Stormtalon

"It matters not if the foe faces us on the ground or strikes from the skies. With such craft as these, none shall escape our wrath."

— Joghaten Khan, Captain of the White Scars 4th Company

The Stormtalon gunship is an aerial interceptor and ground-attack aircraft that serves in the armies of the Adeptus Astartes. The Stormtalon possesses Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) capabilities which allows it to hover in place while unleashing its potent barrage as well as engaging in more conventional dogfights like a supersonic interceptor. The Stormtalon is swift enough to engage nearly all but the fastest of enemy aircraft whilst simultaneously being well-armed enough to reduce the chosen foe to a mangle of twisted wreckage and ruined flesh. The arrival of a single Stormtalon from the war-torn skies has reversed the tide of many desperate battles where the Space Marines on the ground faced certain defeat. The Stormtalon can always be counted upon to deliver a hail of ferocious firepower. Whether its weapons are pointed at enemy ground positions or incoming aerial opponents, it is more than capable of obliterating the threat. The Stormtalon gunship usually operates in a squadron of three, known as a Skyhammer Squadron.

A Stormtalon is often assigned to escort other mission-critical units. In this role, the Stormtalon is all but unmatched. At one moment it can be screaming across the battlefield at death-defying speeds, at the next, its pilot can switch over to repulsor systems, trading raw speed for agility, all the while strafing enemy positions with a thunderous barrage of shells and missiles. Such were the tactics employed by the Ultramarines Chapter at the Battle of Cold Steel Ridge. Here, Stormtalon pilots pushed their gunships to the limit, afterburners propelling the aircraft to bone-jarring speeds in their attempts to intercept monstrous Harpies and flocks of Gargoyles whose winged bodies were darkening the skies. No sooner had the Stormtalons regained air-superiority than the pilots were vectoring their aircraft's engines, hovering above their Battle-Brothers on the ground and holding great swarms of charging Tyranids at bay with withering salvos of firepower.

Combat Role

Stormtalon000 — A Stormtalon Gunship of the Ultramarines Chapter armed with twin-linked Assault Cannons and twin-linked Typhoon Missile Launchers

Stormtalons are often assigned as escorts to other mission-critical units, and this is where the craft truly excels and it is nearly unmatched in this role. At one moment the aircraft can be flying across the battlefield at death-defying speeds; at the next, its pilot can switch over to its VTOL systems and trade its extreme speed for enhanced agility, all the while strafing enemy positions with powerful barrages of shells and missiles. It was during the Battle of Cold Steel Ridge where the Ultramarines Chapter employed such tactics against the monstrous Harpies and Gargoyles of an unrecorded Tyranid Hive Fleet. The Stormtalon pilots pushed their aircraft to its limits, their afterburners propelling the vehicle at bone-jarring speeds to intercept the enemy creatures whose winged bodies were darkening the skies. No sooner had the Stormtalons regained air-superiority than the pilots hovered their aircraft over their Battle-Brothers on the ground and held back great swarms of charging Tyranids with withering salvoes of firepower.

There are several Space Marine Chapters, such as the White Scars, Hawk Lords, and the Raven Guard, that believe that close-support and interdiction duties do not fully exert the Stormtalon's potential. In these Chapters, and countless others, they excel at using the Stormtalon as a vanguard strike-craft, where the Stormtalons keep pace with and escort their Assault Marines and Land Speeder squadrons. When the Stormtalon is used in this way as the principal attack vehicle of an Astartes strike force the rest of the rapid moving units act as escorts for the aircraft, clearing the attack corridor of enemy anti-air fire as the Stormtalon roars in to obliterate its targets with devastating effect.

Armament

Stormtalon001 — A Stormtalon Gunship of the Ultramarines Chapter armed with twin-linked Assault Cannons and Skyhammer Missile Launchers

The Stormtalon gunship is heavily armed for an aircraft of its size. The vehicle's standard armament is that of a nose turret-mounted set of twin-linked Assault Cannons, and a set of twin-linked Heavy Bolters, one located on each side of the aircraft's hull. The Stormtalon is able to have its Heavy Bolters replaced with a set of twin-linked Lascannons, a Skyhammer Missile Launcher system, or a set of twin-linked Typhoon Missile Launchers. All Stormtalons are outfitted with armoured ceramite plating for added defence from enemy fire. Imperial records do not indicate whether or not Stormtalons are used by Grey Knights Chapter or if any other Chapters that use weaponry and vehicle patterns unique to them, such as the Blood Angels or the Dark Angels, also keep Stormtalons in their armouries. It is also unrecorded in Imperial records if the Stormtalon is capable of being outfitted with any other upgrades or enhancements.