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The Demolisher cannon is a short-range, large-bore direct fire cannon mounted on various vehicles, but most commonly on the Baneblade super heavy tank, Leman Russ Demolisher and Space Marine Vindicator. Primarily designed with siege, urban, and bunker busting warfare in mind, the cannon has also been known to be of great use against enemy vehicles and infantry, destroying both with equal ease.²

The Demolisher's ammunition are large calibre, rocket-assisted siege shells, composed of an armour-piercing tip, heavy shell casing and large explosive charge.⁵ Each shell's rocket engine, fueled by solid propellant, is shaped to control time and rate of burn for maximum accuracy.⁵ In order to avoid the build-up of rocket blast-back, this gas is vented when the cannon is fired to prevent the barrel from deforming or bursting from over-pressure.⁵ Once fired, the shell is designed to explode micro-seconds after penetration, achieving maximum damage to the target structure and its occupants.⁵

The Demolisher cannon's only main drawback comes at its short range compared to many other ordinance weapons, due to its sheer size and weight.⁵ This forces tanks that use this weapon to advance dangerously close to the enemy, often in range of their anti-tank forces, instead of safely firing from long range or out of sight. Because of this, many tanks armed with one will also be equipped with extra armour and dozer blades or siege shields.^{3 4}

Related Articles

• Imperial Guard Weaponry (List)
• Space Marine Weaponry (List)

Sources

• ¹: Apocalypse Rule book - Demolisher Line Breaker squadrons
• ²: Codex: Space Marines (3rd Edition)
• ³: Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex)
• ⁴: Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition)
• ⁵: Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines and Forces of the Inquisition, p. 68, 251