In space no one cares if you're aerodynamic. That said, why bother having actuating wings on craft primarily meant for space travel? Sure the X-Wing looks cool, but looking cool is hardly a sufficient justification for the expense, especially when you're running a costly and cash strapped rebellion.
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4George Lucas cares if you're aerodynamic in space. – Molag Bal Apr 17 '17 at 18:21
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4Dunno what the official answer is, but my guess would be 1) so they can be used in-atmosphere too, and 2) to mount the weapons on (I'm not sure what the advantage is of having all four blasters so far apart but assuming there is one, you need wings to take advantage of it) – Ixrec Apr 17 '17 at 18:26
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Related: Why do X-wings change wing configuration?. – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE Apr 17 '17 at 18:35
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@ixrec Off the top of my head, if one of your blasters were struck in combat and subsequently exploded, it might be nice if it wasn't sitting right beside the cockpit. – Steve-O Apr 17 '17 at 21:43
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It's because the vast majority of vehicles in the Star Wars universe are multi-media craft, capable of traveling in both space and atmosphere.
X-Wing
B-Wing
Tie-Striker
Valorum
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1Explain the Millennium Falcon's agility in atmospheric flight, then. Or the little pod things flying around Cloud City. Or Slave One. – Wad Cheber Apr 28 '17 at 01:18
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The little pod things are a flying engine with a tractor beam and a gun. Unsuitable for general use. – Valorum Apr 28 '17 at 06:07
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It is not just the Rule of cool. The main reason is the rule of cooling. A secondary reason could be inferred that this allowed for ships to maximize storage space without limiting weapon capabilities (similar to modern aircraft). Lastly, in some Legends articles, the S-foils serve the purpose of stabilizing atmospheric flight.
From Arc-170
During battle, the craft's S-foils opened to expose heat sinks and radiators to help cool the ship, and the two main forward medium laser cannons located on the underside of its outer wings were uncommonly large and powerful.
Also from S-Foils
Notable model to have S-foils was the T-65B X-wing starfighter manufactured by Incom Corporation, posed a distinctive X shape when the S-foils were locked in attack position, which gave the laser cannons mounted on each wing a wider field of firing range.
Again from B-Wing
Two S-foils just below the engine on either side of the main airfoil could be extended to deploy twin laser cannons.4 It held a total of four laser cannons, and was also armed with proton torpedoes and ion cannons
From ETA-2
S-foils, that were opened to shed excess heat from the ship's engines. The radiator wings were primarily opened during intense combat.4
From Delta 7B
The Delta-7B also had a set of pop-out S-foils that could be extended for certain flight maneuvers
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