Lightspeed Panthers

Equipped with Incom Corporation T-65 X-wing starfighters, the Lightspeed Panthers performed with distinction during the Fei Hu campaign, destroying at least 286 Imperial TIE/LN starfighters during the first nine months of the engagement, while the Lightspeed Panthers only lost four craft. The success of the Lightspeed Panther's efforts—along with the overall success of the T-65 during combat engagements—forced the Empire to respond by introducing the Lancer-class frigate and TIE/IN interceptor starfighter in an attempt to level the battlefield and prevent one-sided campaigns such as the one at Fei Hu.

The Lightspeed Panthers were mentioned in the reference book The Essential Guide to Warfare, written by Jason Fry and Paul R. Urquhart and released on April 3, 2012. On June 7, 2012, Fry posted a statement from Urquhart on Tumblr as part of the tenth part of a series of endnotes for The Essential Guide to Warfare in which Urquhart revealed that the Lightspeed Panthers were a direct reference to the Flying Tigers, a group of volunteer American pilots who fought for the Chinese Air Force during World War II. The Flying Tigers were also noted for their high kill ratio and the teeth nose art on their planes, though the art on the Flying Tigers' planes depicted shark teeth. Urquhart also noted the similarities between the T-65s of the Lightspeed Panthers, and the P-40 Warhawks of the Flying Tigers, stating that they were both pilot-friendly multi-role fighters.