The burst cannon is a T’au weapon built for one job: pouring out a high volume of fire. It’s the standard ranged armament on most battlesuits, and it’s one of the first things people picture when they think of T’au shooting.
What the burst cannon actually is
It’s a T’au gun that’s noticeably bigger than a pulse carbine, though it can’t take a photon grenade launcher the way a carbine can. What it lacks in adaptability it makes up for in rate of fire, which is the whole point.
You’ll mostly find burst cannons mounted on battlesuits and T’au vehicles rather than in infantry hands. That’s where the platform can handle the recoil and carry enough ammunition to keep it spitting shots.
- Larger than a pulse carbine but can’t mount a photon grenade launcher
- Built for sustained, high rate of fire
- Standard armament on battlesuits and many T’au vehicles
What it does to a target
A burst cannon is genuinely nasty against unarmoured infantry. Accounts describe it reducing an unarmoured human to a ragged corpse and throwing the body back a dozen metres. That’s the kind of physical impact a burst of shots carries.
Against Space Marines in power armour, though, the story changes. The armour soaks up enough of the punishment that they can keep fighting through it, which is exactly why T’au commanders don’t rely on burst cannons alone when heavier targets are on the table.
Variants you’ll run into
The burst cannon has picked up a few specialised versions over the editions. The Accelerator Barrel variant is fitted to T’au aircraft, and there’s a High Output version listed in the 7th Edition arsenal.
The DW-02 Advanced Burst Cannon is a prototype. It adds extra power accelerators and recoil-absorption modules, letting it put out more firepower than a standard model. It shows up in the Tacticus mobile game as well as in the 9th Edition codex.
| Variant | Notes |
|---|---|
| Accelerator Barrel | Mounted on T’au aircraft |
| High Output | Listed in the 7th Edition arsenal |
| DW-02 Advanced | Prototype with extra accelerators and recoil absorption |
Where it sits in the T’au arsenal
The burst cannon is part of the pulse weapon family, alongside the pulse rifle, pulse carbine, and pulse blaster. It’s the battlesuit-scale option in that group, sitting between the lighter infantry pulse weapons and the heavier stuff like the heavy burst cannon.
It’s also classed as a plasma weapon, which matters for how it’s treated in the rules and how it’s described in the lore. If you’re building a T’au list, the burst cannon is usually the default choice for battlesuits that need to chew through infantry, while rail rifles, fusion blasters, and ion weapons handle armour and heavy targets.
Key facts
- The burst cannon is a T’au pulse and plasma weapon, larger than a pulse carbine
- It can’t mount a photon grenade launcher, unlike the pulse carbine
- It’s mainly found on battlesuits and T’au vehicles
- Known variants include the Accelerator Barrel, High Output, and DW-02 Advanced Burst Cannon
- It’s devastating against unarmoured infantry but less effective against power armour
FAQ
What is a burst cannon in Warhammer 40k?
It’s a T’au rapid-fire weapon, larger than a pulse carbine and normally mounted on battlesuits and vehicles. It’s designed to put out a lot of shots rather than hit hard with a single one.
What’s the difference between a burst cannon and a heavy burst cannon?
The heavy burst cannon is the bigger, vehicle-scale version. The standard burst cannon is the battlesuit-sized one. They share the same rapid-fire role but sit at different scales.
Is the burst cannon good against Space Marines?
Not especially. Power armour absorbs enough of the fire that Marines can push through it, so burst cannons are better aimed at lighter infantry.