Star Wars: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Imperial TIE Fighter
4. It Is Slower Than An F-22 Raptor
From Independence Day to Oblivion, the trope of Earth’s forces being utterly steamrollered by invading aliens is as old as science-fiction itself. So, if we were to race Earth’s premier air superiority fighter, the F-22 Raptor, against a TIE Fighter you’d assume the result would be a foregone conclusion, right?
Well, no.
According to lore the TIE Fighter’s maximum atmospheric speed is 1200 kph (745 mph). The F-22’s top speed is classified, but test pilots have confirmed reaching a speed of Mach 1.7 at altitude while in supercruise, a figure that roughly translates to 2099 km/h (1304 mph). Keep the race fair and allow the F-22 to climb to altitude and Earth’s champion will win without breaking a sweat.
Tag in the legendary SR-71 Blackbird and things get downright embarrassing. The SR-71 boasted a maximum speed clocking in at a blistering 3540 kph (2199 mph). That is three times faster than the TIE Fighter and near twice as fast as even the fastest of the TIE line, the TIE Silencer, which has a maximum speed of 1850 kph (1043 mph).
Score one for the good old blue marble.