Squadron 42 Vanduul Ships: Every Alien Vessel From Thyi to Kingship

For most players, the Vanduul are the reason Squadron 42 exists. They are the alien armada that forced humanity to build a navy, and in the campaign’s space combat they are the wall you crash into. The Squadron 42 Vanduul ships revealed during this year’s CitizenCon gameplay demo made that brutally clear: nine distinct hulls, ranging from a 29-meter knife-fighter to a 3,000-meter dreadnought that can gut a planet’s defenses.

If you’re prepping for launch, knowing the enemy fleet matters as much as memorizing your own loadout. This breakdown covers every known Squadron 42 Vanduul ships entry — size, role, armament, and the human-built Esperia replicas you can actually fly in Star Citizen right now.

Why Vanduul Hulls Fight Differently Than Human Ships

Vanduul ships aren’t just “alien-looking.” According to the Star Citizen wiki, their hulls are directly inspired by the shapes of the daggers that define Vanduul culture and its associated rites. That’s why so many of their craft taper into literal blades — several hulls are designed to ram.

The Vanduul themselves are a sentient, nomadic species of bipedal aliens. Per Star Citizen Tools, males live aboard their ships in organized clan groups, which explains why every Vanduul vessel is a warship first and everything else second. There are no cargo holds, no crew comforts, and no wasted mass.

Community reports from the campaign demo highlight the same pattern: Vanduul formations arrive in waves, screening capital ships with swarms of light and medium fighters, then escalate to bombers and command hulls. Player experience suggests that reading that escalation is the real skill check in Squadron 42’s space combat.

The Full Squadron 42 Vanduul Ship Roster, Smallest to Largest

Here’s every hull that has appeared in campaign footage or appears in community databases, sorted by reported length.

Ship	Length	Role	Threat Level
Vanduul Thyi (Scythe pattern)	29 m	Dedicated dogfighter	High (in swarms)
Vanduul Blade	30 m	Light carrier-based fighter / scout	Medium
Vanduul Glaive	33.3 m	Medium fighter (veteran pilots)	High
Vanduul Stinger	56 m	Heavy fighter	High
Vanduul Void	124 m	Heavy bomber / boarding platform	Extreme
Vanduul Lightfire	362 m	Capital communication & command ship	Extreme
Vanduul Hunter	4,775 m (as reported)	Corvette / destroyer-class gunship	Extreme
Vanduul Cruiser	Unknown	Cruiser	Extreme
Vanduul Kingship	1,500–3,000 m	Dreadnought, carrier, C2, assault transport	Catastrophic

Two additional hulls appear in the Star Citizen Tools ship database — the Cleaver (a boarding craft) and the Driller — though neither has shown up in campaign footage yet.

Fighters First: The Thyi, Blade, and Glaive

The smallest Vanduul ship is the Thyi at just 29 meters. It’s a pure medium fighter: no cargo, no comfort, no compromises, built around a heavy weapons payload and extreme agility thanks to its main engine and twelve maneuvering thrusters. It also carries a ramming blade on one side. In Star Citizen, the human-manufactured Esperia Scythe serves as its replica, and it is famously hull-limited — it has rarely, if ever, appeared during Alien Week or IAE sales.

The Blade is a 30-meter light carrier-based fighter used as a scout and first-wave assault craft, which matches exactly how it behaves in the campaign demo. It sacrifices armor for maneuverability that arguably has no equal. The Glaive is a 33.3-meter medium fighter handed to more experienced Vanduul pilots, and it’s the meanest of the three thanks to twin ramming blades mounted as wings.

Ship	Primary Weapons	Missiles	Ramming Blades
Thyi	2× Size 5 (Wrath / War cannons), 2× Size 1 Weak repeaters	8× Size 1	1 (right side)
Blade	2× Size 3 Warlord cannons, 2× Size 2 Wasp repeaters	8× Size 1	None
Glaive	2× Size 5 Wrath cannons, 2× Size 1 Weak repeaters	8× Size 2 Bullet	2 (one per wing)

Heavies and Capitals: Stinger, Void, Lightfire, Hunter

The Stinger is a 56-meter heavy fighter packing one Size 5 plasma cannon, four Size 2 laser cannons, a manned turret with two Size 2 plasma cannons, and sixteen Size 2 missiles. Community reports note it has been in active development since the Alpha 3.13.1 era and has appeared on the Squadron 42 roadmap — a strong hint that it will eventually be flyable in some form. Esperia markets its Stinger replica as “ace-level firepower,” which tells you plenty.

The Void is where things escalate. At 124 meters, this heavy bomber launches missiles, torpedoes, and — critically — a boarding craft. That boarding craft is a headline feature of Squadron 42’s space combat, because it lets Vanduul board human ships and trigger FPS firefights inside your own vessel. The Void’s published armament covers four remote turrets with eight Size 2 repeaters, but its torpedo and missile loadout hasn’t been detailed.

Ship	Length	Notable Armament	Signature Ability
Stinger	56 m	1× S5 plasma cannon, 4× S2 lasers, 1 turret (2× S2 plasma), 16× S2 missiles	Heavy fighter brawling
Void	124 m	4 remote turrets, 8× S2 repeaters, unknown torpedo load	Launches boarding craft
Lightfire	362 m	Unknown	Fleet command & control
Hunter	4,775 m	1 main cannon, S7 tail turret, 2 nose turrets (4× S6 plasma), S5 plasma broadsides	Broadside firepower
Cruiser	Unknown	Unknown	Survives a size-12 torpedo hit before destruction

The Lightfire is a 362-meter capital communication ship — for scale, a UEE Idris is only 240 meters. Little is publicly known beyond its 2016 leak and its appearance in this year’s campaign review, where it was clearly acting as a command node. The Hunter was originally classified as a destroyer, then reclassified as a corvette during the live gameplay review, which raises the obvious question of whether it’s simply an enormous corvette. The Cruiser remains the most mysterious entry; it was last leaked in 2015 and was destroyed on screen by a size-12 torpedo from a UEE warship.

The Kingship: The Largest Vanduul Ship Known to Humanity

The Kingship is the crown of any Vanduul clan fleet. It combines a dreadnought, fleet carrier, command-and-control platform, and assault transport in a single hull, and its reported length of 1,500 to 3,000 meters dwarfs a UEE Bengal carrier at roughly 1,100 meters. Wrapping your head around that scale is the whole point.

Kingship Weapon System	Count	Weapon Size
Main cannon	1	Size 12
Large turrets	14 (28 cannons)	Anti-capital grade
Medium turrets	32 (64 cannons)	Size 7 plasma
Anti-air turrets	24	Size 5
Point-defense turrets	20	Size 5
Missile turrets	30 (362 missiles)	Size 2

That’s before counting the light, medium, and heavy fighters it carries. Community footage shows a Kingship absorbing punishment that would erase a battle group and ultimately having to be forced into self-destruction rather than simply killed. You can read the official take at the Galactapedia entry on the Vanduul Kingship, which describes it as the apparent flagship of especially large Vanduul clans.

Esperia Replicas: Fly Vanduul Ships Today

If you play Star Citizen, you don’t have to wait for Squadron 42 to get behind a Vanduul-style cockpit. Esperia builds military-use human replicas of several hulls.

Replica	Based On	How to Get It	Cost / Requirement
Esperia Blade	Vanduul Blade	Astro Armada, Area18 (in-game)	Roughly 8 million aUEC
Esperia Glaive	Vanduul Glaive	Pledge store (ship + Arena Commander)	Complete the Vanduul Swarm mode
Esperia Scythe	Vanduul Thyi pattern	Hull-limited; rarely offered	Legacy reward / limited sales
Esperia Stinger	Vanduul Stinger	Announced	Not yet released

The Blade is the practical entry point: it’s purchasable in-game and typically appears during Alien Week and IAE. Community reports suggest both the Blade and Glaive replicas may receive updated “true Vanduul” versions after Squadron 42 launches, though treat that as unconfirmed until CIG says otherwise.

Practical Tips for Fighting the Vanduul Fleet

• Respect ramming blades. The Thyi and Glaive close distance fast and are built to ram. Never assume a head-on pass is safe.
• Kill the Void’s boarding craft early. Once it launches, you’re fighting FPS combat on your own deck.
• Delete turrets on capitals first. The Hunter and Kingship rely on layered turret coverage; taking the size-12 main cannon out of play changes the fight.
• Expect waves, not duels. Blades screen, Glaives commit, Stingers hold the line, and capitals finish.
• Practice in the Esperia Blade. Its low armor and heavy Size 3/Size 2 loadout teach the agility-over-survivability mindset the Vanduul rely on.

FAQ

How many Vanduul ships are in Squadron 42? At least nine have appeared in campaign footage: Thyi, Blade, Glaive, Stinger, Void, Lightfire, Hunter, Cruiser, and Kingship. The Cleaver and Driller exist in community databases but haven’t been shown in the campaign yet.

What is the biggest Vanduul ship in Squadron 42? The Kingship, reported at 1,500 to 3,000 meters. It functions as a dreadnought, fleet carrier, and assault transport, and it is described as the largest Squadrorn 42 Vanduul ships class known to humanity.

Can you fly Vanduul ships in Star Citizen? Yes, through Esperia replicas. The Blade is purchasable in-game for around 8 million aUEC, while the Glaive requires pledge access plus a Vanduul Swarm completion. The Scythe remains hull-limited.

Is the Vanduul Stinger playable? Not yet. Community reports place it in active development since the Alpha 3.13.1 era and on the Squadron 42 roadmap, so a flyable or purchasable version is plausible but unconfirmed.

The Vanduul fleet isn’t a difficulty slider — it’s a designed escalation ladder. Learn the 29-meter knife-fighters, then learn the 124-meter bomber that wants to put aliens on your bridge, and you’ll survive long enough to meet a Kingship on your own terms.

Related Squadron 42 pages

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