Greez Dritus during the dangerous early years of Palpatine’s reign, the Stinger Mantis was a luxury yacht; it wasn’t designed for risky missions, but that became its main purpose once he teamed up with the human Jedi survivors Cere Junda and Cal Kestis. Against all expectations, it proved to be rather adept at evading the Empire and mercenaries that gave them chase between 14 and 9 BBY.
The ship was lightly armed, with only two laser cannons placed above the cockpit, but what it lacked in armaments, it made up for with speed, agility, and endurance. Its surprisingly roomy interior could accommodate a four-person crew and included all the creature comforts needed to make the ship a viable home. It’s most striking feature is the large vertical fin which folded down during landing, imitating a yacht’s sail.
In 9 BBY, the Mantis was almost destroyed when it crash-landed on Koboh after some time under Cal’s ownership, but it was fixed and upgraded shortly afterward by Greez. Moreover, it ended up making the borderline suicidal journey to the hidden world of Tanalorr in one piece.
First Light (Nau’ur-class yacht)
Another luxury ship introduced outside the confines of the Skywalker Saga (this time in Solo: A Star Wars Story) was Dryden Vos’ residence and fancy base of operations: First Light. It’s an immediately striking design due to its narrow but giant shape; the starship was far taller than long and almost looked like a tower when floating near the ground.
After Vos’ violent death, it came into the possession of Qi’ra, another member of Crimson Dawn (who had gained a returning Darth Maul’s favor). This strange spaceship didn’t see much action, but it welcomed all sorts of dangerous individuals – criminal, Imperial, and everything in between – for meetings and parties. The First Light’s elegant interior was inspired by the Marin County Civic Center‘s insides.
U-Wing
The U-Wing was introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as the gunship and first means of transport used by the protagonists Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor in their mission to track down Galen Erso and obtain the Death Star’s plans. By the time they’d returned to the Rebel base on Yavin IV with a few new recruits, their U-Wing had seen action, but it wasn’t until the Battle of Scarif that we got to witness the mayhem a properly manned U-Wing could cause once the Rebel reinforcements arrived.
For the most part, the U-Wings were used by the Rebel Alliance to drop ground troops into battle and provide cover fire with mounted heavy weapons placed on the sides. The ships also had two fixed-position laser cannons that could be used against light defenses and starfighters. Despite their medium size, U-Wings were quite maneuverable and fast, which made them a key component of the Rebel fleet, yet they were rarely seen after the bloody Battle of Scarif.
The Razor Crest (ST-70 assault ship)
The Mandalorian, the first-ever live-action Star Wars TV show, introduced a ton of cool starships to the galaxy over its three-season run (with a movie coming next), including a custom N-1 starfighter that’s just dreamy. However, Din Djarin’s first ship remains the best. The Razor Crest, which was utterly destroyed halfway through the series’ second season, was old, rusty, and too big to engage in prolonged dogfights, but it also gave off the right ‘awesome piece of garbage’ vibes of the Millennium Falcon. It turns out that, somehow, the Razor Crest has returned for The Mandalorian & Grogu — probably so new toys and figures can be sold — but you won’t hear us complaining.
This type of ship pre-dates the Galactic Empire and was used for military patrols on many Outer Rim worlds, which explains Din Djarin acquiring one for probably very little money when compared to newer starcrafts, as well as why it looked so old and battered.
The Razor Crest’s heavy laser cannons could tear through most small and medium-sized ships, but its best quality was its size, providing ample space for collected bounties and acting as mobile living quarters for our chromed Mandalorian bounty hunter.
The Onyx Cinder
Skeleton Crew proved to be a winning combination of classical Amblin DNA and good ol’ pirate movies. Of course, that means plenty of new ship designs, with the scenes that show us a pirate-infested space station alone being a treasure trove for eagle-eyed fans. Regardless, the coolest design of the show is that of the Onyx Cinder, the buried ship on At Attin that’s found by the group of adventurous children at the story’s center.
Mild spoilers ahead, but it turns out that the ship came from At Attin all along. Pirate legend Tak Rennod somehow stole it during one of its credit chip transportation runs between planets hundreds of years ago and used it to get past the mint planet’s Barrier. Though it was fitted with laser cannons and defensive turrets, this Old Republic design was meant more for agility and speed. After some misadventures on Lanupa, the kids hit the big ‘do not push’ button and revealed the true, much sleeker Onyx Cinder in hiding beneath a rustier chassis. Sneaky ol’ Rennod!
TIE Silencer
Kylo Ren is one of the coolest villains that Star Wars has ever had, and his personal starfighter was every bit as snazzy as the man himself. Like in the past, the shady starship manufacturer Sienar Fleet Systems (rebranded as Sienar-Jaemus Fleet Systems during the New Republic times) designed and built the prototype starfighter for the era’s best ace pilot. Like his grandfather before him, Ben Solo had a cutting-edge starship that was every bit as menacing and aggressive as he was.
This new TIE prototype, however, had a deflector shield generator that sacrificed almost none of its agility and punchier weaponry, including four laser cannons (both light and heavy), a mag-pulse warhead, concussion missiles, and proton torpedoes. Moreover, the manufacturer provided Kylo Ren with customized flight controls. The Supreme Leader would later pilot custom TIE Whispers as the war against the Resistance raged on, but we prefer the more unique styling of his original ship.
MG-100 StarFortress SF-17 heavy bomber
The much-criticized StarFortress (aka Resistance bomber) was introduced in the opening scene of The Last Jedi with the intent of evoking the bombing runs of old WW2 movies where B-17 and B-29 planes dropped heavy loads over German territory. Star Wars has always run on the ‘rule of cool’ first and foremost, so massive, slow bombers that dropped bombs on large targets with the power of ‘microgravity environments’ and linear motion in outer space (and magnets) shouldn’t have shocked anyone.
Before the New Republic’s relatively small fleet was destroyed alongside the Hosnian Prime system, these ships were mainly used for civilian tasks following the unfortunate New Republic disarmament. The Resistance, however, kept a few of them operational as war machines, fitting them with repeating and medium laser cannons plus massive bombing magazines that were loaded with the proton bombs seen in the movie.
Is the concept a bit dumb, scientifically speaking? Yes.
Is it cool as all hell? Also yes.
The Supremacy (Mega-class star dreadnought)
Last but not least, we can’t help but admire the First Order’s massive mobile capital, flagship, and home of Supreme Leader Snoke during the short war against the New Republic and the Resistance: the Supremacy.
Its wingspan reached 60 kilometers, with the length hitting roughly 13 kilometers. According to the records, it was (by far) the largest capital ship in galactic history, dwarfing the Imperial Executor, Darth Vader’s flagship during the Galactic Civil War that took place decades before.
Needless to say, such a colossal starship was covered with armaments, sensor systems, and shielding of all sorts on top of the hangars and docking bays housing smaller crafts. Its 32 sublight engines were improvements over the Death Stars’ and made it noticeably faster than other massive ships smaller in size. Moreover, its giant hyperdrive was also ridiculously powerful and was coupled with a hyperspace tracking system that crunched data to follow and predict other vessel’s destinations across vast distances. None of that fancy tech saved it (nor most of its crew of over two million personnel) from instant obliteration through the suicidal, one-in-a-million Holdo maneuver, which saw Resistance Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo pilot cruiser Raddus and ram the Supremacy at near-lightspeed.
Need more Star Wars? Then you’ll enjoy our lists of the best Star Wars movies and Star Wars TV shows released so far. If you’re more of a fan looking to learn the ways of the Force, the best Star Wars games list is exactly what you need. Meanwhile, the future is looking clouded, but there are plenty of upcoming Star Wars movies and video games we’re looking forward to.
