Squadron 42 F8 Lightning: The Navy's Top Fighter

The F8 Lightning is the UEE Navy's most advanced space-superiority fighter — and the ship the player flies for most of Squadron 42. In the campaign, the player flies the F8A variant, the Navy's service version of the airframe, against the Vanduul in the war that drives the story. This page explains the fighter, what it does, and what it is like to fly based on what CIG has shown.

The Fighter

The F8 Lightning is the latest entry in the Navy's fighter lineage — the successor to the F7 Hornet family that served the Navy for years. It is a single-seat, space-superiority fighter designed to go toe-to-toe with the Vanduul's best. In official trailers the F8A is shown with a nose-mounted repeater array, wing-mounted weapon hardpoints and a shield-and-armor profile built for sustained combat. The cockpit is a fully modeled, animated space: the canopy, HUD, instrument panels and seat all move and respond as the ship flies, reinforcing the game's cinematic approach.

How It Flies

Squadron 42 uses the same flight model technology as Star Citizen — six-degrees-of-freedom Newtonian-based flight with coupled and decoupled modes. In coupled mode the ship behaves like an aircraft: throttle and turn are linked, and the ship drifts when you expect it to. In decoupled mode the ship keeps its velocity independent of its facing, enabling the kind of combat maneuvering — flipping to shoot behind while still traveling forward — that defines serious space-combat play. The F8 is designed for both: fast enough to chase, agile enough to dogfight, tough enough to survive the Vanduul's attacks.

The F8 in the Campaign

The player is posted to the Idris frigate UEES Stanton after flight training, and the F8A is the fighter they fly from her decks. Across the campaign's roughly 30 missions, the player flies the F8 in escort, patrol, interdiction and fleet-defense roles against Vanduul fighters — including the Scythe, the enemy's signature craft. Trailers show the F8 in dogfights over planets and in fleet battles, with the player's wingmen — including Steve "Old Man" Colton, played by Mark Hamill — flying alongside in the same airframe.

The F8 in the Wider Universe

The F8 family also exists in Star Citizen's persistent universe, where variants like the F8C have appeared as limited ships. But Squadron 42 is where the airframe's military story is told: it is the Navy's current top-line fighter in the war the campaign depicts.

Flying the F8: What the Trailers Show

Official trailer footage gives the best picture of the F8 in action. The ship is shown in dogfights against Vanduul Scythes, in escort formations alongside wingmen, and in fleet battles over planetary surfaces. The cockpit footage shows a fully animated flight environment: the canopy frames, instrument panels and HUD respond to the ship's systems, and the pilot's view shifts with the performance-captured player character. For space-sim players, the combination of Newtonian flight and a modern fighter airframe makes the F8 the campaign's core experience — everything else in the game orbits around it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What fighter does the player fly in Squadron 42?

The player flies the F8A Lightning, the UEE Navy's newest fighter, for most of the campaign.

Is the F8 in Star Citizen too?

Yes. The F8 family exists in Star Citizen's persistent universe, but Squadron 42 is where its military story plays out.

Can you fly other ships?

The campaign primarily features the F8, with other Navy fighters like the Hornet and Gladius appearing in the fleet. The full mission-by-mission ship roster is "to be confirmed."