Ion engine

Ion engines (also called ion drives, ion thrusters, or ion drive thrusters) were a common type of sublight drive. The drives generated charged particles that were then hurled from the rear of the ship, producing thrust in the process. Unlike many other starship engines, ion engines had no moving parts and no high-temperature components. Because of this, they required much less maintenance, a time and cost-saving factor that led them to be used expansively in the Imperial Navy. Notably, many starfighter models in the TIE fighter series were equipped with twin ion engines. The byproduct of such engines, the ion exhaust, made the passage of a ship detectable to sensors.

At the time of the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance, Sienar-Jaemus Army Systems manufactured a number of ion drive models, including the SJAS-210 and the SJFS-200a.

Text and facts from the “Ion engine” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.