The Lightspeed Panthers were a wing of T-65 X-wing starfighters, a starfighter type, that fought for the Alliance to Restore the Republic in the Galactic Civil War against the forces of the Galactic Empire. They were well-known because their fighters were decorated with distinctive nose art featuring fang-jawed designs.
The Lightspeed Panthers, utilizing Incom Corporation T-65 X-wing starfighters, achieved remarkable success during the Fei Hu campaign. Over the initial nine months of this campaign, they destroyed a minimum of 286 Imperial TIE/LN starfighters, while only four of their own craft were lost. The effectiveness demonstrated by the Lightspeed Panthers, coupled with the broader success of the T-65 in combat situations, prompted the Empire to introduce the Lancer-class frigate and the TIE/IN interceptor starfighter as countermeasures, aiming to balance the conflict and prevent further one-sided victories like that seen at Fei Hu.
Jason Fry and Paul R. Urquhart mentioned the Lightspeed Panthers in their reference work, The Essential Guide to Warfare, which was published on April 3, 2012. On June 7, 2012, Fry shared a statement from Urquhart on Tumblr as part of the tenth installment of a series of endnotes related to The Essential Guide to Warfare. In this statement, Urquhart revealed that the Lightspeed Panthers were intentionally created as a reference to the Flying Tigers, a group of American volunteer pilots who fought for the Chinese Air Force during World War II. The Flying Tigers were also known for achieving a high kill ratio and for the shark teeth nose art on their aircraft. Urquhart also pointed out the similarities between the T-65s used by the Lightspeed Panthers and the P-40 Warhawks flown by the Flying Tigers, noting that both were versatile and easy for pilots to handle.