One of the Alliance's most heavily-armed starfighters, the B-wing, in effect, is one long, flat wing with an unusual rotating cockpit at one end, and one of the ship's three ion cannons at the other. About midway on the wing are two airfoils that extend out during combat, giving the ship the appearance of a cross.

Because of its unusual gyro-stabilization system, the cockpit remains steady while the rest of the ship rotates around it, giving the pilot a stable field of fire. Designed to go head-to-head with much larger Imperial ships and disable them, the B-wing is also used for heavy assault strikes against Imperial facilities and as an escort for X-wing and Y-wing fighters.

In addition to the ion cannons, there is a laser cannon mounted below the cockpit, two proton torpedo launchers and two small blaster cannons.

An enhanced model, such as the one Ackbar has used personally, has an expanded command module that accommodates a gunner. This and other design revisions have made the ship faster and tougher, and have substantially increased its combat success rate.