After initially engaging Imperial TIE/ln space superiority starfighters and turrets in order to draw fire from the BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers of Gold Squadron, Antilles and the droid ultimately ended up attempting an attack run on the Death Star's vulnerable thermal exhaust port. Before they could complete the run, their X-wing starfighter was damaged and they were forced to retreat.
R2-A3 was the designation of an R2 series astromech droid manufactured by Industrial Automaton that served in the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire. The droid was stationed as part of the Massassi Group of Rebels based out of the Great Temple on the moon Yavin 4. There, it served as part of the Rebel Alliance Starfighter Corps' Red Squadron, flying alongside Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles as Red Two.
R2-A3 flew with Wedge Antilles in the Battle of Yavin.
In 0 BBY, R2-A3 and Antilles flew in an T-65B X-wing starfighter when Red Squadron was scrambled alongside the BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers of Gold Squadron to attempt to destroy the Empire's Death Star superweapon in the Yavin system. Along with the rest of the squadron, the pair engaged TIE/ln space superiority starfighters and turrets in an attempt to draw fire so that the bombers could make an attack run on the Death Star's vulnerable thermal exhaust port.
After most of Gold Squadron was destroyed, Red Squadron began attempting attack runs on the port. Antilles and R2-A3 began to make a run along the Death Star's meridian trench alongside pilots Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter, but were forced to retreat from the battle after the Sith Lord Darth Vader damaged their X-wing starfighter. Skywalker ultimately managed to launch a proton torpedo down the exhaust port and sucessfully destroyed the Death Star before it could fire on the Rebel base on Yavin 4.
On-set photo of Wedge and R2-A3
R2-A3 first appeared in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. It can be more clearly seen in on-set photos than the actual film. In the current canon, the droid was first identified on an action figure set from the Star Wars: The Black Series released in 2018 by Hasbro Inc. The name originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where it was first revealed in 2010 by Hasbro in a Q&A regarding an action figure they had released of the droid.
- The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special