The TX78 Sky Ray Missile Defence Gunship is built upon the same reliable hull as the Hammerhead, but where that famous tank mounts a railgun, the Sky Ray bears a launcher array cradling up to six seeker missiles. This transforms it into a dedicated missile platform, lending the heavy firepower that Fire Warrior teams, armed only with pulse weaponry, would otherwise sorely lack.
The Sky Ray comes into its own when linked to the markerlights of T'au Pathfinders. Those guiding beams let its missiles find targets the gunship itself cannot even see, and its automated systems calculate in an instant how many warheads a given target demands, loosing anything from a single missile to a full salvo. So swift and so accurate are the seekers that enemy crews and pilots rarely have time to react before the impact, making the Sky Ray a superb weapon against armour and aircraft alike and a formidable anchor for any defensive perimeter.
The pattern was born of hard necessity. Developed towards the close of the Damocles Gulf Crusade to blunt the Imperium's command of the skies, the Sky Ray's velocity trackers allowed it to lock onto anything within sight, including the fast-moving flyers of the Imperial Navy. Every Hunter Cadre now keeps a reserve of these gunships ready, trusting them to sweep the heavens clear and shatter the enemy's heaviest machines from afar.
Order of battle
