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The '''Railgun''' is one of the most a powerful weapons in [[Warhammer 40,000Tau]] and is used by the on [[TauBattlesuit]]s, vehicles and starships. It fires At its most basic form the railgun is a magnetically-accelerated hypervelocity projectile to destroy heavily armoured vehicleslinear accelerator using standing wave acceleration along a number of cylindrical superconductive electrodes surrounding a barrel.¹ ² {{Fn|2b}} It can be used in conjunction with a For suits like the [[Broadside Battlesuit]] and vehicles like the [[MarkerlightHammerhead Gunship]] , this technology is used to make it propel a solid slug at hypervelocity, capable of penetrating even more accuratethe toughest enemy armour.{{Fn|1}}{{Fn|2a}}

==Overview==Known Tau vehicles which use Hammerhead Railguns are also capable of firing a special bundle of sophisticated submunitions useful against large groups of enemies.{{Fn|1}}{{Fn|2b}} The solid slug fired by these weapons will easily punch through the railgun:*armoured front glacis of a [[Hammerhead GunshipSpace Marine]]*[[Battlesuit#Broadside Battlesuit|Broadside BattlesuitPredator]]*{{Fn|3a}} but will not penetrate the same spot on a [[Tiger Shark|AX-1-0 Tiger SharkBaneblade]], though multiple hits are capable of causing some damage to the side armour.{{Fn|3b}}

The Railgun mounted heavy Railguns found on Hammerheads will easily punch through the front glacis [[Manta]]s and [[Tiger Shark#A-X-10|Tiger Shark variant]]s are terrifying weapons, capable of a taking out [[Space MarineSuper-heavy vehicle]] s and even [[PredatorWarhound Scout Titans]].³ HoweverThey are also capable of firing a special submunition round, it will not penetrate the same spot on guided by a [[BanebladeDrone]]-level intelligence and fitted with stabilising fins for extra lift and range in an atmosphere. While useful against ground targets, though it may cause some minor damage against their primary purpose is for targeting the side weakspots in enemy starship armoursince they lack the same penetrating power as the standard slug.³ It may also fire a special bundle {{Fn|4a}}{{Fn|4b}} Despite Tau advances in superconductor technology, Railguns mounted on [[Tau Vessels (List)|Tau Starships]] are of such monstrous size and require such large amounts of submunitions designed energy to take out fire that they are grouped into batteries and fired one barrel at a larger number of smaller targets such as infantrytime sequential order, ensuring the first barrel is loaded and ready before it is charged again.² Railguns also exist in They are considered comparable to [[Imperial]] [[Weapons Batteries]].{{Fn|5}} In recent times efforts to miniaturize Railgun technology has produced the smaller rifle version ([[Rail Rifle]]) , a [[sniper rifle]] used by Pathfinder Teams and Sniper Drone Teams but isn't as reliable as the vehicle mounted version as it can sometimes kill the user (much like the [[ImperialTau Pathfinders]] and [[Plasma GunDrones#Sniper Drones|Sniper Drones]]). However, as of the third sphere expansion, advancements in the technology have eliminated the possibility of a misfire.

*^{{Endn|1 }}: [[Codex: Tau (3rd Edition)]], Pg. 17*^{{Endn|2 }}: [[Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition)]]*^{*{{Endn|2a}}: Pg. **{{Endn|2b}}: Pg. 30*{{Endn|3} }}: [[Courage and Honour (Novel)]] by [[Graham McNeill]]**{{Endn|3a}}: Chapter Twelve**{{Endn|3b}}: Chapter Thirteen*{{Endn|4}}: [[Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign]]**{{Endn|4a}}: Pg. 208**{{Endn|4b}}: Pg. 198*{{Endn|5}}: [[Battlefleet Gothic Armada]], Pg. 98