Piranha Skimmer

Tau Portal

Tau Piranhas

The TX4 Piranha Skimmer is a lightweight hover craft.^[5]

History

First introduced during the Second Sphere Expansion,^[5] the Piranha was originally documented on the planet of Dal'yth, circa 884.M41. On Dal'yth it was observed during a diplomatic mission, where it was originally seen being used in a civilian role transporting important dignitaries; it can be presumed that the Piranha was later developed for a military role, or that there are numerous variants of the vehicle used throughout the class system. The Piranha would see its first major combat use during the Taros Campaign, where it operated in a reconnaissance or fire support role Tau Pathfinder teams.^[3] One of their tactics - to close swiftly on the Pathfinders’ forward positions, and taking advantage of the targeting data transferred to them by the scouts’ markerlights, appears as if from nowhere and destroying the enemy. In this sudden ambush enemy infantry and armour that believed themselves in a short time wiping out by Pathfinders are instead annihilated by the blistering explosions of the Piranha's weapons systems.^[5]

Since the Second Sphere Expansion Piranha has served in a number of roles, from base security to battlefield transport for high-ranking dignitaries. Piranhas will typically operate in teams of one to five vehicles.^[1][3] It uses its jet-thrusters and anti-gravitic engines to glide over a planet's surface, and is able to rapidly use terrain as cover from enemy fire. On the battlefield, Piranhas often seem to be everywhere at once and specialize in hit-and-run strikes, skirmishing, and flanking attacks. Piranha teams are well-drilled to coordinate attacks and enact mutual fire support during operations. While smaller Piranha teams are used to hunt down enemy scouts or counter teleporters, larger groups can bring down larger enemy vehicles when working together.^[7]

Those who successfully graduate the Piranha training programs enjoy enhanced status amongst their Fire Caste comrades, though places within the program are highly contested. Piranha's pilots are trained to rely heavily on their instincts and allowed considerable operational flexibility in the battle.^[5]

Technical Information

With a crew of two pilots and support,^[7] the most common armament for the Piranha is a chin-mounted burst cannon and two detachable Gun Drones, similar to the Devilfish troop carrier. However, the Piranha is often armed with a pair of Seeker Missiles in order to provide fire support for Markerlight-equipped troops and vehicles, and will replace its burst cannon with a fusion blaster for anti-armour missions. In addition, the Piranha can be upgraded with a number of additional vehicle upgrades.

Ordo Xenos Classification

Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Record[3]
Serial Number	85673-908461	Main Armament	Burst Cannon in chin turret
Designation	Light Skimmer
Vehicle Codename	Piranha	Secondary Armament	2 x Gun Drone
Vehicle Type	Grav-Speeder
Crew	2 (Pilot, Co-Pilot)	Traverse	120°
Weight	4.5 tonnes	Elevation	From -46° to +5°
Length	5.7m	Ammunition	2000 rounds
Width	6.4m	Armour Type	Nano-Crystalline Alloy Composition Unknown
Height	2.4m
Max Recorded Speed	160kph

Variants

TX-42

TX-42^[4]

The TX-42 is the latest development of the successful Piranha light skimmer. It has a re-worked crew compartment and upgraded armament to turn the light Piranha into a heavier gunship, designed for frontline operations in support of Tau armoured units.^[6]

It can be equipped with twin-linked rail rifles, twin-linked missile pods, twin-linked fusion blasters or twin-linked plasma rifles. The chin-mounted weapon in a standard piranha skimmer is replaced with a markerlight. The TX-42 also has heavier armour,^[2] a targeting array and a sensor.^[6]

The TX-42 can also be equipped with Sensor Spines, a Blacksun Filter, a Flechette Discharger, Decoy Launchers and two Seeker Missiles.^[4]

Famous Piranha Pilots

• Ghovah

Images

Tau Piranha with Burst Cannon

Related Aticles

• Tau Vehicles (List)

Sources

This article contains text passages or images with citation issues. The concerned content is marked with "Citation issue" tags. Please help to improve this article by fixing those issues as described in the corresponding Help article. Do also note that it is absolutely forbidden to add new information or content to these marked passages as long as the pre-existing citation issues have not been completely resolved.

• 1: Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition), pg. 39
• 2: Imperial Armour Update 2006^[Help]
• 3: Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign, pg. 181
• 4: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse Second Edition, pg. 82
• 5: Codex: Tau Empire (7th Edition), pg. 26 TX4 Piranhas
• 6: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse, pg. 80
• 7: Codex: T'au Empire (8th Edition), pg. 55