- "I believe those are robotic combat craft. Powered and operated by artificial intelligences called droids."
- ―Senior Captain Thrawn upon seeing droid starfighters
Droid starfighters were a type of automated starfighter that were droids themselves instead of needing a living pilot or even a droid. They were used prior to and during the Clone Wars, having the great advantage that if the ship was destroyed lives would be spared. There were several types of droid starfighters like Hyena-class droid bombers, vulture droid starfighters, and droid tri-fighters.
Vulture droids are seen communicating with each other, the vulture droid starfighters page has more details on it. It is likely that Hyena-class droid bombers are also able to communicate like this, due to their similar design. Droid tri-fighters may be able to communicate in this fashion, but due to their highly different design, it is uncertain. Vulture and Hyena droids can both enter a walking mode to move around while not flying.