Barracuda

Tau Portal

Barracuda^[1]

The Barracuda air superiority fighter is the Tau's most common atmospheric aircraft.

Overview

Faster than the Imperial Navy's Marauder bomber, but lacking the top speed of the Thunderbolt or Lightning fighter, it makes up for its shortcomings with its sophisticated electronics and pilots' natural talents.^[1]

In a dogfight, Thunderbolts and Barracudas are very closely matched, with the Thunderbolt having the edge in speed but the Barracuda having the manoeuvrability. Despite this, the Imperium's pilots often have the hard edge of combat experience which the Tau's Air Caste pilots find difficult to match.^[1]

Armament and Equipment

A Barracuda is armed with a nose-mounted, pilot aimed Ion Cannon. This is the aircraft's primary weapon of use in dogfights, backed up by two drone controlled Burst Cannons in the wings. For ground attacks, it is primarily armed with wing mounted missile pods. When used in an ground attack role a Barracuda can carry additional armament of up to four Seeker missiles. These are not controlled by the pilot but by a Markerlight operator on the ground.^[1]

All Barracudas are equipped with escape pods. In the event that the aircraft sustains serious damage the pilot can eject. Some versions of Barracuda might include Blacksun Filters (night-fighting sensors), Disruption Pod and Decoy Launchers for additional protection.^[1]

Taros Campaign

On Taros, the Tau Coalition included a large Air Caste contingent, which formed an integral part of their strategy. Barracudas and Imperial Thunderbolts fought daily for the planet's air superiority. Flying from well-concealed desert airbases the Barracudas eventually won the battle.^{[Needs Citation]}

AX-5-2 Barracuda

Not only engaging in dogfights, the Barracudas also targeted the Imperial Guard's supply columns, operating in unison with Pathfinder teams in order to destroy Trojans and vital equipment. The Barracudas played a vital role in the Tau's strategy, eventually defeating the Imperial Guard and forcing it to retreat.^[1]

AX-5-2 Barracuda

To combat the ever-increasing diversity of enemies faced by the expanding Tau Empire, the AX-5-2 Barracuda was developed as a multi-role fighter by the Earth Caste of the Vash’ya Sept. This new pattern maintained the unmatched agility and maneuverability of its forebears, but benefited from an improved power grid and enhanced combat avionics systems, as well as a variable weapons fit so that it could be rearmed swiftly between missions.^[4]

Aircraft specifications^[2]

Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Record
Serial Number	N/A	Main Armament	Nose mounted Ion Cannon, wing mounted missile pods
Designation	Air Superiority Fighter
Vehicle Codename	Barracuda	Secondary Armament	2x Drone controlled Burst Cannons
Vehicle Type	Aircraft
Crew	Pilot	Traverse	N/A
Weight	7 tonnes	Elevation	N/A
Length	14.1m	Ammunition	8 Missiles. 8000 rounds
Width	N/A	Armour Type	35mm, Nano-Crystalline alloy (composition unknown)
Height	3.25mm
Max Recorded Speed	2,100kph
Summary	Air superiority fighter

Images

• 

  Barracuda miniature

• 

  Tau Air Superiority Fighter Barracuda

• 

  Aeronautica Imperialis Barracuda's and Tigersharks^[5]

Sources

• 1: Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign, pgs. 194-196
• 2: Imperial Armour Update, pg. 30
• 3: Forge World
• 4: Forge World
• 5: Warhammer Community: New Reveals from Nuremberg (Posted January 29 2020) (last accessed 1/29/2020)