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Ok so I've perused the Wookiepedia page and rewatched the battle plenty of times, but some things about the Battle in Scarif in regards to the fighter squadrons don't quite add up. Now, these problems can just be chalked up to production errors between sources and carelessness, but I'd like to give a little plausible explanation.
In the resources we're told that Blue, Green, Red, and Gold Squadrons were present. Now Green and Red Squadrons are both X-Wings and listed as twelve fighters, Gold Squadron with nine Y-Wings.
Blue Squadron on the other hand is officially listed as 8 X-Wings, 3 U-Wings, 1 Y-Wing.
None of this adds up however with what we see on film. On film we have "AT least" 42 X-Wings and 22 Y-Wings. In addition, Blue Squadron in particular seems to be over-strength. By my count FOURTEEN X-Wings and One U-Wing manage to get through the shield. One X-Wing gets shot down before reaching the shield, two crash into the shield, one crashes pulling away from the shield, four manage to pull away. (Mind you, one really has to have a sharp eye to spot all of these.) This gives us twenty X-Wings in Blue Squadron. Add in the two U-Wings and one Y-Wing, a total of twenty three fighters and twenty five pilots. However, we have a problem. There are supposed to be three U-Wings. But we have an out for this because it's mentioned one of the pilots (Blue 8 Heff Tobberman) was supposed to be a U-Wing pilot but shows up in an X-Wing during the battle. Again, while this was probably a production error, it can be explained as his U-Wing having been the one taken by Jyn and Cassian that crashed on Eadu, forcing him and presumably his copilot (though he does not have one listed) to switch to X-Wings.
It is my supposition based on the evidence that Blue Squadron is a double strength squadron specializing in ground support. Hence, why they have three U-Wings assigned plus a Y-Wing. It may also account for the different flight suits, Blue for "Army/Air Force" vs orange for "Navy".
In addition we have the mystery of the 22 Y-Wings. Gold Squadron has nine Y-Wings, plus the one from Blue Squadron, which gives us ten. Now where do the other twelve comes from? Grey Squadron. They aren't listed in any of the sources or media, but I do recall an article stating that one of the producers had a cameo as a pilot, supposedly as Grey Leader. Grey Squadron being present would help fill the gap in numbers.
In the resources we're told that Blue, Green, Red, and Gold Squadrons were present. Now Green and Red Squadrons are both X-Wings and listed as twelve fighters, Gold Squadron with nine Y-Wings.
Blue Squadron on the other hand is officially listed as 8 X-Wings, 3 U-Wings, 1 Y-Wing.
None of this adds up however with what we see on film. On film we have "AT least" 42 X-Wings and 22 Y-Wings. In addition, Blue Squadron in particular seems to be over-strength. By my count FOURTEEN X-Wings and One U-Wing manage to get through the shield. One X-Wing gets shot down before reaching the shield, two crash into the shield, one crashes pulling away from the shield, four manage to pull away. (Mind you, one really has to have a sharp eye to spot all of these.) This gives us twenty X-Wings in Blue Squadron. Add in the two U-Wings and one Y-Wing, a total of twenty three fighters and twenty five pilots. However, we have a problem. There are supposed to be three U-Wings. But we have an out for this because it's mentioned one of the pilots (Blue 8 Heff Tobberman) was supposed to be a U-Wing pilot but shows up in an X-Wing during the battle. Again, while this was probably a production error, it can be explained as his U-Wing having been the one taken by Jyn and Cassian that crashed on Eadu, forcing him and presumably his copilot (though he does not have one listed) to switch to X-Wings.
It is my supposition based on the evidence that Blue Squadron is a double strength squadron specializing in ground support. Hence, why they have three U-Wings assigned plus a Y-Wing. It may also account for the different flight suits, Blue for "Army/Air Force" vs orange for "Navy".
In addition we have the mystery of the 22 Y-Wings. Gold Squadron has nine Y-Wings, plus the one from Blue Squadron, which gives us ten. Now where do the other twelve comes from? Grey Squadron. They aren't listed in any of the sources or media, but I do recall an article stating that one of the producers had a cameo as a pilot, supposedly as Grey Leader. Grey Squadron being present would help fill the gap in numbers.
