I searched around and didn't find anything specifically but does Thane Kyrells ability work like Jan Ors (crew) or kanan Jarrus (crew) where the friendly ship can be Thanes own ship?

His ability is: After an enemy ship in your firing arc at Range 1-3 attacks another friendly ship, you may perform a free action.

Jan Ors (crew): Once per round, when a friendly ship at Range 1-3 performs a focus action or would be assigned a focus token, you may assign it an evade token instead.

Kanan Jarrus (crew) Once per round, after a friendly ship at Range 1-2 executes a white maneuver, you may remove 1 stress token from that ship.

I want to use him with R7-T1 and vectored thrusters he could be pretty evasive but would require more thought and strategy if his ability only triggers if a friendly is getting shot at.

"Another friendly ship" is the key phrase.

"A friendly ship" includes the ship the upgrade or ability is on. "Another friendly ship" includes only its allies. Thane only works when people shoot his mates.

But fortunately Biggs guarantees that...

It must be "another" ship, not Thane's.

Ok that was the idea I was getting from reading it

Thats where his pseudo-biggs effect comes from. If you shoot him, no free action. Not as concrete as "YOU MUST SHOOT ME" but depending on the situation it can really deter your opponent's original shot.