These were considered prototypes before the /D came out. The Defender is brand spanking new when we see it, of the x/7 variety. The one Vader flies may be in the making, but we havent seen it. Also, number of eligible fighters and pilots was limited, so their designs always incorporated shields, even in older Y-wings. Its probably older than the TIE Advanced, because it wasnt that long ago in Rebels that we saw the Inquisitors flying thier TIE Adv. On the other hand, Rebels simply could not afford to pick up their fighters after the battle, they often had to hit and run, so their fighters always had hyperdrives. Vader also had shielded TIE advanced, and First Order modified basic TIE fighter design to include shields. However, more elite crews do get shielded spacecraft, and one example is aforementioned TIE Defender, idea od Admiral Thrawn to beat Rebels by superior quality, not quantity. Imperial Navy is somewhat similar to Japanese Imperial Navy from WW2 in their tactics, they even have similar uniforms. Instead, they emphasize numbers, firepower and maneuverability. Empire doesn't give rat's a.s about crew survivability, at least if we are talking about average Imperial pilots. Mass produced Imperial fighters like TIE fighter, TIE bomber or TIE Interceptor don't have shields or hyperdrive in their original factory configuration. Most of TIE fighters are unshielded, except few prototypesĪnyone who played classic games like X-wing or TIE fighter knows this:
