Why Star Wars "Light Freighters" Are Nonsense

[@Spacedock]

Get The Sojourn - The Complete First Season here! www.thesojournaudiodrama.com/s01

[@abdullahiaderinto5153]

Can you make a video on warhammer 40k lasgun (laser weapons)

[@TheArklyte]

Maybe the "fighter plane in space" stereotype is more at fault here? ANY spaceship would need high cargo capacity as you're not actually in a car stuck in traffic, you're in an independently operating vessel that can spend years away from infrastructure. So rather then these being wrong, it's "fighter" vessels, who are. Maybe these are just proper "fighters"/corvettes?

[@derekp2674]

Thanks - it was great to finally get that season completed. Fair winds for Season 2!

[@SirHeinzbond]

sorry but it is still not available on spotify in not english spoken countries...the other services i do not use...

[@discobolos4227]

YT-1300 was meant to push big cargo in front of herself. That's why she's got the prongs and the cockpit sideways. And the super-strong engine. This entire video is built around a miscomprehended design. It's an embarrassment and you should better take it down!!!

[@lopoa126]

The "naming a gunship as a light freighter" is like how some droids got classified as "security" instead of "assassin" droid.

[@Alpostpone]

Call it "proactive security" in either case

[@JainZar1]

@@Alpostpone *preemptive security, dealing with problems before they arise.

[@shalesderby]

Mocking Reply: Please don't give the game away meatbag! 😀

[@crulius.pontanian]

And some got classified as "human relations" droids

[@d3j4v00]

Subcategories of battle droid

[@matthewkeeling886]

I think the word whoever came up with "Light Freighter" was looking for was "Courier". They are designed to transport a few people or compact (but high value) cargos from Planet A to Planet B and fit that designation perfectly. You can even justify defensive armament that way.

[@kennethferland5579]

In hindsight yes they probably all should have gotten that designation, but instead Courier seems to have been applied only to these light ships which are actually built with all out speed as their main design goal and sacrifice most internal cargo volume for it. The Moldy Crow is what I think of as a true Courier ship as it never had significant cargo space. What we often see are light-freighters that are modified INTO courier ships via engine upgrades that sacrifice or fill cargo space.

[@justjoking5841]

They could always wait for the space police to arrive while pirates EMP or Concussion Missile the ship without any armament or means of self defence.

[@klaykid117]

I like to think that the two prong fork on the front of The Falcon is for pushing Cargo Crates in space

[@matthewkeeling886]

@@klaykid117 The problem is that any cargo setup designed to be pushed using them would either need to be relatively small or be specially designed since the prongs do not seem to be a standard feature on ships of this size, meaning that all the equipment would have to be specially designed for this type of ship. Having some level of capacity for such would explain the offset cockpit better than most explanations though. This system would have to at least increase the ship's cargo capacity by a factor of four to match very small early 20th century tramp freighters, meaning that as a true freighter it would certainly be uneconomical in a pan-galactic economy.

[@killmeification]

​@@matthewkeeling886it is literally designed to push large cargo pods through space

[@tom05011996]

I like the idea that "Light Freighter" was the code by the company selling them that they designed them for smuggling but are not aloud to advertise them as such.

[@P3x310]

Hold on, you mean the " " i " h " " " e g " " r" " L " " t " " r " " h e" ? " " g " " f " i " t " "

[@waynehutchins3431]

Pretty much just making pirate ships.

[@orangethesaberguy7638]

@@P3x310did you have a seizure

[@Terranallias18]

I like to think that they aren't even meant for smugglers, it's just a marketing term to sell to people undergoing a midlife crisis.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

Companies have always found loopholes to get around regulations. For example arcade cabinets. There where specialized arcade cabinets that have gimmicks tailored to the game. But there where also blank arcade cabinets with circuit boards and decals sold separately. But regulation stated it was illegal to sell cabinets without installed games. So the cabinets had something that met the minimum requirements to qualify as a game preinstalled. They even bought back the circuit boards to install in the next batch of cabinets, which is why so few of them are still around.

[@crackedjabber]

As a trucker, I get the 'light freighter' thing. It's the difference between a day cab, an extended cab, and a super cab. The unarmed freighters are the day cabs. They operate close to a secured area and back up, so they don't need the guns and maneuverability. The extended cab versions are the ones with a few guns and a bit more tricks, they operate closer to the fringes of polite society, they may need the guns to cover themselves until back up arrives, but they aren't intended to be fighting off swarms of fighters and enemy ships. The super cabs are basically the heavy gunships, those are the ones operating for months on end in the difficult areas, they specialize in sketchy stuff, and thus they need to be able to fend entirely for themselves in the ass end of nowhere.

[@danielkorladis7869]

but these are more like oceangoing ships than like trucks. Trucks are bound by road sizes, whereas oceangoing ships are bound only by dock sizes and some restricted passages like the Panama and Suez canals.

[@crackedjabber]

@danielkorladis7869 So, if we are comparing them to naval vessels, they are all tramp freighters. Basically, ships that aren't on any kind of regular schedule or routing. More specifically, they would appear to be pre 1960s containerization freighters. So they would still be all over the map for size and specific role. In most tramp ship situations, the ship owner is obligated to provide for everything the ship needs, and the charterer is just supplying the cargo and schedule. So the ship owner is responsible for the timely intact arrival of the freight in question. Now, if you have cargo and its going to a very safe and settled world, are you going to charter a small vessel, or are you going to pay a lot less for partial leasing of a much cheaper bulk hauler on a set schedule? Probably the latter. Which pushes the small independent guys further to the edges of the shipping economy... where they are likely to need more ability to protect themselves. The heavy firepower is part of their obligation to protect the cargo. Basically, to boldly go where we were paid to go.

[@thecommenter9678]

Companies will make a product if there is a need, if pirates, smugglers, cartels, mafias and crime lords need it, someone will make it. That is what light freighters are for and they make PERFECT sense in universe. as said by Tom05011996 said in his comment, "Light Freighter" was the code for "designed for smuggling" But not advertised as such. I should also point out that there are still MANY logical and LEGAL uses for a light freighter. In system transport of goods, resupply of patrol forces in less secure areas of space. Of course most of these especially the Millennium Falcon were designed with modularity in mind, meaning they could easily be converted to fuel transports, passenger craft, and even medical transports. Logistics is a complex industry and to flippantly say that light armed transports make no sense, well that just means you didn't REALLY think about it very hard. I'm clad that Crackedjabber you understand this. hats off to you for explaining it so well.

[@peterwestmer576]

I like this analogy, mind if I steal it?

[@crackedjabber]

@@peterwestmer576 not at all.

[@korcommander]

These ships make complete sense. If you're someone who needs to travel a lot, to various places in the galaxy, have a small crew, their belongings, supplies, and will be gone for months or years at a time, it's worth while to invest in essentially a space camper. Theres gonna be a lot of wild space out there, so it would make sense to be armed as well. Up in Alaska, the telephone techs are given company rifles for bears or other large animals.

[@Mrgaunt1]

I like this explanation - lol

[@mso82]

I think of them as "Space Technicals". Built to be pick-up trucks, but then up armoured and weaponized by rebel groups.

[@fernandomarques5166]

Basically the Toyota Landcruiser 70 series technical of spaceships

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@fernandomarques5166 HILUX!!!

[@crewchief5144]

More like the RV from Stripes.

[@evinbraley]

@@MonkeyJedi99 What spaceship from SW would be basically a Toyota Hilux in space? (the Millennium Falcon doesn't count)

[@stormsurge2103]

@@evinbraley Probably the Ghost, it's the only one, other the the Falcon that made sense to me.

[@Gear3k]

The OT Millennium Falcon always made sense to me since it was obviously modified through the roof. Maybe it started out as an actual light freighter at some point but years of tinkering and upgrading turned it into the heavyweight we know. It's when shiny new "light freighters" with similar capabilities showed up that things got weird.

[@codyraugh6599]

And if you look at the ship design it looks like it can physically tow, which in space where weight isn't as much of a issue as mass, it actually was a job performing vessel... But then everyone wanted a millennium Falcon. Which is part of why I liked Mando's original ship so much a clearly purpose built vessel that filled a similar role in the story without just being a million copycat...I mean "light freighter"

[@Triaxx2]

In legends, it' actually two different YT-1300's welded together after one crashed in the assembly line and the other was wrecked from the other end so they welded them together to get one functional ship.

[@Vinemaple]

This is sort of backed up by how much time Han and Chewie spend in the original movies tinkering and hitting things. Their modifications, and of course Lando Calrissian's before them, are *great* when they actually work, but they've created lots of extra failure points, either by pushing the envelope too far, or just not being very good engineers, it's not clear which. And with _Solo_ canon, they also have to work around a droid AI that's integrated into the ship's computer, and a highly independent-minded one, at that! And, exactly, Gear3k, failing to emulate that "highly modified" bit has weakened the worldbuilding with (ugh) powercreep. Although I know that if you put the _Ebon Hawk_ up against the _Falcon,_ it's clearly pretty crap. Atton and T3 are clearly the only reason it only gets badly damaged and not destroyed any time anyone shoots at it. Sure, it's armed and presumably upgraded, but it's no comparison to the _Falcon._

[@GeoRyukaiser]

According to the Legends material for YT-1300 line the default ship is much more lightly armed and less capable in all areas. The cargo bays for both the Falcon and stock models are still surprisingly small though.

[@Vinemaple]

B@@GeoRyukaiser But big enough to legally qualify it as a freighter, lol

[@0Defensor0]

I think the "light freighter" means that it's intended for small sized cargo instead of large containers. It's basically a delivery truck by design, but for the hero ship it has been converted into a mobile home.

[@Treveli45]

The box truck for in a city as opposed to semi and trailer for interstate. Makes sense, given how big the galaxy is, not every freight destination will be able to handle a larger medium or heavy freighter.

[@GeshronTyler1]

The engine banks don't quite jive with that, massively overpowered for a "box truck" equivalent...

[@brandonperlow9091]

More of a high speed Van or Suv. It can "carry" stuff. But I wouldnt call it a cargo vehicle.

[@carthienesdevilsadvocatenr2806]

Yeah, that was pretty much my interpretation as well. It's a fairly loose analogy, obviously, but it seems to fit.

[@tristanmitchell1242]

@@GeshronTyler1 Yeah, the YT Freighter, the type that the Falcon is, was designed to grab a cargo container and take it to a drop-off. That is what the two prongs on the front are for. So it is definitely a cab and trailer design.

[@justcallmeSheriff]

Reminded of how the Mon Calamari made giant starships that were marketed as deep space exploration and observation vessels. It was just VERY FORTUNATE that they were easily retrofitted into warship on par with Star Destroyers

[@5bars3g36]

Par is a bit of a strong word given the staggeringly different design philosophies behind weapon hardpoint placement but definitely in a similar weight-bracket. The Mon-Calamari Cruisers tended to have an omnidirectional firing angle layout that minimized dead space that could be used to the advantage of attackers, where the Star Destroyer's wedge-shaped design was explicitly made to allow the potential to focus every single gun on the exterior of the craft into a forward firing arc if the need arose, resulting in a much higher damage output when presenting the narrowest target at longer at the cost of efficiency of flank coverage when the fighters and bombers get into range. Tl;dr: The Mon-Calamari ship doesn't have near the directed firepower but since it has a broadside-favoring gun setup but it has much better protection from fighter/bomber swarm runs

[@calebbarnhouse496]

They were the size of star destroyers, but they lost every 1v1 with one, what won them those fights were the starfighters they could carry

[@semicuriosity257]

@@calebbarnhouse496 In SW:6 canon, MC80 wins against ISD on 1v1.

[@calebbarnhouse496]

@@semicuriosity257 in episode 6 it was a massive fleet battle, there was no 1v1 and again the fighter compliment of them is doing 90 percent of the work

[@HR-yd5ib]

i all fairness to the story writers ... in WWII the US refitted lots of ships into air craft carrieres.

[@Koshea69]

So the Millennium Falcon was a "heavily modified" version of a light freighter, I always assumed adding armament to it was part of that "modification" and most of the hero ships you talk about should fall into that same catagory, it's just that light freighters were small enough to land in most docs and robust enough to have room and fitting to accept those kinds of modifications. The perfect platform for aftermarket work that adventurous types would make use of.

[@Technodreamer]

Yeah, far as I know, the "stock" YT-1300 has a single dorsal-mounted laser cannon with about a quarter the power of either of the Falcon's turrets. Enough to dissuade a curious bandit or blast mynocks, basically. It just happened to have a powerplant that could support considerably more powerful armaments.

[@sethb3090]

Oh yeah, the Falcon is modified in pretty much every way it can be modified. Its sensor suite, shields, and weapons have all been replaced with military hardware, and it even has a few heavy concussion missiles (which don't see much use, as they're real hard for a private owner to replace). And everything related to going fast has been souped up, because souping up cars was something Lucas loved and wanted in his space movie.

[@stcredzero]

Someone familiar with the actual history of pirate ships could find the Star Wars light freighter to be VERY plausible! Actual pirate ships in the golden age of piracy were essentially: Light Freighters. Most often sloops. (If they weren't piraguas or essentially very large canoes with sails.) They were chosen to be maneuverable and fast. Almost always, they were modified with additional weapons.

[@lyingbastard]

@@stcredzero IIRC, Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard) had armed sloops in his fleet, though the Flagship, The Queen Anne's Revenge, was a frigate.

[@stcredzero]

@@lyingbastard The ships commonly portrayed in movies are larger than 95%+ of all the pirate ships that ever existed. Yes, there were are few larger ships, and generally pirates sought out “frigate built” vessels - ie, the fast, sleek built ones. But anything which was a true frigate ship of the line was a rarity for a pirate. This is why Queen Anne’s Revenge and the few other large pirate ships are noteworthy.

[@Charlie-js8rj]

The way I see it, the hero ships were originally light freighters with more practical designs (more cargo space, less crew area, less powerful weapons) but have been extensively modified to act as gunships / heavy fighters. It's been confirmed in universe that the companies that produce many of these ships are known for their modularity, so I assume any actual light freighter would have far more cargo space and only a few of the weapons, whereas the hero ships just max out on weaponry and ignore the cargo hauling abilities

[@sammywhite5127]

Yeah they basically confirmed this the basic YT-1300 is only armed with a single dual laser cannon turret where as the Millennium Falcon has two quad laser turrets and two torpedo launchers and the torpedo launchers are where the forward cargo bay was originally

[@BillSmithBooks]

That is actually the in-universe explanation.

[@Stribog1337]

Space gunboats?

[@littlekong7685]

Yeah, the corellian manufacturers do things like: Maker A sells a light freighter with powerful engines and multiple mount hardpoints, but no parts. Maker B ONLY makes "generic" space parts that just so happen to coincidentally mount onto shipyard A's hardpoints, by pure chance. Neither can be accused of making over armed gunboats, and neither officially authorizes the use of parts from the other, but if buyers happen to self modify their own ships, well thats just good business.

[@randomdude8202]

Still doesn't make sense, Who would want modular freighters? Not merchants, that's for sure. So other ideas like "they are intended for smugglers, but renamed for legal reasons" make more sense.

[@Daniel-Star]

The very important missed part is that there is a very obvious reason why some freighters would be armed and others wouldn't, and he comes close to it but somehow misses it entirely the galaxy is not uniformly safe. Larger and unarmed freighters would be great in the populated patrolled areas of the galaxy where cargo volume is the most important consideration. When you are out on the fringes of the galaxy where piracy is much more common, conditions aren't as good and planets tend to be less populated you really need every shipment to make it in because it so expensive to move.

[@XMysticHerox]

This channel really has fallen way off.

[@bubbagump2341]

@@XMysticHerox Yeah, the guy even likes "Andor" . . .

[@byron2FZ]

Plus the companies that can afford those larger freighters and passenger liners can also probably afford to contract with mercenaries or forces local to the regions they travel to have support if they do cross near to pirate infested areas. The folks flying these smaller personal freighters are independent workers either hauling cargo that has a high value per square metre (hence not requiring a lot of volume for cargo) or actively smuggling illicit goods, so the smaller size is handy for avoiding detection.

[@hoojiwana]

Yes thats a weak part of the video, I did a poor job of refocusing on the larger issue of so many things just redoing exactly what the Falcon did. The galaxy is dangerous due to war, criminals, oppressive governments, shadowy organisations, so sure defending yourself is a good idea. (Unless you're a civilian then you gotta wait for a hero to save you.) Like I said in another comment, theres scrapyards everywhere, multiple wars to generate military surplus, capable people who can put together space worthy ships. So many options for original hero ships without just redoing the Falcon. - hoojiwana from Spacedock

[@XMysticHerox]

Andor is great... Thats not the issue@@bubbagump2341

[@tsamoka6496]

To me, light freighters in SW have always reminded me of pick-up trucks turned into technicals, or civilian-owned military Humvees. As a specific aircraft example, I'd compare them to military utility helicopters, like the Bell UH-1 and the like. Can they carry cargo? Yes, but not very much. Can they fight? Yes, technically. Can they act as the main base/transportation for a small band of story-important characters on a special mission? Absolutely. Now put it in space and there's your hero ship! =^x^=

[@frankharr9466]

THANK you.

[@RecklessFables]

If you ever play an RPG and try to make their deckplans work, they prove to be terrible. The vehicles you mention make management and loading of people and cargo efficient. Star Wars ships are absolutely counterproductive to even light cargo hauling.

[@frankharr9466]

@@RecklessFables Hence, they're not freighters. They're something else. Personally, I view the Freighter moniker like 2-by-4, that is, marketing.

[@Dawt_Calm]

@tsamoka6496 The best analogous example for light freighters in Star Wars are tramp freighters IRL. That's almost certainly where Lucas got his inspiration from. The unarmed transports they talk about in the video are supposed to be large bulk carriers like freight liners. Bulk freight liners have ports of call, routes and schedules and belong to large corporations/banks/investment firms. Tramp freighters are more freelance and would belong to independent owner operators. Bulk freight liners generally have higher profit margins, using economies of scale to ship in bulk. They wouldn't have weapons mounted because they would be flying the same routes in relatively safe sectors with police protection, but can afford armed escort where necessary. Light freighters focus on low volume higher value cargo, passenger or time critical freight. Which is why they don't require large cargo doors. It's why Han bragged about fast delivery too. Also light freighters would have tighter profit margins. Which means taking riskier runs to unlawful areas. It makes perfect sense that they'd have to rely on mounting their own weapons, speed and maneuverability to get away from trouble. It's not about "winning", just being hard enough nut to crack so they can get away. It's where Lucas drew some inspiration for the name "Solo", because he's an archetype for the independent freelancer perhaps? I dunno. There are logistical issues for pirates wanting to attack large bulk carriers. They either have to steal the entire ship or have their own bulk carrier that they can transfer cargo over to. Both options are difficult, time consuming and dangerous. Here's the thing about bulk freight, it's generally speaking low value cargo, which is why they ship it via bulk carriers. It's the economies of scale that make shipping low value cargo viable. So if a pirate wants to steal from a bulk carrier they're going to have to take a lot. If an item is high value it's generally lower volume too. So that would be shipped in smaller safer ships. Light freighters with their higher value, lower volume cargo would be a more attractive prize. So being fast, maneuverable and able to fight are kind of a necessity. Speaking of niches, they're not taking the size of the galaxy into consideration. Civilization stretches on and on. In a galaxy that size a ship building company like Corellian would find a market for almost any size freighter. They could probably sell hundreds of thousands if not millions of light freighters over time. The video is just wrong when they say light freighters are nonsense. They fill a niche. But if I were to compare light freighters to any military transport, I'd say duece and a half is the closest fit.

[@jimmybacon3870]

(.Y.)

[@trebacca9]

From the D20 Star Wars 'Starships of the Galaxy' sourcebook, not *one* of the light freighters you listed as gripes was actually in the stock configuration. The factory-standard armament on these craft is generally one of two (sometimes zero) light laser cannons in a swivel mount. These ships aren't sold as gunships, the ones you showed are hot-rodded to hell and back. They have as many standard parts left on their frame as your buddy's favorite project car does. Everything important has been upgraded, replaced, or retooled. Also from that book, if you thought these craft were over-gunned, check out the Citadel-class transport. Comes stock with twin heavy lasers, 2 twin heavy ion cannon turrets, a *freaking concussion missile launcher*, and a light tractor beam, plus two docking clamps for carrying a pair of starfighters.

[@Andrewza1]

In FFG star wars role playing i ran a game where the players started with a unarmered HWK 1000 and over 2 years real time with a season every week made that ship able to dog fight like a fighter while carrying the fire power of a corvet and it was stealth. it even had a full on NPC crew on it so that if needed it could swoop in and rescue the players.

[@AkselGAL]

Agree with you, also there "stock" exceptions like the YV-929. More a "small gunship/patrol boat" with Double turbolaser cannons (2) Ion cannons (2) Triple blasters (2) Concussion missile launchers (4) And 150t of cargo to transport the tears of wannabee pirates crossing your path....

[@watdaduckfuk]

He also mentioned the Action series of ship, which all are easily modified to act as light frigates. Hell if I remember correctly you can technically build a hangar in one and house 2 squadrons of 4 fighters.

[@trebacca9]

@@watdaduckfuk Action-series transports are CEC-designed, retrofit ready boxes with a gazillion hardpoints ready for installing gear and easy modular structures. They're practically made for aftermarket customization.

[@Earthstar_Review]

The problem is that they're awful freighters. They're tramp freighters, without the ability to haul full-sized cargo containers in most circumstances, more useful as light tugs. They're like the pick-up trucks of the Star Wars shipping lanes, transporting a few mattresses at a time. I would reclassify them as light utility ships for the more developed sci-fi genre we now enjoy. They're not as effective as specialized ships of similar size, but they can do a lot and have enough adaptability to probably not damage anything they don't intend to damage.

[@krsanth-4142]

I believe the concept was that the big "Bulk Freighters" carried cargo to main transfer hubs/star ports, and then shuttles and "Light Freighters" move it to local planets and the surrounding systems. I imagine it would be most cost effective to do that then to have the larger ship stop at every port. What less than honorable (heroes) do with them is another story. (edit spelling mistakes)

[@VestedUTuber]

Kinda? For developed core worlds you'd have a different type of light freighter for that, especially if an intermodal container system is in use. A ship like what we see used for "Hero Ships" would be used more for transporting low-volume, high-value goods to and from frontier worlds or by independent pilots.

[@gryphon9507]

The term Bulk Freighter in modern terms is any ship that hauls large bulk loose cargoes, such as grain, iron ore, coal, etc. Container ships carry manufactured or non bulk cargoes which have already been packaged all of which placed in shipping containers.

[@spamhonx56]

my headcanon was something more along the lines of how precious the cargo they carried: if the big ones carry grain, the small ones carry gold. Ok, those are earth trade goods, but it would explain the size/armament disparity if the small "freighters" are for carrying art/museum pieces, small quantities of special-order goods, niche machinery, produced somewhere remote or taken to somewhere else remote, far from highly guarded trade routes.

[@matthewbreytenbach4483]

The difference between using a road train and using a panel-van.

[@jasonwalker9471]

The problem with that idea is that the most a ship like the Falcon could carry would be ~4 sea-cans, both by volume and by its in-universe specified max hauling weight. 4 seacans... from a hub system to a PLANET? An entire planet only needs that much stuff? Even the smallest population worlds we see in Star Wars have enough people on them to justify bulk carriers visiting them. It's also extremely expensive to transport small quantities of things, on a per unit basis. In the real world you can track this in numerous ways, but I find carbon emissions to be an amusing one. When you buy a banana at your local grocery store, half the emissions of transporting that banana from the other side of the planet take place when you get in your inefficient gas guzzling 6 person SUV and drive yourself to the grocery store and back. Much of the rest of the emissions comes from moving the banana from your local seaport or train station to the grocery store via semi or box truck. Actually moving the banana from the other side of the planet? A tiny fraction of the total. Not because giant ships are clean transport (they're anything but that), but because per unit emissions are tiny on bulk transport. This carries over to the money it costs to transport something too, roughly in proportion to the carbon emissions. Back to the YT freighters vs bulk transport: this is equivalent to - in the real world - if we exclusively used cessnas to service every small town on the planet (everything we don't consider a "hub"), instead of building roads or train tracks that much cheaper bulk transport vehicles could travel down. How expensive would it be to live in those places? We actually know the answer to that, because there are small towns in northern Canada and Russia that are exclusively serviceable by light aircraft. Everything in those towns is either government or corporate subsidized (often both) because no one can afford to live there due to the lack of cheap bulk transport that we in more southern regions take for granted. Now imagine entire planets where an icecream cone cost 500 dollars, because they're only serviced by YT freighters instead of cheaper bulk transport. That's absurd. Economics don't work that way. No one would live there until the space equivalent of rail access or a road was brought in.

[@Kurayamiblack]

I was under the impression that these ships were in fact freighters by factory specifications but the shady people that purchased them illegally modified them so they could do stuff they shouldn't while still looking innocent enough to not draw attention while travelling in public spaces

[@kanrakucheese]

The same sources (West End Games RPG material released just after RotJ and a direct source for the Thrawn trilogy) establish *most* light freighters are unarmed or armed only with a nominal laser cannon for removing space debris (asteroids etc.), especially when designed in more peaceful eras. It's just that when a ship is mostly empty space and has enough power to move literally tens of thousands of kilograms of cargo it's quite easy to use that space and power for something other than crates full of goods. Also helps many are modular to accommodate varying goods storage (refrigeration for meat, gas chambers to keep fruits from aging) or types of passengers (humans are the most common, but plenty of species breath different atmosphere or have differing size).

[@RhelrahneTheIdiot]

YT series freighters were infamous for this, they were purposefully built to be heavily modified by their captains and as a result this would end up with a TON of them being used illegally and having features that were simply illegal or heavily restricted on civilian ships.

[@CptJistuce]

The problem is that they aren't built like freighters. Their designs offer limited cargo capacity and loading/unloading that cargo is an awkward affair. They don't make sense as freighters.

[@hoojiwana]

Sure thats great, but why do so many hero ships end up being modified "light freighters"? - hoojiwana from Spacedock

[@Kurayamiblack]

@@CptJistuce That's a fair point. Although, what term would you use to describe them? To me these ships seem like the space versions of a mobile home? A Pickup truck? A small private boat? Not sure what ship class or type that would fall under

[@kendrakirai]

The ships you mentioned that are unarmed, typically fly in safe space, are large, bulk freight or passenger type ships, and many of them have escorts at various points in the journey. A small courier type ship is probably going to be out on the outskirts or delivering high value, compact goods - perfect for pirates to hit. High value, low risk, low effort. To properly raid a bulk freighter, you need to either take the entire ship, or have your own bulk freighter handy to take everything, and then you need to find somebody to sell it all too, and not many are going to be buying, say, eight million tons of chickpeas on the black market. But a couple dozen tons of gold and treasure? Or hyperfuel, or whatever? THAT is worth attacking a ship for.

[@stephefw7601]

☝🏼 also, look at the designation Sport Utility Vehicle in the USA and its popularity despite being utterly un-needed and un-utilized for said purpose.

[@Jonny5a]

I was thinking along similar lines, like the big unarmed ships are the 747s and 18 wheelers. The “light freighter” is a modified Hilux in Afghanistan

[@warmachine5835]

@@Jonny5a I like the idea of these being "space technicals."

[@undine120]

Yep, if you put guns directly /on/ the transport, you're asking for it to be shot at and risk damaging the cargo. If 99% of the shooting is at the escorts, and 1% at the engines to disable movement, there's a much greater chance you, as the people on the transport ship, don't get killed when pirates hit your convoy. Your hired escorts die.

[@twddersharkmarine7774]

​@@warmachine5835that is honestly such a great idea XD

[@bubbasbigblast8563]

So, a few things: 1. Pirates are more of a thing in the Outer Rim: you don't need heavy weapons in the Inner Rim, or even most of the Mid, but in the Outer Rim though, pirates with a few bad fighters trying to rob everyone is much more common. 2. Light Freighters are as much about transporting VIPs as cargo: remember how Han didn't even question why two people and two droids were paying so much to get off planet? He must have done similar things before. Light Freighters are also big enough to do that comfortably, while also being fast enough to evade or fight Bounty Hunters/system patrols. 3. While it's true that Light Freighters are often blatantly being made for pirates, it's actually pretty hard _not_ to do that: Lambda's are good all-rounders despite being shuttles, any ship meant for heavy industry will be tough and have tractor beams, and we've even literally seen retrofitted Tugs being used against Star Destroyers. Light Freighters are still the cheapest and most flexible option, but other options are out there.

[@yamatokurusaki5790]

Technical

[@kbahrt]

They honestly seem more like an RV with a couple of guns strapped on so that people can live out their space cowboy fantasies.

[@ericvulgate]

Space Balls!

[@greatsayain]

The thing Jabba wants Han for is dumping his load of spice when he got boarded. So before he was taking Luke as a passenger he was hauling inanimate cargo.

[@ChobinoftheFunk]

​@@greatsayainThe two are not mutually exclusive. It is possible for a ship to do both.

[@ThetaReactor]

I like the theory that the Falcon is just the tractor, and we never see the cargo module it's supposed to couple with. Because that means Han's hero ship is basically the Porkchop Express in Space. Tell me you can't picture Kurt Russell screaming around a corner with his TEC-9, running into a crowd of Stormtroopers and scrambling to retreat.

[@krispalermo8133]

Showdown in Little China, or Escape from New York.

[@edwardbarton1680]

It's worth noting that the Serenity from Firefly *does* have guns. They're added on during the film. And Han Solo does state "I've made a lot of modifications myself"

[@Dawt_Calm]

That's true, when Malcolm decided to go to Miranda, they attached the anti-aircraft gun that Book used to shoot down the Fed ship that killed him. But after the Reaver attack was over and they were repairing Serenity they removed the AA gun. I've read that few if any of the light transports in SW come with guns. The ships are heavily modified by the owners.

[@Alex7ati]

The part I think you missed but did kind of hint at, was that those unarmed freighters were designed to travel well patrolled routs, whereas a lot of the corellian ships and other light freighters were built for the untamed parts like the outer reach planets.

[@normanzoelle5154]

That's the impression I always got. These bigger, unarmed cargo vessels are used in safer, more prosperous regions. Regions with well-defined hyperlanes and enough money to afford a proper system security force to deal with pirates. The light freighter would then be used to carry their cargo from these hubs into the frontier. It's also often hinted that companies like CEC, who build the falcon and most of the lookalikes, knew that they were selling light warships, but the profits made it worth it for them.

[@covertagent3508]

Exactly. His argument just silently assumes that the Star Wars galaxy is uniformly secures, which is not the case.

[@---jx3ql]

You also forgot that those unarmed Cargos were not alone they traveld with Escort, thats just the money talk buy big cargo hire merc or buy self defend capable smal frighter for same money

[@hoojiwana]

Tatooine during the early New Republic (Book of Boba Fett) is shown as being a place run by warring crime syndicates, but it has unarmed transports arriving very frequently. You'd think that would be the exact sort of place those ships would avoid, but nope. Tatooine has long since stopped being a backwater though with how everything important happens there. Even on Nevarro, those pirates were sent there by Moff Gideon, and the place was only vulnerable because the people of Nevarro explicitly chose to be independant and put themselves at risk, exactly as I said in the video. - hoojiwana from Spacedock

[@crewchief5144]

No, no. Let's watch that campy story arc of the rag-tag crew of freighter tramps that never get into real trouble or mix it up with "an empire." I bet that's like "Real World: Ferrix"

[@adeptlupatus4946]

There’s also the possibility that light freighters tend to be more common in the mid and outer rims as well as wild space, whereas the larger freighters tend to be in the core. The rim and wild space are dangerous as hell, and have mostly smaller settlements, meaning they can’t protect the trade lanes. The core is rich and heavily populated which means stronger fleets and safer trade lanes.

[@jeffreycarman2185]

5:13 George Lucas was really into hot rods so the Millennium Falcon is supposed to be those old hot rods that would run moonshine during the prohibition. The armaments on all of these ships are supposed to be modifications to the original ship. Also at least a couple of these ships (of course retroactively) are supposed to be like barge tugs, that would attach themselves to large containers and shuttle them through space. This js also why the engines are so large and why the unloaded light freighters are so fast.

[@VestedUTuber]

"This js also why the engines are so large and why the unloaded light freighters are so fast." Or... they designed the ships that way to appeal to enthusiasts. The YT-1300 with its overbuilt engines would be like a Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat. Not saying that you couldn't use a YT-1300 to tow barges, just that the engines make sense even if that wasn't the original intent. The economy of the Star Wars galaxy is heavily capitalist and starship manufacturers are always looking for ways to boost their sales. Making enthusiast models is one way to do that. And if someone doesn't want to pay the extra for a YT-1300 with its overbuilt engines and heavy fighter-like handling, they can always buy an older YT-1210 or a bigger, bulkier YT-2000 or YT-2400 instead.

[@Zack_Wester]

@@VestedUTuber could be a case of the YT-1300 as stock is designed to haul cargo barges... buyer buys it because big engines, looks cool and so on. see people driving around whit pickup trucks that can fit a few cows in it truck drive on wet dirt roads, what is it used for... drive to the grocery store 5 min from home on perfect pavements/tarmac somewhint where a small tuc tuc truck would perform better at.

[@tanwenwalters7689]

Also quite a few of the CEC ones, like the YT-1300 are explicitly modular. An off-the-shelf Yt-1300 is completely unarmed and has more raw (but obvious) cargo space than the Falcon.

[@Klaaism]

Aye additionally this was initially a heavily modified vessel to fit the needs of an individual. Unfortunately Disney can't seem to really create anything unique nowadays. Instead they copy from the original movies and the so-called Legacy Extended Universe. Now every group of heroes has to have their own "millennium falcon" or a clumsy rip off of it.

[@VestedUTuber]

@@Zack_Wester You're entirely missing my point. I'm pointing out that a ship having excessively powerful engines doesn't _have_ to be a practical design decision, just like how we have SUVs with muscle car engines and street-tuned suspension out of the factory IRL. Or do you think the Dodge Durango Hellcat was designed primarily to tow cattle trailers?

[@EWLR89]

I've always thought of "light freighters" similar to bush planes used in Alaska and other remote places. They can ferry passengers, mail, and supplies from a sector hub to frontier colonies, they work well in atmosphere and can land on planet. Some weapons make sense because bad actors are likely to be on the frontier, obviously your Hero OC will modify it though. Outside of the frontier, a light freighter is probably not economical unless you're carrying special cargo (legitimate or illegitimate). Like transporting an old man, a boy, and 2 droids to Alduran.

[@ctrlaltdebug]

Suppose in your analogy then the Falcon would be a souped up light plane with machine guns, used for drug running and strafing rival cartels occasionally.

[@EWLR89]

@@ctrlaltdebug Yep. At home in the outer rim, but modded with the firepower to shoot first.

[@bsmittyva69]

IMO, they're more like the carracks, caravels, and galleons that were widely used to explore and transport goods during the Age of Sail. These were small ships that carried a mix of cargo and people and were often armed.

[@CulinVlau]

The Ghost has had moments when it fulfilled the role of a light freighter. It has enough cargo space to haul a bunch of crates and it can have larger stuff like fuel tanks magnetically attached to its underside.

[@Hartzilla2007]

It can also attach additional crates on the underside.

[@joshuahogan3475]

The vast majority of the Falcon "clones" come from the same company as the Falcon itself and are actually different models of the same basic ship. Kind of how car companies come out with an updated version of the same car each year, Nissan Pathfinders for example. Most of the hero ships mentioned are variations of the Correlian Engineering Corporation's YT series of freighters. And that particular series seems almost custom made to be altered into a smuggling/gunship.

[@Belphegorite]

The earlier YT-1200 design became popular with smugglers and Rim traders because they were more heavily armed and armored than similar sized freighters. When the 2400 line (Millennium Falcon) came out, it was to meet customer demand for a faster, even more heavily armed and armored ship. CE basically builds for a niche market; legitimate traders in civilized space go with cheaper, less combat capable options. At least that's my understanding based on the stuff I've read. There's an endless mess of lore out there, most of it contradictory. Edit: My model numbers are all wrong because I'm going off crappy memory, ignore those. The point is, they built a somewhat tougher freighter and it sold so well amongst smugglers that they pushed for an even better line of smuggler gunships.

[@markbecht1420]

Armed yachts have always been a thing - even if never terribly common. I recall seeing a yacht in a marina in Palm Beach many years ago during the height of Caribbean Narco-piracy. About 85-90 feet long in the swoopy angular style of the mid 80s. White with swooshy blue graphics. Perfectly normal...until you noticed the two oversized spherical radomes and the OTO-Malera 3" turret on the foredeck. To be fair, the turret also had swooshy blue graphics on it.

[@hoojiwana]

Sounds fantastic and is exactly the sort of thing the setting needs more of rather than retreading the same ground. - hoojiwana from Spacedock

[@DrBunnyMedicinal]

@@hoojiwana This is far from the most egregious bit of canon idiocy that George shoved in to explain away a plot hole on a meta level but never bothered (or likely even thought about) whether it made the slightest bit of sense in-universe. Like, say, The Rusan Reformation, the Tarkin Doctrine, or the Rule of Two.

[@DIREWOLFx75]

"and the OTO-Malera 3" turret" *lol* There's no kill just like OVERkill...

[@AraliciaMoran]

@@DrBunnyMedicinal Oh god, the Rule of Two. I've already ranted sooo many times about that one piece of idiocy. It's like a straight road to loosing all knowledge.

[@EbonyManta]

@@AraliciaMoran I hate that particular bit of lore as well. It's an interesting attempt to try and mitigate the fact that Sith are inherently self-serving and ambitious, but it relies on so many of them ultimately working towards a goal they will never benefit from, and taking on apprentices that they know will either usurp them, or die trying. It would not have taken long at all for a Sith master to either branch out and start creating a more numerous order, change the very ideology of the Sith in some manner, or simply say, "I'm not taking an apprentice, I know how that ends, and it doesn't benefit me in the meantime."

[@luigimario6722]

I think that another reason to have the hero in a light freighter is that it gives them a plausible reason to own their own ship without being ludicrously wealthy.

[@jacehackworth6413]

This is a huge factor I hadn’t thought about at all. Good point.

[@stevenscott2136]

Of course, Han allegedly won the Falcon from Lando in a card game. And Lando allegedly won it himself in a card game, according to the old L. Neil Smith novels from 40 years ago. I can't imagine being such an avid card player that I'd bet my starship. That's like betting your house, your car, AND your business, all at once...

[@hoojiwana]

This is a great point but Din Djarin had an old junker that could be taken apart and put together in like a day and still be spaceworthy. There's scrapyards full of parts and there are multiple wars which would generate old surplus equipment when they end. Take a LAAT and jam a hyperdrive in it. Cobble together a new ship out of parts. You know, kinda like Dins N1, but more practical. Anything but modifying a light freighter because thats what Han did! - hoojiwana from Spacedock

[@yamatokurusaki5790]

​​@@stevenscott2136ppl do that tho

[@mirafeder7992]

And without the need of being lucky enough to stumble over an outright warship that one can claim as... "legitimate salvage"

[@AlexanderJamesMusic]

I think you nailed it in the last few minutes. It's the same as in Star Trek where warp speed death machine USS Defiant is classified as an "escort" by Starfleet because calling something a warship makes their tummies upset. By classifying the ship as something ubiquitous, they got their dedicated gunboat without having to walk back on their "new life and new civilizations" rap.

[@clancykohl]

It's even in the lore, where the manufacturer of the Falcon or the Ghost, wasn't allowed to build warships so they build ships that could easily be retrofitted to fill that role and called them freighters and such.

[@coolsenjoyer]

Escort fits well if Defiant class is meant for fleet actions where its supposed to be like a destroyer, but that would be too aggressive sounding classification. If it was meant to be a more independent ship, then it would've likely been something like corvette or frigate, which aren't any more aggressive sounding than cruiser, one of the common Starfleet ship classifications, and cruisers are explicitly a warship classification too

[@Boonedale]

The USS Defient was designed for fighting the Borg specifically. It was also a top secret program because it used a cloaking device on loan from the Romulan Empire. That would explain why it was classified as a "Escort Ship".

[@viperstriker4728]

@@coolsenjoyer It has a cloaking too, so I think it is more of a submarine type role in their fleet composition.

[@terranempire2]

Thing is, Defiant as a warship isn’t that impressive. The “Escort” classification actually works and works well. It’s only when you get to the big ships. Prometheus & Sovereign where it really is a battleship.

[@andersonic]

In the Star Wars Galaxies MMO the hero ship Light Freighters (YT-1300, Nova Courier, Decimator, etc) were also "personal branding" and "a place to keep your stuff." You could significantly customize the exteriors and freely decorate the interiors with game loot just like a player house. Multiple players on board could move about freely and take on piloting, weapon turrets, repair systems, etc providing "a stage for drama" and "something for everyone to do." It's a shame more fans didn't get to experience it.

[@Somajsibere]

I always assumed light freighters worked like IRL vans. Pressumably they have some cargo space, or have had their cargo space transformed into living space. (For example we see the ghost from rebels actually transport cargo) Also, as the TTRPG Traveller thought me, actually making "hero ships" or ships that can easily be modded into "hero ships" can be fairly profitable in a galaxy such as the Star Wars galaxy where the government can be charitably described as hands off, and corporations rule entire planets. Like it makes sense there would be a mercenary industry, and this industry would require specialized ships, "hero ships". Also, the big modifications on these ships aren t the guns, those occupy relatively littler space on the ships, the big modifications are the crew quarters.

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

crew quarters and cargo holds can be same same space, with some tweaks, the biggest mod is powerplant, which can power guns, shields and more powerful hyperdrive, and some other cool stuff, like cloaking

[@codyraugh6599]

Real problem is they kept scaling DOWN the size of the light freighters when purpose built ships that were also easily modifiable in the EU and Disney verses existed already. I think the real problem is that it's the freighter aspect and how they kept making them so much smaller to try and somehow convince us that these we're not trying to outdo the Falcon... By making a ship that could do more than the falcon while being smaller... Like with the Falcon you can tell it was stripped, modified, originally could use it's front to push larger area size containers, or just have a larger front container built in. And it needed constant work... And then we needed Rebels to have a "not millennium falcon" and the ship was smaller, had a whole other jump capable ship built into it, etc etc. At the rate of shrinkage as opposed to performance, give Starwars another decade and the Doctor will be suing for theft of Time Lord tech.

[@minipancho94]

for the TTRPG nerds out there, look into parasite fighters if you want to try and mix things up with the "hero-ship" dynamic for your campaigns. another idea is the converted light carrier as well. take a GR-75 and add some makeshift hangers out of some cargo containers.

[@BlueLionNotOfPercy]

I had a different Traveller take away. I thought that light freighters were subsidized mail ships. Then again Star Wars has FTL communications with the HoloNet so that might not be the case.

[@TheJaniebear]

That's exactly it. I always thought of Light Freighters like courier vans or box trucks of the Star Wars Universe. If you want a small amount of something delivered fast and safely, choose a light freighter. If you want a large quantity of something, choose a BFF-1.

[@project9701]

In a lot of ways, the "stock light freighter" in Star Wars is the tramp freighter/bush plane of the universe. Add to that some ability to convert it into a gunship/Q-ship, you see it's role. It goes to places where there aren't a lot of ports or support equipment, loads and drops things off, and does it all on the basis of speed and agility versus sheer bulk carry capacity.

[@rascta]

Yes, and the free trader "hero ship" run by an 'intrepid merchant' is a standard trope in sci fi writing and RPGs going way back. Going where the big freighters won't or can't, carrying (or recovering) small, valuable, sometimes illegal cargoes and high value passengers, also somewhat capable of supplementing income with piracy, bounty hunting, treasure hunting, etc. when they didn't have a delivery contract. These were the staple of Traveller, which was released the same year as the very first Star Wars. It was already a well-established standard sci-fi trope by then. And older than that. TV Tropes says the 'intrepid merchant' trope is "dating back in poetry, folklore, and history to at least Sinbad the Sailor, continuing as a staple of adventure fiction until the present day, and finding its way into science-fiction almost as soon as the genre came into existence." It has always made for potentially interesting stories of adventure.

[@dovahgamer9689]

if any classification fits to falcon and and friends its "blockade runner". 1. small and fast enough to avoid capital ships / defense platforms etc. 2. enough firepower to punch through fighter screens 3. enough space to get small amounts of cargo or troops (special forces/...) into hostile areas 4. they can land without special docking platforms designs like that would have probably been very popular in the republic during the early clone wars, to mess with the stability of worlds recently taken by the separatists

[@DrTssha]

It makes sense, and this is literally what the Falcon does on its first flight (blowing past a bunch of Star Destroyers by escaping into hyperspace). Obviously such a vessel would need a top tier navicomputer...one that could do the Kessel Run in less than 3 parsecs. :p

[@rakaydosdraj8405]

@@DrTssha "IT WAS TWELVE!"

[@Merrorh]

Besides, we do not know the tech curve of aggregates for such crafts. Usually all those are a balance of size/power/cost, and it is very much possible that falcon and friends can get the most efficient of the all three. Like cheap, but supersized fighter part, or weak and undersized capital ship part, basic option for full-capitals, which works in this scenario like near-elite variant.

[@jaredthehawk3870]

Unfortunately the CR-90 Corvette aka the first ship actually seen in the franchise has that designation locked down.

[@Crazael]

The Falcon is also heavily modified away from it's original design.

[@ianmacdiarmid1249]

If i remember correctly, there is an in universe explanation for this. Many shipyards, particularly Corellian ones, make their shops easy to modify to fit the wants or needs of the operator

[@roberthill5805]

I was never sure why they didnt just say it was an Armed Troop/Civilian Transport Ship. You want plenty of room for people and their cargo, disuade ransom missions, shoot asteroids when you move in solar system, and you can always strip seating for more room. With militaries you don't always want/need to transport large number of troops with a single ship in dangerous areas. Then having your troop transport having guns that could help clear the landing zone would be amazing.

[@AshanBhatoa]

I suppose one of the truly irreconcilable elements of these vessels is that their interiors cannot fit within their exteriors. Ironically, I'd argue that the Ghost does actually fulfill it's role as a freighter.

[@Halo1Buff]

Agreed, they actually use the cargo handling aspects of the Ghost in several episodes.

[@drksideofthewal]

@@Halo1Buff It helps that The Ghost has external cargo pods. They don't have to explain why an interstellar freighter was designed to carry cargo only in its entryway, with less space than a U-Haul.

[@MrFelblood]

@@drksideofthewal The Falcon itself would be able to accept external cargo pods in the front claw, but somebody replaced the cargo clamp with a missile launcher.

[@slothfulcobra]

@@drksideofthewal If you actually do the math on the cargo bays, there's multiple semi-trucks' worth of capacity in the Millennium Falcon, but Han set up a couch in one of the bays

[@Riceball01]

@@slothfulcobra The problem is that it's rather difficult to get cargo in and out of the Falcon unless the floors of all of the cargo bays also double as freight elevators. Somebody, I forget who, recently posted a video discussing and according to published blueprints of the Falcon, the only real way of getting cargo in and out of the Falcon is through the boarding ramp. While the Falcon does have a single freight elevator, it's small and only services a single cargo hold.

[@FlorianD30]

I always just assumed those ships were just small ships able to transport small loads of cargo that normal people are able to afford. Like a freelance trucker. When it comes to the unarmed cargo ships I assumed those were mostly owned by big corporation, The Empire, The Republic or other big players like huge crime syndicates who can afford to provide armed escorts. The Eagle 5 from Spaceballs is how I see the "Light Freighters", an RV or truck in space...with guns.

[@DrownedInExile]

I remember one of the SW EU books featuring Han Solo as main character. He was in a bar with Chewie, when confronted with Imps. They declared that his ship was in breach of Imperial regulations, for having too little cargo space and too many weapons. Naturally Han answered with his blaster. "Light Freighter" indeed!

[@danielgray720]

Han Solo at Star's End IIRC. Great book. Damn that lift/mass ratio!

[@Nethar6]

My head canon for ages has been that "Light Frighter" was an obfuscation / legal loophole. Like the way Japanese sextoys are made to look like other stuff in order to circumvent an obscure law still on the books. IMO The Ebon Hawk is one of the best Hero ships I have seen, it at least makes some sense for something that was always meant to transport a number of people while offering some comforts and cargo space. It still suffered from the Flacons curved design (that's just bad for space travel)

[@beangrff]

This is another reason I love the light Corvettes in the Expanse like the Tachi/Roci, they actually have a thought out military purpose while fitting the small crew hero ship role.

[@TheNorthie]

It’s not a warship Empire, it’s a modular freighter with optional heavy cannons, torpedo bays, heavy shields, and faster hyperdrive option.

[@stevenscott2136]

Those aren't cannons. They're high-speed ballistic package-delivery projectors.

[@Alpostpone]

@@stevenscott2136 See, our company terms even state our torpedo deliveries are fully refundable if the recipient isn't completely satisfied with the service.

[@djankowski]

I just figured the Star Wars equivalent of the DMV was just as imaginative with filing papers for new ships. "What is your ship used for?" "We added armament to a transport for a crew of 3 to 5 adventurers." (pause) "Alright, I'll just write 'light freighter' on the form. Next!"

[@kanrakucheese]

Star Wars actually *does* have a DMV, the Bureau of Ships and Services. Weapons loadout forms aren't typically scrutinized at most ports unless they're blatantly false.

[@collins3D]

None of the light frieghters came as heavily armored as they would been seen later. The Falcon would have come from the factiry with a single light laser turret. Throughout it's life, it saw heavy modifications. Han even added "military grade" illigal modification, including its quad lazer cannon turret, concusion missiles, sensor jammers and engine parts. Which is the same rough story for all those examples. The ghost even has that explained in the show. Most of the freighters in Star Wars do have some kind of laser cannons, whether they be light, meduim or heavy.

[@hoojiwana]

That's part of the problem. How many of those Falconlike hero ships I mentioned are also modified and upgunned just like the Falcon is? Why can't they just be something else that isn't a modified freighter that gets used in a similar role? - hoojiwana from Spacedock

[@GenesisAria]

@@hoojiwana Because it's an easy to obtain platform that has legal lining and is easy to upgrade and adapt if necessary. It's actually pretty fantastic platform for militia and survival. It could be transformed into just about anything: an escort, an ambulance, a private transport, a gunship, long distance recon, a home; it's like having an armoured RV that can defend itself. Honestly i'd be more surprised these utility craft not being one of the most common vehicles in space. Most logistics and such in Star Wars are actually surprisingly very solid and logical in their design. If they are suboptimal, there is usually a reason for it.

[@collins3D]

There are examples of ships other than light freighters that have been modified, Boba Fetts patrol craft turned into a heavily armed gunship, Lando has a luxury yacht modified. But light freighters are so versatile, easy to come by and easy to modify. The YT series specifically. Same reason why after Fast and the Furious first came out the Honda Civic saw a huge boom in modifications.

[@TheSaneHatter]

I never really thought about this, but then, when I made my "hero ship," I never thought of myself hauling cargo anyway: I always wanted to get one of those Lambda-class shuttles and soup it up, just getting used to the cramped interior as if it were an efficiency apartment in space.

[@AmandaFessler]

"Millennium Falclone" has got to be the best term I've ever seen used for these hero ships.

[@nessoak621]

I like that Rebels/Solo got more into the drug smuggling element of Spice, which possibly explains the need for ships with the speed and maneuverability of fighters, but with some moderate storage for carrying and defending light, but expensive cargo. Spice smugglers would need to be able to defend themselves with a small crew against other people involved in the drug trade trying to steal from them or rip them off. The smaller size also allows for some silly stealth shenanigans like the Falcon hiding in the expelled garbage. The real life equivalent would be something like a Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Vehicle) that is meant as a transport, but can double as a light weapons platform if it needs to defend itself.

[@kanrakucheese]

Interestingly, the EU established that most smuggling, like in the real world, isn't actually spice, weapons or slaves and it's actually otherwise legitimate goods that are evading tariffs (which are much higher under the Empire than before it) that make up the bulk of the Galaxy's "smuggling". The stereotypical illicit cargoes are really only viable if you have a buyer lined up already, but thousands of remote factories would be willing to buy (for example) cheap copper ingots without telling the tax man. It's also far easier to get people to ignore financial crimes through bribes (etc.), especially if the victim is an unpopular government.

[@Rodrigo_Vega]

I think a "Cowboy Bebop" solution works pretty well for this. The main ship is a large-ish cargo craft (formerly for fishing) with a hangar for smaller ships that do the fighting for it. This allows the characters to have their rooms and interactions, and each pilot their own badass little-fighters.

[@deathsyth8888]

Plus the Bebop is a cool ship on its own and has several instances of it in action/combat when the need for it arises.

[@stevenscott2136]

The "away from the main ship" aspect also allows a wider variety of dramatic situations.

[@prestonroberts2941]

It's the equivalent of an interstate 18-wheeler (a "lorry" for the Brits), with some smaller models being the equivalent of "hot-shot" trucking here in the US (sometimes using large pickup trucks towing a small trailer). They are paid pretty well, to move small cargo over short to medium distances as rapidly as possible. Things like band equipment, auto parts, construction materials like marble tiles, fixtures, etc. Sometimes, contractors need specific things delivered as quickly as possible to meet project deadlines, so they pay fairly well to get things expedited, when waiting for a larger shipment is detrimental. In Star Wars, these also seem to double as private transport for getting to out of the way places, like bush pilots taking researchers, doctors or perishable foodstuffs and medicines to remote places. They're armed because guns are ubiquitous in Star Wars; personal weapons and armed ships are everywhere. I guarantee most hot-shot truckers here in Texas are armed; a lot of us would have machine guns on our vehicles if we could, to deal with robbers and cartels if needed. The idea of a "light freighter" makes plenty of sense to me, in that context.

[@inventor121]

A you're saying a "light freighter" is basically a Twin Otter to a DC-3.

[@prestonroberts2941]

@@inventor121 that's a good example, yeah.

[@soupordave]

The YT series the Falcon is based on is normally sold un-armed. But by the time Lando and Han acquired it, it had long been a smuggling vessel and needed a few guns to hold off pirates or custom inspectors long enough to get away. It's the same with all of the "Hero Ships" you mentioned. Normally in-universe they are sold un-armed as passenger shuttles or small or light freighters. Its only when they wind up in the hands of smugglers, pirates, rebels, or other outlaws that operate outside the Republic or Empire that they need to be modified with weapons and defense shields. If you are a rich crime lord or a rebel with sympathetic contacts you might be able to get a custom build order in the builder's shipyard, but most of these are modified after they were bought or stolen.

[@physical_insanity]

This is why I like the Rogue Shadow so much, because it's a heavily modified Imperial Transport ship built specifically for stealth insertion purposes. It evades the issue of the light freighter archetype while matching the needs of Starkiller and his crew. I just wish we saw more of it's interior.

[@dwfidler]

People didn't like Andor? Inconceivable! It's the best Star Wars has ever been and one of the best sci-fi shows of all time!

[@DrTssha]

The first few episodes dragged, but once I got over the hump I loved it!

[@mryellow6918]

People's attention span has been destroyed by Disney

[@Sephiroth144]

@@mryellow6918 Yeah, no, can't blame Diseny for that one; KZbin/TikTok/Vine are far more culpable than Disney for attention spans shorteniSQUIRREL!

[@leonrussell9607]

Well, most people who actually like star wars gave up after kenobi and didn't watch Andor and the people who stayed are the kind of people who like Disney star wars

[@informatikabos5481]

@@leonrussell9607 I watched it out of boredom and it turned out really good. I have seen some people complaining it to be too slow, but none that its not Star Wars enough or "too Disney".

[@TennyGG]

I vaguely remember seeing art where the falcon was actually doing "Light freighter" work by using it's forward forked prong to carry space cargo boxes, but I have zero idea if that's cannon or legends or fanart. I think that was the best interpretation of it being an actual freighter before it's life as a heavily modified heavy fighter.

[@hoojiwana]

It's canon and we used it in our recent tugs video! - hoojiwana from Spacedock

[@aaronsanborn4291]

All the Corellian light freighters were designed to carry external cargo pods in "canon" and in the real Star Wars. It's mentioned a few times in different books and games

[@HamHamJ1]

I really don't see the issue. For one thing the Falcon and other hero ships have basically all been upgunned from their stock, off the lot configuration. And I think if we think about what interstellar shipping would look like in Star Wars I think it all makes decent sense. Most things are not worth shipping across interstellar distances. For particularly rare resources or goods, bulk shipping on a planetary scale would happen along well established and patrolled hyperlanes. So your stock Action V that's intended to ship millions of tons of food to Coruscant every day from other Core worlds or the Mid Rim doesn't need to worry about pirates. The hyperlanes and systems it is going to be travelling through will be heavily patrolled and secured. Also what are they going to do with a million cabbages if they did pirate it? If you are operating in less stable space, you can slap some guns onto a bulk freighter like the Action V easily enough. Or use fighters for escort. A "light freighter" cannot compete for those kinds of routes, it just doesn't have enough cargo capacity for the same economy of scale. So what is it actually being used for? Transporting commercial goods to planets too small to make a larger freighter worth it. Passenger transport to places not covered by starliners. Transporting small but highly valuable cargo (of which illegal goods are probably a major subset). All of those mean going off the big hyperlanes, into "wilder" territory in the Outer Rim, or being a more high value target for pirates and other criminals. Which means that guns become part of the base package because most customers will want at least some protection.

[@redramage]

I think you hit the nail on the head with this comment. For a real world analogy, the 18-wheeler semi hauling food from distribution centers to grocery stores along interstate highways isn't protected and optimizes for cargo capacity and efficiency. Money transport companies making cash pickups and servicing ATMs use heavily armored vehicles, many of which are standard truck or van chassis with alternate bodies that trade cargo transport effectiveness for protection and performance. If you needed a "hero truck" it would be much closer to a brinks van than a tractor-trailer.

[@r0gl0]

@@redramage Just want to say these two comments between them are the sort of thoughtful, helpful, interesting, and positive remarks that make me like the internet.

[@stevenscott2136]

I'd take my ill-gotten cabbages to some little planet with a famine going on. As crooked as galactic politics seem to be, you can count on there ALWAYS being a famine somewhere. It may not be my biggest profit, but a pirate needs that kind of aggressive, self-starter attitude. 😁

[@kanrakucheese]

@@stevenscott2136 How do you plan to do that without everyone knowing who they're buying from?

[@leftoverthoughts2275]

@@stevenscott2136 Famine does not equal rat's arses being given (if they haven't devoured them all already). Dodgy suppliers ain't dodgy when there aren't any less dodgy ones.

[@seanhoward5162]

Actually there's a really good explanation for the "light freighter" classification. In the star wars universe there's heavily populated planets and there's planets in the boonies with negligible populations. Light freighters are meant to service these latter worlds. Generally what these planets require most are small luxury goods and specialty parts for equipment maintenance. And since these worlds don't have large militias patrolling their space, they are prime targets for pirates. So the heavily armed "light freighter" concept makes sense. Heavy bulk freighters like the gr-75 mainly ply the space lances between heavily populated worlds, which have large garrisons that pirates shy away from, so armaments are unessecery. When a heavy freighter does go to one of these boonie planets it has an armed escort, which has also been shown in the fiction. So different ships for different markets. So TLDR the guy running Spotchka from Sorgan to Navarro is more likely to run into the kind of trouble you solve with a blaster than the guy running bulk cargo from Ryloth to Coruscant.

[@woodrobin]

The unarmed *freighters* vs armed *smugglers* distinction makes sense. The big freighters fly on known and patrolled hyperspace routes. Sitting along one waiting to ambush a freighter after dropping it out of hyperspace is asking to have an Imperial Star Destroyer or its era-appropriate equivalent knock on your airlock door with a turbo-laser. The smugglers take smaller amounts of high-value stuff on non-standard routes and expressly can't call on the authorities and their heavily armed ships for assistance if someone tries to rob them. So they don't need to be as big, they do need to be fast and maneuverable for their size, and they do need to be armed.

[@mikebandw186]

The Corellian freighters were designed to hook up to cargo containers in the front mandibles. They weren’t typically produced as armed and armored as the Falcon. The Falcon was obviously modified not only for smuggling, but also to deter piracy against its particular type of smuggling. Also, we see the Ghost using magnetic docking to move freight around. The Outrider was also designed to tow cargo. I’ve always assumed they were more more convenience of bringing freight down planetside without having to drop a huge freighter into the atmosphere.

[@Cailan_Mors]

@@ThisCanBePronounced In Legends the YT-1300 Corellian light freighter had been out for decades by the time of New Hope. Can't find anything about when it came out in Disney Wars though.

[@kanrakucheese]

@@ThisCanBePronounced No. Even if the original movie is considered on its own in a vacuum, Luke's first reaction is that it's a piece of junk. The Falcon was old when Solo first got her.

[@kanrakucheese]

"I’ve always assumed they were more more convenience of bringing freight down planetside without having to drop a huge freighter into the atmosphere." This is correct. Something the size of an Action series or CR90 needs dedicated docks, anything bigger is unlikely to survive a trip to the atmosphere (let alone landing) without being built specifically for that ability, while a light freighter can land as long as the area is roughly flat.

[@Kyrinson]

I always thought that the "Light Freighters" came about because the empire had banned the sale of gunships and heavily armed personal transport so shipyards like those on Corelia sold "Light Freighters" that had no guns to get around the ban and then sold the "up-gun upgrade kit" on the sly down the road at that shady vendor that is in no way associated with the honest upstanding shipbuilders.

[@labrat810]

Good thing dogs aren't depicted in Star Wars much. The Empire sounds like they'd have quite the penchant for popping puppers.

[@filanfyretracker]

makes me think of a time period when GM had a company policy that nothing could be faster than the Corvette. So Pontiac would often ship out some of their biggest engine cars with a 2 barrel carb there by reducing the power and making them slower. And then the dealers would offer a reasonably priced performance upgrade and throw on a 4 barrel Holley.

[@ostlandr]

You called it!

[@ostlandr]

@@filanfyretracker Actually the huge 2 barrel on my '74 Catalinia with the 400 worked just fine. A lot of times with a four barrel, if you weren't constantly getting into the throttle, the secondaries tended to gum up.

[@eps200]

One cannon was always legal @@leftoverthoughts2275 The falcons two quad turrets are scavenged off an obsolete pre clonewars heavy cruiser.

[@Armorlord04]

To be fair, the light freighters generally come without weapons or giant rooms. (At least in tabletop where most of my experience with purchasing them is.) All of those are extra modifications, though Corellian gets the side-eye from governments with them offering many of those modifications themselves and how easily they 'happen' to fall into piracy/gunship work.

[@DJxD3vZ]

It always made a lot of sense to me. It's like a van, pickup truck, or RV; an owner-operator freight truck as opposed to a mass cargo vessel. The logistics requirements of Star Wars would favor high volume of lighter vessels, imo, rather than centralized or hub-and-spoke trade. They do make a lot of sense in the not-so-sensical setting, and I'm not sure why this video needed to feel like it was on attack mode, especially when there's a lot of fun to be had in exploring the content in good faith, even the often silly bits.

[@ЄвгенРомінський]

When there are no means of communication except to transfer 'mail' [and this is any information on any media] - small armed ships become extremely necessary. So it was in the days of sailing. And these ships were everything that was needed: light freighters, mail ships, fast couriers, small passenger carriers, and at the same time patrol ships, pirate hunters, pirate boats, etc. Since they move anywhere and not only on typical transport routes, they especially need weapons. So the idea of 'Star Wars "Light Freighters"' itself is not bad, but its implementation in Star Wars is too incredible.

[@GusCraft460]

I see the light freighter classification as being similar to the American C-130 military cargo plane. It’s designed to quickly transport relatively small amounts of high priority cargo. However, the American Air Force decided to add heavy armaments like autocannons and howitzers to the C-130 to make the AC-130. Its a cargo plane modified to fill a gunship/air support role. The series of light freighters that the Millennium Falcon was originally a part of (because presumably the Falcon and its lookalikes were made by the same company and probably just had different options or were from different years of production) were light freighters with minimal or no armament out of the factory, but they were easily modified with a weapons package to fill a gunship role. Maybe the weapons package was such a popular aftermarket add on that the company even started offering it as an option for brand new ships as well. While there are lots of light freighters that lack armaments, they were probably intended to stay within the well policed areas of the galaxy, and weren’t meant to venture into the lawless outer rim. Why take up cargo space with weapons and ammo if you really won’t be needing them? The unarmed light freighters could also be intended to be part of a convoy protected by gunships. This makes a lot of sense for light freighters that are part of a large organization, but if you are a small shipping business that just has the one ship then you are going to need to be able to defend your cargo.

[@Orthus100]

Yup, this is all 100% correct. Almost all the ships on the list were build by the CEC and were designed to be customizable for 'wink and a nod' transporting cargo.

[@R_ain75]

spacedock my beloved

[@markointhesky]

I'd say that the reason they're called light freighters (beyond the falcon's shadow ofc) is to give the implication that they aren't SUPPOSED to be doing the things the protagonists use them for, but rather they're civilian ships that have been up-armored and armed either legally or illegally No protagonist could really swing an actual military ship, but the family hauler that's been upgraded over the decades? That's a whole different kettle of fish, especially in the context of the empire

[@hoojiwana]

I think random people probably could get ahold of old military equipment thanks to the multiple large wars and subsequent huge changes in government. That leads to a lot of military surplus and ships waiting to be scrapped lying around that no one would miss. But that does also apply to the idea of modifying the family hauler I suppose. - hoojiwana from Spacedock

[@jirivorobel942]

@@hoojiwanaBut but... That's the problem with SW worldbuilding. The Millennium Falcon only makes sense in the context of the original trilogy, before anything hinting at "decommissioned warships just lying around" has been established.

[@salenstormwing]

This is why I love the X-70B from SWTOR. It's a "yacht" or "luxury civilian shuttle" when in reality it's a mobile spy base for you and your band of eccentric troubleshooters. If anything, it looks more like one of the Naboo shuttles, all nice and metal chromed out. It's the Aston Martin of the Star Wars universe, and you're Space James Bond.

[@eight-cloudspurple5871]

Well swtor actually did pretty well im this regard. The only player ship that is a like freighter is the smuggler's ship.

[@salenstormwing]

@@eight-cloudspurple5871 Yes. But the X-70B... light looked at that ship and said "Nah, that's too pretty for me to touch that". All the other ships feel just like an RV (except for the Smuggler's "light freighter" and the Soldier's "assault transport" which was a gunship that could drop off a whole unit of troops, which it does well).

[@seekertwo1]

"Light Freighter" makes sense when you compare them to hotshot rigs and cigarette boats (MIAMI VICE). They are small ships made to transport small, special-order cargoes quickly to areas away from the usual ports or distribution hubs. Speed and security are the selling points. That's why CEC was making bank in the Outer Rim, an area that needed those services far more than the Core Worlds. I would also say that the Moldy Crow is more of a courier than a freighter. Maybe all the "light freighters" could be reclassified as courier ships.....

[@SpaceCowboyfromNJ]

Personally, I think the concept of a light freighter class of ship makes one of the most logical choices for a hero ship, especially when the story is concerning characters taking actions that are less than legal. The issue in Star Wars is the execution of such ships. In Star Wars, the light freighters just simply tend not to be really designed to function as a light freighter.

[@clancykohl]

Though the ships we see are modified variants of the originals that are never really shown. It's likely they often sacrificed cargo space or other transport related systems for other things.

[@tanwenwalters7689]

@@clancykohl They did, and also in the case of YT-1300s like the Falcon, they were also designed to clamp freight containers in their front prongs, hence the massively overpowered engines. Just Han and the other owners of the Falcon don't really do that on screen.

[@MythicFables]

I think the Editor might have gotten a little confused. During the part talking about the Razor Crest ( 7:09 ), the footage shown was of the N1 starfighter (Mando's second ship), not the Razor Crest M-111 Assault Ship(Mando's larger first ship).

[@18Krieger]

The unarmed frighter/transporters shown are supposed to fly in the Inner and Middle Rim. Pirates are there no problem during the Old Republic era. Light freither is still not the best classification. With the Falcon it makes sense tho as it was supposed to be a line of small transport craft but many of them got modified and armed by individuals.

[@kanrakucheese]

Correct except for the Old Republic thing. Pirates were actually so bad in the outer rim in its last days, as there wasn't a proper military to patrol it, the Republic let the Trade Federation have a defacto army for the purpose of escorting and pirate hunting (which also explains what's going on at Naboo: The Trade Federation is well aware they have more military might than the Republic at that point and trying to extort its way to lower taxes and having their way in contract disputes)

[@Hibbidyhai]

Light freighters in Star Wars are like Class 2 cargo trucks in the US. Small enough that they can be used as personal transport, but often delivering small amounts of cargo where you don’t need a large truck or delivery vehicle. In lore their niche would be delivering small amounts of cargo to places without either the facilities to handle larger pure freighters or when you need it fast. And if it’s something valuable maybe the customer would like the delivery vehicle to be armed. Yes, large freighters could be armed too, but with large amounts of valuable cargo those ships could also afford armed escorts. It could also be the case that most shipping companies are unwilling to risk their big expensive freighters on outer rim routes, hence the need for the plucky light freighter.

[@TheFreeBass]

One could argue that the only difference between a light freighter & a yacht (which you seem to prefer) is the owner's income. If you want a ship that size to call home (or home away from home) & have cash to spend frivolously then buy a yacht w/ all the fancy amenities. But if you don't have excess cash you forego the luxury & buy a freighter to put to work & have it pay for its' own upkeep. As for the Falcon, Han didn't buy a freighter. He won a yacht in a card game & converted it (back) to a freighter to make a living with.

[@m_schauk]

Finally! A mention of the Moldy Crow! Totally spot on with the light freighter analysis here, especially when some breakdowns say the Crow was modified to be as agile as a Tie Interceptor. “Light freighter”… right… Same goes for her successor, the Raven’s Claw. I don’t even know how that ship could haul anything!

[@sammywhite5127]

Well actually the lore for those two ship classes is that they were designed to carry essentially a few very high value or very important items very fast essentially like an express delivery

[@TDenterpriser]

Many of the hero ships were built before the empire where piracy was much more abundant. But after the empire wiped out major piracy operations freighters could operate without protection

[@Haladmer]

The other point is the dedicated "heavy" freighters are actually still armed in most cases, mostly with more holdout style defensive systems. Also, they were intended to travel in larger groups, usually with combat escorts, making them horrible targets for piracy. Because the larger freighters would be backed by large corps/hutts/government factions, "Light freighters" as a class were more "family"/solo (pun intended) operators.

[@JoeCensored]

The closest real world example I can think of is the Spectre Gunship. It is based on a C-130 transport aircraft (basically a light freighter), that they've jammed a bunch of advanced electronics and big guns into. It's one of the most terrifying aircraft in the sky if you spot it circling overhead.

[@3dartstudio007]

I was JUST about to say... What can a freighter be? Hmmm... C-130 AC-130 DC-130 EC-130 EC-130H Compass Call HC-130 KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 RC-130 WC-130 C-130J Super Hercules

[@marcogenovesi8570]

It's terrifying only if your country has zero or near-zero anti air defences, and at that point you should be terrified in general and go live in the woods. The Spectre is just a slow propeller cargo plane with artillery cannons on the side. Same situation as the A10 aka the Brrrt plane. It's very cool but it's still getting shredded by air force or any decent air defence from the 80s onwards. A "gunship" in modern terms is an attack helicopter.

[@sadiepretzlaff4555]

Honestly I'd be considerably less terrified if I spotted a hostile one overhead, because if I'm seeing it then I know that it's not shooting at me.

[@wesleythomas7125]

I like the idea of a Used Ship Salesman trying to pass off assault craft as "Light Freighters" with a straight face and failing...

[@428ghost]

In contemporary terms these 'light freighters' are RVs converted from box trucks and with turrets. Han Solo is Florida Man on a trip from the RV park to a monster truck competition.

[@Arclite02]

To be fair, a large majority of these are stated to be based on Corellian designs, particularly the YT series. So they DO have an in-universe justification for having been built for... Less than straightforward purposes. Because yeah - Corellians gonna do what Corellians gonna do. They're often meant to dock with and haul external cargo modules rather than actually being large cargo haulers themselves (that's literally what the gap on the Falcon's nose is about, actually). Meaning that they're effectively a combination of oversized engines (got to push/pull huge cargo pods), crew quarters, oversized Hyperdrives (again, got to shift huge cargo pods) and defensive platform, by design.

[@gustavosantos106]

"Light Freighter" is the Star Wars designation for "van".

[@GoranXII]

To note, we never see _all_ of the Falcon, mostly just the lounge, cockpit and guns. Sometimes we see parts of the engineering section.

[@DIREWOLFx75]

And we're never shown the cargo bay that are shown on the blowup pictures of it...

[@GAJake]

I see the light freighter as a sprinter van but you're delivering in cartel territory. It's much smaller than an 18-wheeler because you're delivering smaller amounts of cargo but more quickly but also worried about being robbed so you throw a big machine gun in the back. Terminator style.

[@katsarelas1947]

In the book A New Dawn, Kanan flies a light freighter back and forth from a nearby moon. I think light freighters are basically U-Hauls for hire. If the job doesn’t need a several kilometer long mega freighter to make a full trade run, then ya, you hire a light freighter for a few runs.

[@katsarelas1947]

As for the defenses- Robbing someone’s loaned out U-Haul is a lot less risky than robbing a billion dollar company’s oil tanker. One gets the local police on you, the other gets international fleets… So yea, it makes sense they have a bit of defense

[@crawdadnc479]

I thought that the Falcon was a heavily modified ship, far from whatever the stock version was that you could buy from a ship dealer. Han, and Lando before him, had made if faster, tougher, more heavily armed. That's partly why it breaks down all the time; half the parts aren't meant to be there. Out of universe, this goes along with the "50s street racer with a souped up jalopy" vibe that Han and the Falcon have. It's a bit like those vans and busses that the A-Team always modded into tanks in the final act of every episode. Any Falcon clone needs to have the same sort of history, though it's high time to try different things.

[@DecentOfAngles]

Honestly, I've always viewed such ships as the Millennium Falcon as the Star Wars universe's version of something like Q-ships: heavily armed merchant vessels whose armaments were concealed to lure submarines into making surface attacks, allowing the Q-ships a chance to sink them. In space, the distances engagements would take place in would be much greater than at sea, with a visual appraisal of a vessel less likely to occur, making it easier for a Q-ship to exist within a convoy. And if things like Q-ships do exist in the Star Wars universe, then it wouldn't be outlandish for space ship building companies to design specific freighters with these modifications in mind, nor for them to be marketed to potential merchant clientele.

[@docartemis2878]

Most of the star wars examples are actually heavily modified from their base state. The Falcon’s YT-1300 basic model actually had four different base variations for whether you wanted it as a cargo or passenger transport. As for the larger transports not having weapons for defense against pirates and raiders, they’re large enough and represent a large enough investment to warrant escort craft. Where a smaller transport doesn’t and might need some light armament. The hero ships almost always being heavily modified simply upgunned them for their newly intended purpose.

[@phantauss13]

You know, the way I always conceptualized it is that light freighters aren't typically armed, it's just that our hero parties always wind up installing guns. They're like the star was equivalent of a pick-up truck compared to a medium or heavy freighter being like a semi-truck. A hero ship in this context is just a Toyota Technical that they mounted a 50cal to.

[@XaviusNight]

My thought had always been that 'Light Freighter' was an in-universe result of companies trying to get around 'no selling military ships to civilians' restrictions by just labelling corvettes and heavy fighters as 'Light Freighters' if they're meant to be sold to non-military buyers, and anyone with half a brain can tell it's a shallow cover-up, but also can't call them out on it because anyone who takes a look has definitely benefitted from occasionally hiring bounty hunters on decked-out 'Light Freighters' for things they don't really want people talking about.

[@igncom1]

Enough light freighters. MORE HEAVY FREIGHTERS!

[@wearwolf2500]

I imagine you couldn't just sell someone a warship but you could sell them a freighter that just happened to have guns to defend itself.

[@pinaerpowac4130]

Considering the layout of the falcon it makes more sense as a personel transport in hostile space. The light transport part can be for transporting people and provisions to and from remote mining and observation outposts. That's my theory.

[@tomaskops7119]

Original purpose of Falcose was pushing containers in system - due to of that it have prongs which were used to "dock" contaner and cocpit on side

[@contra9]

In the clone wars show, Lucas specifically made sure towards the end he showed the same capital ships on both sides to make it clear the arms dealers were selling weapons to both sides. he said this in some of the Feloni Zone short behind the scenes things. He wanted to show how ship builders were just profiteering from the clone wars at some point, so it would make sense they carry that on under the empire.

[@johnathanjarrett63]

To me, the idea of a Light Freighter, is based more on small but expensive cargo that you would need to get through no matter what. The large cargo haulers would be used for more budget and bulk cargo. And since the cargo they have is in such bulk, they are likely not to be preyed upon by normal pirates unless they are so desperate that they will take whatever they can get. Thus, they wouldn't need to spend extra money on guns, but just heavy shielding. But the small freighter being a high value cargo runner, would need shielding AND weapons, as it would have a cargo that would be actively sought after by pirates that might find out their route.

[@rikuurufu5534]

A few notes: 1, All of those unarmed freighters you listed are designed to travel in convoys, which always travel with escorts. They don't need weapons of their own for anti-pirate defense because of this, and dedicate the space, power, and thermal capacity those weapons would normally take up to more cargo. However, Light Freighters are still cargo craft, just less dedicated if anything, and they're usually not convoy ships, except when they're container tugs as the YT-1300 sometimes is. This bring us to 2, Light Freighters have been demonstrated to serve the purpose of transporting relatively small amounts of highly valuable cargo (or passengers) in a manner unconstrained by the requirements and conventions of convoy travel; if you have a small but valuable shipment that needs to make it from Tattooine to Alderaan RIGHT NOW, a ship that can make the trip fast while making a minimum of stops along the way, and doesn't rely on escorts for pirate defense, is the kind of ship you want. 3, all of the hero ships are not simply "Light Freighters," but specifically "Modified Light Freighters;" It's established that unmodified Light Freighters are unarmed or only lightly armed, and most of the weapons on all of our hero ships are aftermarket. It is no secret at all, however, that CEC did act in defiance to the Empire by designing their ships to be easy to modify in the hopes that rebels would get their hands on them and turn them into warships. This does not invalidate their established functionality as high-speed solo-flying (joke not intended) transports for valuable cargo, and plenty of legitimate businessmen use them for their face-value intended purpose. You mentioned the Otana of Azzameen Transport Systems, which clearly was upgunned for the specific purpose of doing business with the ARR, but see also the Azzameen Sabra and Selu YT-1300s. Maybe "Light Freighter" isn't the best term to describe this paradigm of "Small-fast-solo-transport-ships-for-valuable-cargo," but it's clear that they are legitimate ships designed to serve a legitimate purpose, and our hero ships have been Modifed for crime or heroism.

[@keiyakins]

They're courier ships, yeah. Well, except the YT1300, that's designed for pushing around cargo containers.

[@rikuurufu5534]

Courier Ships! Thank you! I was thinking that, but I wasn't quite sure that was correct, either. Worth Noting, though, the YT-1300 is modular and can have different configurations for different roles. The forward mandibles can be set up for container tug duty, but when not pushing containers, it's a natural fit for the courier role, and can even use the same docking interface to mount an auxiliary module that's detachable as a shuttle/lifeboat. As seen in the movie Solo, the 1300 could possibly even be classified as a Yacht in that configuration. @@keiyakins

[@keiyakins]

@@rikuurufu5534 True, CEC is very big on adaptability, and their widespread use leads to third party support as well. It honestly makes sense that they're favored for hero ships... especially in the Galactic Empire era, where the more specifically military shipbuilders like Incom were under a lot of government scrutiny (and still managed small shipments to the Alliance)

[@kfcroc18]

Think of how schooners and sloops were used in the real world, just like "light freighter" is used in Star Wars.

[@wonderelk4prez706]

It's actually very well thought out. Most of these ships are blatantly designed to be hyper modular, customizable ships for adventurers, bounty hunters, or pirates themselves. Many of these ships do NOT come armed, as that would be against certain laws under the empire or old republic for example, but the ship companies specifically design them to be easily modified to contain these features. It's a way for these companies to sell lots of ships that can fill many different roles, while also producing all the after market parts to make money on as well. The class of ship that the Millenium Falcon is a part of comes stock with NO weapons and a much slower hyper drive, among other things.

[@nonyabeeznuss304]

In Medieval Germany when civilian ownership of swords was banned people just made a different kind of sword and called it "a big knife" despite them being 3 1/2 feet long and very clearly a sword. When the ATF banned short barreled rifles people just put stock shaped "wrist braces" on them and called them pistols. I can def see some company slapping a trivial amount of cargo space onto a gunship and saying "this is a freighter" for legal purposes.

[@karlwolfe614]

I agree with your comments regarding George and storytelling, he needed a ship for the good guys or they were going nowhere fast. The question is about the 'light freighter' terminology. You can have light freighters with armaments and space for crew. In TTRPGs like Traveller, created just the year before Star Wars came out, there are a number of ships that the players can get hold of, most of them being merchant ships and they have turrets for defence. These are the equivalent of buying a modern day trawler and assuming that said ship will go around Somali waters, so it has hardpoints for mounting guns like HMGs or similar. Not large but it IS affordable. Perhaps instead of 'light freighter' then all the ships designated that in Star Wars should be designated 'modified Trawler'?

[@drksideofthewal]

Perhaps "light freighters" in the Star Wars universe are akin to RVs in our universe. They were never intended to do any serious hauling, they're merely personal vehicles that could maybe move the contents of your house from one planet to another.

[@Alpostpone]

That's closer to being a "yacht". SW has those as well, so one would expect freighters to be better at hauling freight to make the distinction. That is a very apt analogy however. M Falcon is arranged to best work as a space RV, where you can stash some cargo in spare rooms. For carrying and loading/unloading freight M Falcon's layout is impractical.

[@kennethferland5579]

In other words Space Balls had it right all along.

[@donariadtn]

It feels almost a bit like the Light Freighter should be called a Courier.

[@kentslocum]

This is why I love The Expanse. The hero ship is literally a military corvette, so it makes sense why it is armed and dangerous. The Belters have cargo ships that are heavily modified, but aren't out of place.

[@labrat810]

The whole setting of The Expanse also gave us a rare sight in Sci-Fi: 'Early' expansion into space. Most settings are set in a 'well-established' interstellar society, The Expanse felt very socio-technologically 'plausible' and relatable.

[@carthienesdevilsadvocatenr2806]

The GR-75 is armed, 2 twin laser canon in the default model, and the example freighters you mention have modified variants as well - the only Action VI I can recall had a turbolaser. There's a reason most of the Hero ships are explicitly heavily modified, and it's not really fair to judge the galactic standard on them. Just because some dissidents stick machine guns on pickup trucks (in some parts of our world) does not mean that truck companies are manufacturing war machines. I personally view 'light freighters' as being a sort of Star Wars equivalent to a lorry on earth - mass transportation of smaller goods. Admittedly, they tend not to be armed - but they tend not to operate in regions where that would be beneficial (and modification do exist, as mentioned above). The piracy argument makes more sense when you consider that many of them are intended to operate alone in the 'less civilised' parts of the galaxy, wereas the heavier freighters are marketed towards larger shipping companies (able to afford separate escorts) that operate in more civilised parts of the galaxy (were piracy can be better suppressed by the authorities). Plus, many 'stock' light freighters are slow and unarmed. The provision of upgrade facilities can easily be attributed to the 'cool' factor - it's not just an out of universe incentive. The problem comes when too many try to copy the Millenium Falcon formula too exactly. The original was meant to be an anomaly - a 'light' freighter capable of hauling external cargo pods with the capacity of a medium freighter. I, personally, believe that the stated cargo capacity of the YT-1300 was based on the engine power (and the assumption that external pods would be used) which would explain the craft's relatively high performance without those pods. Unfortunately, many later works seem to take it as the standard for 'light freighters' internal cargo - which doesn't make sense unless they are meant to be carrying hyperdense raw materials, though the development and spread of such technologies would be an interesting revolution.