The Star League Defense Forces Contract called for a small planetary defense fighter with fast speed and light armor, but with enough firepower to substantially damage the enemy. The Shipil Company created just such a fighter with their design for the Seydlitz. In the same year, factories on Vance began mass production of the fighter and the first Seydlitzes were deployed extensively in the Lyran Commonwealth. Usually based on small worlds, these tiny twenty-ton fighters proved to be excellent support and escort vessels.
         The original Maztel laser systems were replaced with the current RAMTech series in 2507 because the Maztel laser systems generated too much heat.

         In the final days of the Star League, most of the Seydlitz Class aerospace fighters were scattered over House Steiner territory. The Steiner military held onto these fighters, and so very few are deployed beyond the Lyran Commonwealth's borders; the rare exceptions are usually attached to mercenary units.
         During the First Succession War, a Marik invasion force tried to wipe out House Steiner's air support on the world of Megrez. The twenty Seydlitz fighters stationed on the planet swarmed the attacking Marik forces in their first bombing run, moving so fast that the larger, slower Marik bombers could not stop them all. The raid ended in disaster for House Marik, considerably slowing their conquest of the world.
         A full contingent of Seydlitz fighters is rare, but many serve individually in air support units. The Tenth Skye Rangers use them as escorts and fighter cover. In a successful raid by the Rangers on Wheel, a Kurita-held world, the heavy fighter/bombers came in low under cover of Seydlitz Class fighters.
         When the Donegal Guards attacked the Marik held planet of Solaris in 3002, their DropShips were carrying several Seydlitz fighters. In a daring attack, the DropShips launched the fighters in orbit. The aerospace craft dove toward the planet and landed on the Marik-controlled airstrip outside the Callow Mountains. Once on the ground, the Seydlitzes destroyed most of the defending Marik fighters before they could take off.
         House Kurita is known to have captured several of these fighters during the many battles for the planet Alexandria, though to date none have yet appeared in combat among Kurita forces.