DX-13 Aerial Drone Mines patrol the skies to deter enemy airstrikes on T'au ground positions.
The DX-13 Aerial Drone Mine is a type of T'au Drone (small, disc-shaped, semi-sentient machine) employed alongside T'au forces in an airspace denial role. Aerial Drone Mines consist of an advanced processor unit, which individually has only a basic intelligence (approximately equal to that of a small animal such as a pterasquirrel), and moves about by way of a compact anti-gravitic generator and a much modified variant of T'au Jetpack.
This allows the Aerial Drone Mine to hover at high altitudes where it can intercept enemy aircraft. They are primarily deployed in planetary airspaces by modified Tiger Sharks, which drop them off in mid-air. The Aerial Drone Mines can then arrange themselves in formations of six Drone Mines that hover in the sky.
Aerial Drone Mines are capable of changing the altitude at which they hover using their anti-gravitic engines, allowing them to better spread themselves out. Although not fast enough to actively chase enemy aircraft, they will constantly scan the surrounding sky and use tracking information from T'au commanders on the ground in order to detect nearby aircraft.
Three DX-13 Aerial Drone Mines of the Ksi'm'yen Sept.
Once found, the mines will move to engage the enemy aircraft before detonating themselves in a series of devastating explosions. In this way, they act as an aerial minefield, forcing enemy air forces to move into other areas covered by T'au fighters or ground defences and away from certain flight paths that need to be protected.
It is of note that due to their nature as Drone Mines that float high in the sky, Aerial Drone Mines cannot be attached to other T'au units via Drone Controllers, unlike most forms of T'au Drones.
Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Technical Specifications[]
| Serial Number: | Unknown | Main Armament: | 1 Explosive Charge |
| Designation: | Drone Mine | ||
| Vehicle Codename: | DX-13 Aerial Drone Mine | Secondary Armament: |
N/A |
| Vehicle Type: | Drone | ||
| Crew: | N/A | Traverse: | Unknown |
| Weight: | 1 tonne (empty) | Elevation: | Unknown |
| Length: | 0.9 metres | Ammunition: | N/A |
| Width: | 0.9 metres | Armour Type: | Nano-Crystalline Alloy, Composition Unknown to the Adeptus Mechanicus |
| Height: | Unknown | ||
| Max Recorded Speed: | Unknown | ||
| Summary: | Self-aware anti-aircraft mine |
Sources[]
- Deathwatch: Mark of the Xenos (RPG), pg. 12
- Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition), pg. 31
- Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign, pg. 282
- Tactica Aeronautica, pp. 20, 35
- Forge World Website
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