The B1-A Air Battle Droid was an variation of the standard B1 Battle Droid created the Baktoid Combat Automata and was purchased mainly by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars to combat the Grand Army of the Republic, but was also used by the Trade Federation and Rebel Alliance, along with several private organizations owned by smugglers and pirates.
Droid Design[]
The design of the B1-A Air Battle Droid was similar to the B2 Super Battle Droid and the Rocket Battle Droids, as it was bulky, and yet had an jetpack in the back of its body. The droids were equipped with two short blades, arm-mounted blasters, and a shield that could block lightsabers. In addition, they possessed a built-in repulsor pack allowing them to hover on the battlefield and gave them a high degree of mobility allowing them to either harass enemies from a distance or charge at them in close quarter combat. Despite these droids having heavy hopes for the Separatists, Republic Clone Troopers managed to find several weak points in the droid's armor, allowing them to be destroyed easily. After this, Jedi also discovered this flaw in the droid's design, and began easily slashing through the droids with their lightsabers, much like they did with normal battle droid units.
Droid History[]
Although the droids were used by the C.I.S. several times during the Clone Wars, there were only a few times the droids were used in the droid army. A few units are seen are onboard the Invisible Hand, General Grievous' flagship, during the Battle of Coruscant. Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker encountered the droids several times while they ventured through the ship during their attempt to rescue Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic. Due to the design flaw in the droid, as mentioned earlier, the Jedi made short work of the Air Droids and made their way to Palpatine, who they rescued from Count Dooku, then went on to attempt to arrest General Grievous in the ship's bridge. After the Battle of Coruscant ended with Separatist defeat, a small squadron of B1-A droids were found on Utapau and encountered by Obi-Wan and his pet, Boga, during their scouting mission on the planet.