Although Rogue One takes place shortly before the events of A New Hope, it does feature some tech and vehicles that we haven’t previously seen in the Star Wars universe. That’s already inspired a bit of nitpicking among fans, but we can all probably agree that this new addition is pretty cool: It’s called a U-Wing, and we’re going to be seeing a lot more of it when Rogue One hits theaters in December.

Matt Martin of the Lucasfilm Story Group appeared on The Star Wars Show (via /Film) to discuss the latest ship to join the Star Wars universe. He also debuted a previously unreleased still from Rogue One, which features the U-Wing:

Lucasfilm / YouTube
Lucasfilm / YouTube
loading...

Martin says that we’ve actually seen the U-Wing before: It was featured in the early concept art that Lucasfilm released last year, which showed troops disembarking from U-Wings — only back then we had no idea that these ships were new or significant, really.

He also showed off this 3D rendering of the U-Wing from ILM:

Rogue One Uship
loading...

 

The U-Wing is featured prominently in Rogue One as a transport and artillery vehicle for Rebel troops. Martin says the ship’s primary job is to “drop off troops and provide air support,” and to go “through heavy fire zones and get out as quickly as possible.” That’s definitely in keeping with the idea that Rogue One is a war movie.

It’s still a little strange that Rogue One will introduce tech and vehicles that aren’t featured in the original trilogy — were all the U-Wings destroyed in the short time between Gareth Edwards’ film and A New Hope? Maybe it’s best not to overthink these things too much.

Rogue One hits theaters on December 16.

Check Out a Gallery of Original Star Wars Concept Art

 

 

More From KLAQ El Paso