In A New Hope, the Rebels assault the Death Star with X-Wing fighters launched from a moon around the planet Yavin. However, the Death Star only sends out a few squadrons of of TIE Fighters to counter them. It did send out Darth Vader himself, along with a few elite pilots, but given that the Death Star is a massive space station, shouldn't it be able to send out TIE's by the hundreds (if not the thousands) and completely wipe out the opposition before any of them got a chance to line up a shot on that exhaust vent?
Answer
Having re-read the script, it seems that Tarkin and Vader didn't view the attack (by the fighters) as much more than an annoyance until it was far too late.
Resistance (by the Rebels, who're about to get their base destroyed) was always to be expected but since the Death Star's armour was considered impregnable to fighters and since the Imperials were expecting their turbo-lasers to deal with whatever resistance they encountered, they didn't send out any fighters until it became apparent that their lasers simply weren't getting the job done;
ASTRO-OFFICER : We count thirty Rebel ships, Lord Vader. But they're so small they're evading our turbo-lasers!
VADER : We'll have to destroy them ship to ship. Get the crews to their fighters.
The TIE-fighters were primarily tasked with stopping this small number of rebel fighters from inflicting surface damage to the station and to that end they only seem to have sent out a modest number of ships. By the time they'd spotted that there was a bigger problem, it was simply late to get more TIE-fighters into the fray. Less than three minutes elapsed between the Chief Officer telling Tarkin about the possibility of a successful attack and the point that the Death Star blew up.
OFFICER : We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?
TARKIN : Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances!
VOICE : Rebel base, three minutes and closing.
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