The ship's huge Class-87 engine is necessary to break free of the earth's (or any other planet's) gravitational pull. In general, this is the only time the engine is run at "full throttle", since the fuel required for this is enormous. The fuel and the oxidizer used to ignite is are stored in separate tanks located behind the cockpit. They are separated from the cockpit by a four-foot thick fireproof bulkhead.

The bomb bay is a donut-shaped chamber that encircles the main engine. It is separated from the engine by three-foot thick shielding, and individual missiles are separated from each other by magnetic force fields. The Starfighter is capable of firing two missiles simultaneously, and as soon as these are fired, the rest rotate around the bomb bay, putting the next missiles into firing position. In this way, all six missiles and both bombs can be fired in rapid succession in a matter of seconds.

Each Starfighter has 8 maneuvering thrusters, located around the center of gravity of the ship. These are only used in interstellar flights. The ones facing "up" or "out" from the ship are used to propel the Starfighter up, down, left, and right. The ones facing "forward" can be rotated slightly for turning the ship or lined up exactly forward to act as a sort of brake.

For planetary flight, the maneuvering thrusters are cut off and more conventional methods are used. All four wings have flaps and "ailerons" similar to conventional aircraft for use in atmospheric flight. However, the forward thrusters are still used for brakes and all thrusters are required for landing.