The TIE/ew packs the jamming capability of a small capital ship onto a TIE Bomber, allowed it to scramble enemy point-defense cannons and missile tubes, while also having the capability to punch through enemy jamming. It was originally built by the Galactic Empire to jam the sensors of planetary defense networks, so that its troopships would survive. Astragon commissioned them later to accompany shipping raids, where they would jam all communications coming from the target, so the target would merely "never show up" rather than "Astragon Empire Raids Our Shipping Lanes Again!"