Flechette Discharger

Flechette Discharger on Devilfish.

Not to be confused with the Mechanicum's Flechette Blaster.

Flechette Dischargers are defensive weapons used by the T'au Empire as a reactive, single-shot weapon. It is a support system that consists of powerful clusters of reactive charges attached to the prow of the vehicle. If an enemy moves into close proximity of the vehicle, the dischargers automatically fire off clouds of high velocity flechettes which often prove to be lethal against the would-be attacker. XV107 R'varna Battlesuits are also equipped with Flechette Dischargers.

Alternatively, if the particular Pilot feels that being unable to fire these Flechettes at will is a waste, they could try out the Flechette Dispersal Pods. These are a variant of the vehicle mounted Flechette Discharger, and are equipped on XV109 Y'vahra Battlesuits. Flechette Dispersal Pods differ in that they can be triggered to fire at nearby enemies by the Battlesuit pilot, even if they are not actively assaulting the XV109.

Tl;dr, they are Tau APS (Active Protection Systems).

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  Why is it unsurprising that the only Shotgun that the Tau has, just so happens to be mounted only on vehicles...
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  Devilfish fully upgraded and decked out. Flechette Dischargers can be seen highlighted.

Weapons of the Tau Empire
Sidearms:
	Directed-Energy:	Pulse Pistol
Basic Weapons:
	Directed-Energy:	Pulse Blaster - Pulse Carbine - Pulse Rifle
Special Weapons:
	Ballistics:	Rail Rifle
	Directed-Energy:	Ion Rifle - Neutron Blaster
Battlesuit Weapons:
	Ballistics:	Airbursting Fragmentation Projector - Flechette Discharger - Heavy Rail Rifle - Missile Pod
	Directed-Energy:	Burst Cannon - Cyclic Ion Blaster - Cyclic Ion Raker - Fusion Blaster - Fusion Cascade Fusion Collider - Heavy Burst Cannon - Phased Ion Gun - Plasma Rifle
	Incendiary:	Tau Flamer
Heavy Battlesuit Weapons:
	Ballistics:	Fragmentation Cluster Shell Launcher - High-Yield Missile Pod
	Directed-Energy:	Heavy Burst Cannon - Ion Accelerator - Ionic Discharge Cannon Long-Barrelled Burst Cannon - Pulse Submunitions Cannon Pulse Submunitions Rifle
	Incendiary:	Phased Plasma Flamer
Vehicle-mounted Weapons:
	Ballistics:	Railgun - Seeker Missile - Smart Missile System
	Directed-Energy:	Ion Cannon - Tau Plasma Cannon - Pulse Bomb Generator Quad Ion Turret - Fusion Cannon
Super-Heavy Weapons:
	Ballistics:	Cluster Rocket System - Destroyer Missile - Heavy Rail Cannon Array Heavy Railgun - Nexus Meteor Missile System
	Directed-Energy:	Ar'Ka Cannon - Fusion Eradicator - Pulse Blastcannon Pulse Driver Cannon - Pulse Ordnance Multi-Driver Tri-Axis Ion Cannon
Ship Weapons:
	Ballistics:	Torpedo - Starship Railgun - Heavy Starship Railgun - Gravitic Launcher
	Directed-Energy:	Cutting Beam - Heavy Ion Cannon
Non-Firearm Weapons:
	Melee Weapons:	Bonding Knife - Dawn Blade - Equaliser - Honour Blade - Onager Gauntlet
	Grenades & Explosives:	EMP Grenade - Photon Grenade - Fusion Grenade