Valkyrie
The Valkyrie Airborne Assault Carrier is a heavily armed Imperial Aircraft with VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) capabilities, used to ferry special forces such as Storm Trooper Squads and Drop Troop Regiments such as the Elysian Drop Troops and Harakoni Warhawks to and from combat zones.[2a] The Valkyrie is also used by the forces of Chaos.[17]
Contents
Overview
Barring a few exceptions the Valkyrie, like most of the Imperium's aircraft, is piloted and operated by the Imperial Navy, with a pilot, co-pilot and two door gunners.[2a] the vehicle can carry up to twelve fully armed Guardsmen[11]. Valkyries are provided in joint operations for use to the Imperial Guard on an as needed basis, with pilots reporting directly to the regiment's senior officer.[3] However, in cases where a Valkyrie squadron can expect to be attached to Imperial Guard units for a long duration, modifications are made to the Valkyrie to enhance its role of close air support. The most common modifications are Extra armour and a Searchlight. This extra weight reduces the Valkyrie's maximum flight altitude and speed, but allows the crew to use its VTOL capabilities to the maximum potential with improved survivability.[1][3]
With advanced flight control and sensor gear, the Valkyrie contains technology comparable to those found in Space Marine Vehicles, limiting their construction to sufficiently-advanced planets such as Forge Worlds. In flight, the aircraft utilizes twin vectored engines in order to not only vertically take off and land, but also hover in mid-air, allowing for greater accuracy in deploying its twelve passengers. These engines can be sealed, and an onboard oxygen supply employed, for when operating in hostile environments. Common methods for deploying from a Valkyrie range from simply jumping off (if the height from the ground is low enough) to fast-roping and rappelling.[2a] When unable to operate that low to the ground, deploying via high-altitude jumps using grav-chutes are possible, though highly dangerous.[3] In addition, when mounting extra fuel tanks the Valkyrie is capable of carrying a modified Drop Sentinel, Cyclops Demolition Vehicle or Sentry Gun.[2a] The Valkyrie can also carry a detachable cargo-pod.[19a] The pod is sealable and can be used to transport personnel.[19b]
Its primary armament is a Multi-laser, which can be replaced with a Lascannon, and two door-mounted Heavy Bolters. This combination of weapons allows Valkyrie pilots to stay on station once their cargo has been dropped and provide limited air-support to the troops on the ground. In place of the craft's two external fuel tanks the Valkyrie can instead take either two Hellstrike missiles or two Rocket pods, and can receive additional upgrades.[2c] Valkyries can also carry autocannons.[17] Weapons are aimed with the help of a nose-mounted weapons sensor array,[13] incorporating multimode search and weapons guidance control and an IFF transponder and sitting next to the navigational antenna.[12b]
The nose also houses the primary secure communications receiver and transmitter and the flight control system, directly beneath the cockpit canopy, which is made from reinforced synthiplex glass.[12b]
Furthermore, the Valkyrie is equipped with a hololithic heads-up display for the pilot that can show navigational vectors including wind shears for a preset route, as well as the airspeed, altitude, remaining fuel capacity and cargo weight of the aircraft. It also features an afterburner, a fire suppressant system, an emergency kits for the operators,[16] an auspex, a missile-lock warning system and a flare countermeasure launcher.[18]
Valkyrie
The Interior of a Valkyrie
| Type | Airborne Assault Carrier[2b] | Operational Ceiling | 13,000m[2b] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Name | Valkyrie[2b] | Max Speed | 1100kph[2b] at 5,000 feet[12a] |
| Forge World of Origin | Mars, Voss, Artemia, Estaban VII, Agripinaa, Phaeton, Lucius[2b] | Range | 2,000km in atmosphere[2b] |
| Known Patterns | I-X[2b] | Main Armament | Hull mounted Multi-laser, 2x door-mounted Heavy bolters[2b] |
| Crew | Pilot, navigator, 2x door gunner[2b] | Secondary Armament | 2x Hellstrike Missiles,[2b] Rocket Pods[2c] |
| Powerplant | 2x F75-MV Afterburning Vector-Turbojets[2b] | Main Ammunition | 150 shots from powerpack[2b] |
| Weight | 13 tonnes empty[2b] | Secondary Ammunition | 1000 rounds[2b] |
| Length | 18.5m[2b] | Armour | |
| Wingspan | 16.9m[2b] | Superstructure | 75mm[2b] |
| Height | 4.8m[2b] | Hull | 75mm[2b] |
Variants and patterns
Patterns
Vulture
The Vulture Gunship is a vehicle closely related of the Valkyrie which has been converted into an attack aircraft, sacrificing its troop-carrying capacity for increased firepower.[2d]
Vendetta
The Vendetta Heavy Gunship is a Valkyrie attached to Imperial Guard units which, in addition to the increased armour, are equipped with three Twin-linked Lascannons, and used as a tank hunter after dropping off any unit being transported by it. Furthermore, it still retains the ability to mount two Heavy Bolter door guns. It may also replace the two hardpoint-mounted Twin-linked lascannons on its wings for two Hellfury Missiles.[3] Despite their impressive firepower, Vendetta Gunships lack the flexibility of Vulture Gunships, which are chosen more often for deep-range attack, strafing and urban assault missions.[5]
Sky Talon
The Valkyrie Sky Talon is a newer variant of the standard Valkyrie airborne assault carrier. A support aircraft used for heavy lifting in combat theatres, the Sky Talon is armed for self-defense and to assist the other assault carriers as they clear drop zones of the enemy. Standard armament is a nose mounted Heavy Bolter turret and two Hellstrike Missiles under the wings, which can be replaced with two Rocket pods. Despite its armament, it is unusual for Sky Talons to be used in a battlefield role. Rather, they deliver their heavy cargo, typically a Tauros or two Drop Sentinels, then quickly exit.[4]
The Sky Talon is also equipped with two Hellstrike Missiles, a Searchlight, Extra Armour and magna-grapples to carry the vehicles. The Missiles can be replaced with Rocket Pods.[4]
Spectre
The Spectre-class Valkyrie armored assault carrier[9] or just Spectre assault carrier for short,[21] is an oversized variant of the Valkyrie designed to transport small vehicles and light ordnance. It deviates from the original design by the presence of four engines, an extended cargo bay able to carry two Centaurs and their troop complement, a nose-mounted autocannon,[9] slaved to the pilot's helmet display,[21] four door-mounted heavy bolters, and four hardpoints under the wings.[9] It also has double the amount of vector nozzles in comparison to its parent model, making vector-thrust manoeuvres like flying while standing on one wing possible. The Spectre is equipped with an auspex, a missile-lock warning system and flare countermeasures and is armoured enough to withstand medium ordnance.[21]
Other variants
The Valkyrie has various void-capable sub-variants.[15] Another modification allows the Valkyrie to deploy swarms of Servo-Designators.[20]
Famous Valkyries and Valkyrie Squadrons
- 2nd Imperial Navy Tactical Wing[2e]
- 22nd Elysian Drop Troop Regiment[2e]
- 64th Elysian Drop Troops Regiment[2e]
- 71st Imperial Navy Tactical Wing[2e]
- 123rd Imperial Navy Tactical Wing[2e]
- 205th Imperial Navy Tactical Wing[2e]
- 454th Adamantine Eagles
- Steel Eagle — 22nd Catachan Jungle Fighters.[1][8]
- 42nd Squadron, Emperor's Devil's — Assigned to the Armageddon Hive Militia in the Third War for Armageddon. Led by the Captain Red 'Devil' Kowloski.[7]
Images
5th Edition Valkyrie miniature[11]
Epic Valkyrie
Aeronautica Imperialis Valkyries and Lightnings[10]
Valkyrie of the 181st Elysian Drop Troops Regiment
See also
Sources
- 1: White Dwarf 354 (AU), pg. 48
- 2: Imperial Armour Volume One - Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy
- 3: Codex: Imperial Guard (5th Edition), pg. 56
- 4: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse Second Edition, pg. 39
- 5: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse II, pg. 20
- 6: Vendetta Heavy Gunship Conversion Kit (Saved archive page, dated May 2015, last accessed 9 September 2015)
- 7: Apocalypse (2013) (E-Book) pg. 316, Ghazghkull's Second Invasion of Armageddon
- 8: Liber Apocalyptica: Valkyrie (saved archive page, dated May 2012, last accessed 27 February 2019)
- 9: Redemption Corps (Novel), Chapter 3 Part I
- 10: Warhammer Conquest: New Reveals from Nuremberg (Posed on 29/01/2020) (Last accessed on 29 January 2020)
- 11: Warhammer Webstore : Valkyrie (saved archive)
- 12: Aeronautica Imperialis Game Rulebook
- 13: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse, pg. 39
- 14: The Sabbat Worlds Crusade (Background Book), 2nd Edition, pg. 201
- 15: Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide, pg. 119
- 16: Lightning Run (Short Story) — Warriors and Warlords (Anthology)
- 17: Last Flight (Short Story) — Only War: Stories from the 41st Millennium (Anthology)
- 18: Night Shriekers (Short Story) — Only War: Stories from the 41st Millennium (Anthology)
- 19: His Last Command (Novel) — The Lost (Omnibus):
- 20: Warhammer Community: Grotmas Calendar Day 15 – All we want for Christmas is an orbital assault (Saved archive page, dated 15 Dec 2024, last accessed 16 Dec 2024, original link: https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/a1g4ckja/grotmas-calendar-day-15-all-we-want-for-christmas-is-an-orbital-assault/) — Bridgehead Strike PDF File, pg. 2
- 21: Glory Flight (Short Story) — Sabbat War (Anthology)
Uncited
 |
| Tempestus Scion Forces | |
|---|---|
| Command | Commissar • Militarum Tempestus Command Squad |
| Troops | Tempestus Scions • Tempestus Aquilons • Servo-Sentry |
| Vehicles | Taurox Prime • Valkyrie |
