The CR-20 was originally designed in the final years of the Old Republic to be used to transport small amounts of troops and supplies into battle when it was not practical to use larger transports, such as the Acclamator. Its design team had a fairly narrow view of what it would be used for: infiltrate the atmosphere of a planet, drop off a contingent of troops and leave again; once the mission was over, drop in rapidly to extract the troops. With such a narrow scope of operation, the CR-20 did not utilize heavy weaponry, rather it was designed with thick armour plating and strong shields, enabling it to withstand a barrage of anti-aircraft fire both entering and exiting the battlefield. The ship has relatively fast sub-light engines allowing for quick dropoff and pickup. Due to the ship being used for transportation, it comes equipped with plenty of space for troops as well as escape pods.

The CR-20 has a distinct profile. The ship's main body is long and very tall, and at the top are two "wings" that provide the mounts for turbolasers. The under-wing mounted turbolasers enable the ship to fire upon ground targets during the insertion and extraction portions of the mission. The guns also face the boarding ramp, thus preventing infiltration attempts against the CR-20. The ship is able to carry sixty passengers, including the ship's crew, plus supplies for the deploying force.

Although none of the known ship producers currently produce the CR-20, many small organizations have managed to get their hands on the seemingly affordable freighter, though current usage isn't what the original designers had in mind. One of the current uses for the ship is by swoop and speeder racing teams who've reoutfitted the large ships to meet their team's needs; at more than one racing event several of the more wealthy teams could be seen arriving in CR-20s which sported the custom painting in the same styles as the teams represented. In addition to this rather ostentatious display, the CR-20 has also been used in diplomatic missions around the Galaxy. The spacious interior of the ship also allows owners to customize it into as luxurious a cruiser as their resources allow, which means that for some it is the ultimate party barge.