The TIE/sa bomber, simply known as the TIE bomber or T/B, was a larger, less maneuverable TIE starfighter used for destroying large starships and pinpoint-precision bombing by the Emire. The "sa" in the TIE bomber's designation stood for "surface assault" but that sa is often forgot or left out from its name. Due to their distinctive dual-hull shape, TIE bombers came to be referred to occasionally as "dupes" or (albeit indirectly) "sitting ducks" by enemy pilots. The latter nickname was due to its bulky structure making it much slower and far less maneuverable than other TIE craft.

The TIE Bomber came into service during the early years of the Empire and was used to quell theSeparatist holdouts still active at the time, namely Gizor Dellso's fleet of former CIS naval starships andprivate droid army. Many CIS droid contingents refused to surrender, or deactivate after the Clone Wars.

Interestingly, but obviously, Tie Bomber is an improved successor to the CIS Hyena class bomber Hyena-class bombers, also known as Hyena bomber droids, were a similar double hull droid starfighters designed for heavy ordnance bombing runs. Hyena bombers like vulture droids, could transform their shape into walking mode, that feature is not available for Tie Bomber, though. I'm not sure that droid brain-driven bombing and flight routines were worse than man-directed Tie bombers, but it is certain that this is a difference between the two constructions. The benefit of which is was the better is subjective.

The TIE/sa bomber had two hulls next to each other; one carried the pilot and the other carried a pair of general purpose warhead launchers, enabling them to carry a variety of weapons tailored for the mission. The bomber was much more heavily built-up than the "fighter"-series of TIEs; it carried more sophisticated sensors to penetrate capital ship jamming and SFS P-s4 twin ion engines powered by a SFS I-a2b solar ionization reactor to allow a full payload to be carried at a reasonable speed.

An Imperial Star Destroyer generally carried a squadron of 12 bombers. The TIE bomber was capable of carrying at least one of the following payloads, for a total of 15 metric tons: sixteen concussion missiles, twelve proton torpedoes, eightproton rockets, six space mines, four proton bombs, sixty-fourthermal detonators, or thousands of propaganda pamphlets. In the game it can carry 36 proton bombs, if it depleted the bombner automatically returns to the landing platform to fill up again.

The bomber was agile enough to deliver devastating strikes with surgical precision; as shown by a mission when a group of these craft destroyed a Rebel-occupied tower in the middle of a crowded city while leaving the surroundings untouched, however I think that mission was a once successful unique case, not a general way of Tie bomber runs.

The bomber was slower and less maneuverable than the TIE starfighter. Like most mass-produced TIEs, it lacked shields, though it did partly compensate by having a stronger hull. This is modelled by Force Commader excellently, on the one hand, the bomber's health points are more than a fighter’s, thus demolishing its stronger armor, thicker body, but apparently slower. Moreover, it can not defend itself, without being escorted, practically completely defenseless. This was largely the reason why one of its nicknames by Rebel pilots was "sitting duck," as they were considered easy prey. Even in real life, and in the gaming world, it is very rare to launch bomber squadrons on their own without a fighter escort.Standard Imperial doctrine required that bombers be escorted to target by other starfighter

The Tie bomber can be produced on the Imperial landing platform in the game. Its price is 250 command points and has 100 health points. Since the maximum capacity of the landing platform is 10 aircraft, a total of ten can be manufactured, but it is also worthwhile to produce figters because of the aforementioned escort, protection. The T/B is very common in missions, the AI likes to use it. Even in the opening intro of the game, the Tie Bomber has a special role during the battle of Kalaan. Tie bombers are deployed during the battle, but after the resistance has been eliminated, the Empire attacks the defenseless Kalaan in several waves with Tie bombers, burning down and destroying the city.

The Tie bomber pilot looks pretty much like a traditional Tie fighter pilot. The only difference is that their helmets are different. The flange has gray borderlines painted on the front, the two sides on the ears, and the the imperial emblem is blue on the left front. The difference is rather traceable in the ability, as the fighter pilots obviously receive combat training, and are dedicated to swirling aviaries, while bomber pilots will be given mapping and bombing trainings.

The Tie bomber practically had not got role in the films, their role is insignificant. Perhaps their most impressive appearance is in the Empire Strikes Back, when Han hides in the asteroid field, then Tie Bombers are bombing the area to blow up or hit the hiding, industrial waste Falcon, which is almost motionless, it is afraid of falling apart, does not jump at light speed, and in the whole film it is irritating bad. As they hiding, there is a dumb blow, as bombers sprinkle the bombs out there, and the Stardestroyers also help, destroying larger asteroids. The Tie bomber did not become popular because of the films. Like almost everything, the EU has elevated them to a higher level by participating Tie Bombers in comic books, books, and in several great games. Of course, a great deal of fun to use a bomber unit or even fly it. Obviously it can only be used in strategic games, such as Force Commander, Galactic Battlegrounds, Empire at War, etc. While in Battlefront, for instance, you can sit in it, and fly with it. Especially because of the games the Tie Bomber has become popular and a widely known, beloved Imperial vehicle.