49 Years Later, Star Wars Finally Brings A New Hope’s Coolest Unused Ship To the Screen

June 2, 2026, 5:30pm

Star Wars has finally introduced a ship that was first designed back in the 1970s, but hadn’t made it to the big screen until now. A lot of work was done on what would later become known as A New Hope that wasn’t used in the movie, and that’s something the franchise has continued to explore. From story concepts and vehicles to Ralph McQuarrie’s stunning artwork, there’s a lot from those early ideas of George Lucas’ masterpiece that’s been drawn on, and impressively that continues to this day.

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The most recent example comes courtesy of The Mandalorian and Grogu, which marks the franchise’s return to theaters after seven years. It may not have broke much new ground nor set the box office alight, but it is a fun adventure in a galaxy far, far away, and packed with Star Wars Easter eggs and references. One of the very best is the inclusion of a Y-wing bomber as part of the New Republic’s fleet that launches an attack on Nal Hutta: codenamed “Red Jammer,” it’s white and red in color, and taken from Star Wars‘ early development.

The Y-Wing Red Jammer’s History In Star Wars

The Red Jammer, as it’s known, was the very first Y-wing model created by Industrial Light & Magic for Star Wars back in 1976, and was the reference model used for the ships that appeared in the film itself. The model itself was never fully finished, as it was only intended for reference, so has slightly different surface details and isn’t completed on the starboard side. In 2012, a Nice-N Models Designs “studio scale” kit was released, becoming a rare collector’s item for model makers, as you can see in the video below:

Because the Y-wing group changed from being Red Squadron to Gold Squadron due to technological limitations, the ones in the movie have yellow accents, rather than the red of the original design. In the novelization of the movie, the Y-wing team is still Red Squadron.

By finally including the Red Jammer on screen, The Mandalorian and Grogu not only brings back a design meant for A New Hope, but also restores the original designation of Red Squadron to the Y-wings. What’s more, the movie actually used the exact original model from 1976, as Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll explained in an interview with VFX Voice:

“John Goodson, our modelmaker, who built the 48-inch Razor Crest, had been doing some work for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and mentioned he had done a restoration on the Red Jammer Y-wing model… They built this model and sent it to England to be the reference for the art department to use to build the full-size exterior cockpit set. The model got damaged on its way back, was partially restored, and recently John Goodson had done a full restore of it.

“After a lengthy negotiation, George Lucas gave us permission to borrow the model. We shot two motion-control elements of it. It’s in the movie and will go by quickly. Unless somebody points it out, you won’t notice it, but there are two photographed elements of a 1976 original model from Star Wars, which has never been seen onscreen before.”