The Sentinel-class landing shuttle is a primary Imperial landing craft that was derived from the Sienar Fleet Systems Lambda-class shuttle. As in the standard Lambda design, the ship features a stationary top wing with two folding lower rings. The Sentinel has a larger cargo area, and it is heavily armed and armored to enter combat.
    The Sentinel shuttle has a command crew of five, including the pilot, the copilot/sensor officer, the head gunner, and two secondary gunners. The head gunner handles the four retractable laser cannons mounted in pairs on each side of the main troop compartment. One gunner handles the two concussion-missile launchers, which draw from individual magazines of eight missiles each. The final gunner handles the ion cannon and rotating pereating blasters. The ion cannon is mounted in a retractable turret in front of the stationary wing and is used to delay and disable enemy vessels. Rotating repeating blasters are deployed upon landing to provide covering fire.
    The ship's combat modifications can include armor plating that is nearly 25 percent heavier than standard Lambda armor. Four deflector-shield generators, mounted fore and aft in pairs, supplement the hull's protection. Cygnus HD7 engines that match those found aboard Imperial XG-1 assualt gunboats allow the ship to reach atmospheric speeds of 1,000 kilometers per hour, while sublight speed is roughly equivalent to that of the Alliance's Y-wing starfighter. The Cygnus HD7 hyperdrive unit gives the ship a Class One hyperdrive rating, matching the original Lambda's hyperdrive speed, despite the heavier armor.
    The ship's troop compartment can carry six squads, for a total of fifty-four soldiers. The hold behind the troop compartment has room for a dozen repeating blasters as well as six speeder bikes. The Sentinel's removable seating units allow the ship to be converted quickly to a straight combat vehicle delivery vessel or to a combat-ready combat ship. In this mode, the landing craft car carry three dozen speeder bikes or a dozen compact assualt vehicles.
    Each Sentinel landing craft is equipped with a reconnaissance speeder bike with a slaved communications termial; the comm freguency is randomly determined before each mission to prevent opposing techs from intercepting transmissions. The shuttle also has a full comm array for standard fllet and ground-unit communication.
    The craft was new at the time of the Battle of Yavin and was found aboard only a few Imperial vessels. Deployment was targeted to key forces, including Lord Vader's personal squadron, the fleet that maintained Virgillian space, and eventually the fleet that assembled in the distant Endor system.
    After the death of Emperor Palpatine, Sienar and Cygnus continued production of the Sentinels, and both companies sold them to a number of private concers, including front companies for the New Republic. The ship became quite common within two years after the defeat at Endor.