GTM Piranha

The GTM-10 Piranha warhead is an upgrade of the Great War-era Synaptic Bomb. A powerful anti-fighter defensive weapon used by both warships and bombers, the Piranha is a manually detonated missile that damages numerous targets through two means. The separating charge of the device is, in its own right a powerful explosive that can deal substantial blast damage within a large radius; but the real killer is the cloud of heat-seeking submunitions which erupt and target all hostile targets within range. Entire waves of enemy fighters have been known to disappear in a single rolling explosion in front of incoming heavy bomber wings.

Disadvantages of the weapon are as significant as its advantages. The weapon is enormously heavy, and its thruster only has enough power to push it out to a few hundred meters before it detonates. This puts the launching bomber dangerously close to the edge of the resulting carnage. Its size and mass also force the weapon to occupy a bomb bay, displacing precious anit-warship torpedoes. Finally, while the seeking submunitions are IFF-keyed, the separating charge is indiscriminate and will damage allied fighters just as much as the enemy if they're caught within the weapon's blast.

This weapon is not suitable for mixed formations. Either the bombers should defend themselves with barrages of Piranhas, or they should leave these missiles at home and trust their safety to fighter escorts. If both escorts and Piranhas are employed, the escorting fighters are virtually guaranteed to take needless damage.

Weapons in Descent: FreeSpace

Primaries Secondaries Turrets Weapon Comparison Table, FS1

Weapons in FreeSpace 2

Primaries Secondaries Turrets Weapon Comparison Table, FS2

File:Piranha 320x240.jpg
The GTM-10 Piranha

Tech Room Data

A third-generation version of the old Synaptic and Havoc missiles, the GTM-10 Piranha provides bombers with a high-explosive anti-fighter screen. The Piranha is detonated remotely by pressing the Secondary weapon trigger a second time. This releases over a dozen small, heat-seeking missiles that attack any enemy vessel within range. This function makes the missile effective against incoming wings of fighters in close formation. The Piranha is now the standard issue defensive weapon for bombers attacking targets protected by close fighter cover.

Veteran Comments

Perhaps it's just me, but I've always found the Piranha to be only marginally effective. I always exchange it for more conventional anti-fighter secondaries.

Generally the shockwave seems to wash over enemy interceptors' sheilds, and the bomblets rarely hit their marks, so load up on GTM Tornados or GTM Harpoons instead, or just put in another bank of bombs.

An unimpressive weapon, to be sure. A direct hit or very near miss can cripple a light fighter's shields. Unfortunately, direct hits are rare with this weapon, and other missiles can achieve the same effect with less effort, while taking up less cargo space.

The Pirahna is the kind of weapon you give your wingmen on a hard mission. It isn't very effective, but it takes no skill to use, and the AI can't aim. Not a good weapon for Alpha 1, but a Pirahna-loaded bomber wing in close formation is a hairy target.

Performance

Statistics

Range	360 m
Rate of Fire	1 / 5 s
Velocity	90 mps
Damage	100
Against Hullplating	Excellent
Against Shields	Good
Against Subsystems	Excellent
Shockwave Radius	75 m / 150 m
Homing System	None

Notes

• Weapon can be remotely detonated.
• Weapon spawns 15 smaller warheads

Spawned warheads

Range	1050 m
Velocity	175 mps
Damage	60
Against Hullplating	Excellent
Against Shields	Excellent
Against Subsystems	Average
Shockwave Radius	20 m / 40 m
Homing System	Heat Seeking
View Cone	180 degrees
Turn Rate	1.5 s