Vectored Retro-Thrusters provide enhanced manoeuvrability to Tau Battlesuits outfitted with a Jetpack. Vectored Retro-Thrusters are a Battlesuit Support System available to most forms of Tau Battlesuit, with the exception of those that do not possess a Jetpack such as the XV88 Broadside Battlesuit, and those such as the XV104 Riptide Battlesuit which cannot use the system due to their immense bulk. Battlesuits equipped with Vectored Retro-Thrusters possess additional thruster nozzles for their Jetpack, granting them a high degree of manoeuvrability that is useful in escaping enemies which have engaged them in close combat. Whilst Vectored Retro-Thrusters are now a commonly available Support System for use, when first introduced, they was special-issue and entrusted only to Battlesuit pilots of the rank of Shas'vre or higher. The previous rarity of the system also meant that its distribution was limited to only one per Hunter Cadre, although this has since changed.
A Vectored Thruster Array is a new application of Vectored Retro-Thruster technology to the larger XV109 Y'vahra Battlesuit that augments the chassis' own Jetpack to further increase the manoeuvrability of the Battlesuit, allowing it to make huge bounds across battlefields in order to reach its target, leap high into the atmosphere so as to redeploy elsewhere, or boost out of close combat with assaulting foes.
Sources
- Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition), pg. 27
- Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition), pg. 69
- Forge World – XV109 Y'vahra Battlesuit Experimental Rules Datasheet
- Rogue Trader: Tau Character Guide (RPG), pg. 34