Arms & Equipment of Solar Space

///From the author: this is intended to be another "living document" series, similar to the Ships of the Line post, and as the name suggests, it will show off bits of lore relating to the uniforms and equipment of the various factions which make up the background of the Spacers Saga universe across its various eras

Interplanetary Defense Corps:

Weapons of the I.D.C.

M93A4 (Rifle, caliber 5.3 millimeter, M93)

• Caliber: 5.3 x 31mm (first developed in 2329 by Fabrique d'Armes Nereidum)

• Standard round: SS419BN SHREDDER (optimized for anti-personnel usage)

• Dimensions: 77.5 (L) x 7.1 (W) x 22.2 (H) centimeters (without attachments)

• Weight: approx. 3.5 kilograms fully loaded (approximately 3 kg unloaded)

• Barrel length: 45.5 centimeters (1:25 rifling twist for standard performance)

• Feed system: double-stacked horizontally-fed 45-round detachable box magazine

• Cyclic rate of fire: approximately 900 rounds per minute (standard gas setting)

• Effective range: approximately 400 meters (maximum range 1 kilometer)

• Primary manufacturer: Rensselaer Arms Conglomerate (based on Mars)

Weapon description:

The M93 originated as an entry in the Individual Combat Weapon System program which aimed to replace the aging M74 rifles which had been designed in the 2260s and served with distinction during the Mars-Titan War (2292-2297). This program ultimately produced the XM86, which would be revised and refined over the years that followed the program’s cancellation and then fielded as the M93 beginning in 2336. The flaws in the initial design, many of them caused by attempts to marry traditional firearm design with the needs of combat on exotic worlds like Titan, were gradually worked out through trial and error. By the introduction of the A2 version in 2352, the weapon was considered worthy by most spacers, and this variant has served with distinction in the years since, including the entirety of the Frontier War (2371-2381).

Historical notes:

Developed as part of the Spacer 300 force modernization program, the M93 design originated from an earlier program to replace the M74 family which had been the workhorse of Spacer Corps infantry since the Mars-Titan War. Adopted in 2336, the M93 served throughout much of the Draconist Wars, with an A1 variant introduced in 2339 after feedback f on the weapons’ frontline performance. The A2 variant followed in 2354, with an A3 variant fielded in 2365 and the current standard A4 model in 2373.

The rifle uses a gas-operated blowback system, and its bullpup design allows it to retain a low overall length (82.2 cm) while still maintaining a barrel length of 46.5 centimeters. It is fed from a horizontally-cycling 42-round detachable box magazine which is pivoted into a slot above the barrel and released by way of an ambidextrous catch just to the fore of and above the trigger. One of the M93 family’s most unique features is the PVS-143 optical camera sight, which is typically mounted under the barrel and allows for down-the-bore sighting that links to the heads-up-display system on standard-issue M87A4 C-EVA helmets.

As of 2389, there are more than three million weapons of this family in the Spacer Corps stockpile, including variants like the carbine shown below, which is primarily issued to vehicle crewmen, field medics, special operations forces, and so on. A wide variety of add-ons is available, with everything from optical magnification sights to thermal-infrared scopes and laser target designation packages available to infantry spacers. Individual modification is also common, as shown in the “Titan special” below.

Variants/Add-ons:

FGM-286 High Explosive Anti-Material (HEAM) rifle grenade - 37.3 cm length; 1.6 kg weight; launches from rifle barrel and deploys guidance fins for terminal flight; carries 0.5 kg warhead capable of breaching 12 cm armor & causing fatal shrapnel wounds at 5 meters

M97A2 carbine - 33.3 cm barrel; 58.4 cm overall length (not including suppressor); 3.1 kg loaded weight; optimized ergonomics for CQB; add-on SD193 suppressor

M93A2 modified for use on Titan - shell constructed natively on Titan from a carbon fiber-reinforced ultradense polymer; barrel and all moving parts constructed from a refined tungsten-carbide/ceramic blend; overlayed with custom camouflage pattern

M297 Squad Automatic Rifle - 55.9 cm barrel; 87.8 cm overall length; 5.3 kg fully loaded weight; bipod for sustained accurate fire, detachable 100-round soft ammo pouch, and adjustable sights

M350 Designated Marksman Rifle - 57.4 cm barrel; 91.5 cm overall length; 4.2 kg fully loaded weight; improved bipod for stable shooting, 25-round box magazine of 6.5 x 54 mm SLAP ammunition, and a 5-20x magnification PVS-121 rifle optic with infrared scanning capability

M74A5 (Rifle, caliber 6.5 millimeter, M74)

• Caliber: 6.5 x 54mm (first developed in 2261 by Fabrique d'Armes Nereidum)

• Standard round: SS327BV (optimized for armor-piercing & anti-personnel usage)

• Dimensions: 89.2 (L) x 6.6 (W) x 21.8 (H) centimeters (in basic configuration)

• Weight: approx. 3.8 kilograms fully loaded (approximately 3.1 kg unloaded)

• Barrel length: 50.4 centimeters (1:21 rifling twist for standard performance)

• Feed system: double-stacked vertically-fed 30-round detachable box magazine

• Cyclic rate of fire: approx. 700 rounds per minute (three-round burst limited)

• Effective range: approximately 700 meters (maximum range 1.8 kilometers)

• Primary manufacturer: Rensselaer Arms Conglomerate (based on Mars)

Weapon description:

The M74 emerged from a 23rd century R&D program called Project Fastback, which aimed to create a modular weapon system for use during the Wayfarer Insurrection (2251-2276). The XM68 platform selected for finalization by the AEROCOM review board in 2271 was based on a promising concept weapon design put forth by the Rensselaer Arms Conglomerate (RAC), based out of Rensselaer in the Hellas People’s Republic on Mars. The XM68 design was improved upon between 2272 and 2277, and then fielded as the M74 Modular Weapon System (MWS) in 2278. This finalized design arrived two years too late to serve in the Insurrection but proved itself a worthy weapon system during the Mars-Titan War (2292-2297), and continued to serve admirably until it was phased out in favor of the M93.

Historical notes: 

When the Brotherhood of Antares launched the Wayfarer Insurrection in 2251, the Spacer Corps found itself in an awkward position. With a relatively small total force size (<2 million) and a yearly budget of only about $1.2 trillion, the AEROCOM brass had to adjust on the fly in order to address the popular uprising against exorbitant spending on Project Wayfarer. In 2261, a new standard rifle round, the 6.5 x 56 millimeter, was selected for general use, and the race was on to field a weapon platform to make use of it.

Between 2263 and 2268, as the Insurrection raged on in the Asteroid Belt and among the moons of the gas giants, a number of arms conglomerates on Mars and elsewhere conducted R&D programs aimed at answering the open call for concepts, all as part of the AEROCOM-funded Project Fastback. In 2269, AEROCOM selected a winner, the XM68, and designated $128 million in funding to finalize the design. The XM68 was the brainchild of famed Rensselaer Arms Conglomerate engineer Myles Agnew Rensselaer III, the heir to the Rensselaer family’s design bureau which had made the eponymous city on Mars their virtual fiefdom.

Although the final design arrived in Spacer Corps stockpiles too late to fulfill its original procurement goal, it found a superb second life as the primary infantry service rifle during the Mars-Titan War and the various police actions throughout the outer system which followed. The rifle was ultimately phased out between 2336 and 2343 by the M93, another Rensselaer Arms Conglomerate design which had come about specifically to replace its aging cousin, although millions remain in service with the OSSF as of 2389.

Vehicles of the I.D.C.

M87 ‘Swordfish’ Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV)

• Primary manufacturers: Interplanetary Dynamics (chassis); Gungnir Materials Corp. (propulsion/electronics); Rensselaer Arms Conglomerate (weapons systems)

• Standard complement: eight (three vehicle crew and five infantry passengers)

• Maximum dimensions: 10.9 (hull length) x 5.1 (height) x 4.7 (width) meters

• Total mass (when fully loaded): approximately 37,600 kilograms/37 tonnes

• Power plant: 4x Gungnir Corporation N-2500 turbofans w/ 250 N thrust each

• Maximum speed: approximately 120 kilometers per hour over acceptable terrain

• Range: approximately 1,100 kilometers given full supplies and stores of hydrogen fuel

• Armaments: 1x M265 40mm autocannon (400 rounds); 6x launch tubes for FGM-237 anti-material missiles (6 loaded, 12 backup rounds); 2x 12.7mm M51 machine guns (1,800 rounds; one mounted coaxially in primary turret, one mounted in remote roof turret);

  2x M384 anti-munition laser turrets; 28x launchers for IR chaff grenades

Vehicle Description:

Designed early in the Draconist Wars (2324-2361) to fill the need for a fast, maneuverable vehicle for use in reconnaissance-in-force across the rugged badlands of Callisto and Titan, the M87 was first fielded in 2342 by the 5th Aerospace Expeditionary Force’s 7th mechanized division. The example shown above is a museum piece used by the 7th of the Fifth on Titan during the Frontier War (2371-2381) which served specifically during the West Shangri-La Campaign of 2372-2374. Like other vehicles in its class, this example, nicknamed ‘Firecracker’ by its crew, was much loved by spacers for its firepower, ruggedness, and agility. Firecracker led a harrowing retreat under fire from Fort Marcato, an action which earned it a comfortable retirement on the grounds of the Martian Military Complex in the Solis Planum.

Historical Notes:

Beginning in early 2332, barely six months since the start of Operation Sudden Lightning, AEROCOM instituted a plan aimed at fast-tracking a new fleet of armored vehicles for mechanized forces deployed against Draconist militias in the Jovian system. One result of this was the Next-Generation Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle program, which fielded its first prototype in 2338. The improvement process for this initial design took another three years, meaning that the final design emerged just barely too late to serve on Callisto.

It did however serve with distinction during the Second Titan Civil War, where crews praised the vehicle for effective firepower and durability in combat, and for its speed, agility, and ruggedness in all scenarios of use. With approximately seven thousand of them in the IDC inventory that year, the M87s had matured into a truly formidable implement of war by 2356. But 2356 was also the year that the zharans began their Uprising against humanity, and the next three years tested the M87 family to its limits with their constant upping of the ante in terms of zharan-instigated suicide bombings, IEDs, and other ingenious forms of attack.

By the time the Draconist Wars ended in 2361, roughly thirty-four hundred M87s had been lost to hostile activity. They would face an even greater challenge ten years later when the Frontier War kicked off, as the Alliance Armada had invested considerable effort and funds into developing methods to defeat IDC armor based on recovered wrecks from Titan and elsewhere. Another four thousand M87s were destroyed by the time that War ended in 2381, and as of 2389 AEROCOM seeks to phase them out within ten years.

HV-93 ‘Lakota’ VTOL utility dropship

• Primary manufacturers: Interplanetary Dynamics/Gungnir Arms Corporation/Nexconn Industries/PlanTech Corporation/others

• Standard complement: three (two pilots and one crew chief) plus nine to twenty troops

• Dimensions: 27 (length) x 9.3 (height) x 36.6 (wingspan) meters

• Mass (fully loaded): approximately 23,800 kilograms/23 tonnes

• Propulsion: 4x R-6100 pulsejet engines with 950 N thrust each

• Cruising speed: approximately 630 km/h at operational altitude

• Range: up to 900 kilometers with a full supply of hydrogen fuel

• Armaments: 1x M389 30mm autocannon with 900 rounds; 4x hardpoints for external weapons pods (can carry up to 76x Mk. 78 12.5 cm rockets, 16x AGM-243 missiles, etc.); 1x AN/APG-174 HALO sensory suite; 4x internal pods for missile countermeasures

Vehicle Description:

Referred as the “workhorse of SURCOM,” the HV-93 Lakota began its life, like so much else in the modern Spacer Corps inventory, as part of the SPACER 300 program. This ambitious initiative, brainchild of a small cabal of generals and think tank planners in AEROCOM, birthed a real winner in the HV-93. The airframe has served in some form or another in virtually every campaign the IDC has waged since the late 2340s, where it has proved to be a masterful balancing act between durability and versatility, and has earned high praise from flight crews and infantry alike. The example shown here was retired following service during the Second Titan Civil War (2348-2361), where it served with VMS-531 (the Loggerheads), , a unit that saw extensive action ferrying SURCOM spacers around the Jiangshan district from 2349-2354.

Historical Notes:

During the roughly twenty-year run of the SPACER 300 program, AEROCOM fielded funding requests for R&D on a number of far-fetched ideas. The XV-93 Future Utility Dropship concept was not one of these. Based upon tried and true concepts which had served military forces well all the way back to at least the 22nd century. The XV-93 concept was selected for trials in 2342, first flew in 2345, and was adopted as the VH-93 Lakota in 2349. It has since gone on to serve in every theater of war the IDC has been involved in.

By the time the Zharan Uprising was beginning to wind down in 2358, the Lakota airframe had more than proven its mettle against a variety of ground-based and airborne threats. Its ruggedness in hostile environments, both stemming from adverse planetary conditions or from enemy activity, coupled with its agility and versatility in roles ranging from basic troop transport to medical evacuation shuttle to retrofitted gunship have made it a favorite of spacers in the Infantry Command. By the time the Frontier War started in 2371, the airframe had won a reputation for durability and dependability that was second to none.

It faced a more difficult road during the war against the Alliance, however, since the Armada de Mundos Livres had spent the prior twenty years researching downed HV-93s and using the data to devise effective anti-aircraft techniques. Within the first two years of the war alone, more than five hundred Lakotas were downed in action on Titan, Ganymede, and Triton. By 2389, however, with the war receding into history, many predict that variants of the HV-93 could still remain in service for another forty years or more.

F-99 ‘Goshawk’ UAV fighter-bomber

• Primary manufacturers: Interplanetary Dynamics/Gungnir Arms Corporation/Firestarter Intelligence Service, Incorporated/various others

• Crew complement: zero (the F-99 is an autonomous system)

• Dimensions: 17.6 (length) x 3.4 (height) x 12.8 (wingspan) meters

• Mass (fully loaded): approximately 28,200 kilograms/28 tonnes

• Propulsion: 1x R-7800 pulse detonation engine (530 kN thrust)

• Maximum speed: approximately 2,600 km/h at cruising altitude

• Range: up to 4,200 kilometers with a full supply of hydrogen fuel

• Armaments: 1x internal weapons bay (up to 5,700 kg of missiles or bombs); 1x AN/ZSQ-149 GHOST A.I. fire control package; 2x internal pods for missile countermeasures

Vehicle Description:

In the 24th century, the Air Supremacy Division (ASD) of the IDC’s Surface Command (SURCOM) almost exclusively flies unmanned aerial systems, with the F-99 being one of the most successful. Developed by defense contractor powerhouse Interplanetary Dynamics as part of the Next-Generation Air Supremacy initiative, the F-99 entered production in 2343 and has seen service in every theater of operations the IDC has been involved in since then. Its primary combat zone up to now has been Titan, the war-torn giant moon of Saturn, where F-99s have gained a reputation among SURCOM spacers as an avenging angel, and among Alliance Armada espaçadores as a deadly specter of death. Over thirty-eight hundred F-99s are in service as of 2389, and the ASD has plans to keep in service through at least 2407.

Historical Notes:

Early in the Draconist Wars, AEROCOM and the Air Supremacy Division identified a need to modernize their fleet of air supremacy aircraft. When they realized that the recently adopted SPACER 300 funding package offered a perfect opportunity to do this, they initiated the Next-Generation Air Supremacy program. Begun in 2334, the NGAS developed a working prototype, the YF-99, by 2339. Development of the F-99 concluded three years later, and the ASD ordered an initial production of seven hundred airframes in 2343.

Like most of the ASD’s other air supremacy aircraft in use in the late twenty-fourth century, the F-99 is a completely unmanned system. Each unit is equipped with an onboard A.I. suite which allows it to operate with a minimum of human interference. The “dumb” A.I. programs spooled off for these mass production-grade  arrays are smart enough to excel in air-to-air or air-to-ground combat while still being obedient to the ICA, which was a crucial parameter of their design upon initial order in 2324. The v4.8.6 GHOST software used by current production F-99s are among the best dumb A.I. programming in the entire IDC stockpile.

But even the best A.I. is nothing without tools with which to interact with the world. For the F-99, these are missiles and bombs, among them the AIM-612 CAMS air-to-air missile and the GBU-826 laser- guided munition. These are the most common systems carried by the F-99, with four to twelve AIM-612s and two to eight five hundred kilogram GBU-826s carried on a typical combat mission. This can be adjusted based on the needs of the mission, although adding external hardpoints is only done when stealth is not required.

Armada of the Free Worlds:

Weapons of the A.M.L.

RS-57 (Rifle de Serviço modelo 2357 )

• Caliber: 5.8 x 47mm (first developed in 2314 by the Pedreira Arms Company)

• Standard round: 86-M-235 (dual-purpose use as anti-armor & anti-personnel)

• Dimensions: 82.3 (L) x 5.8 (W) x 28.9 (H) centimeters (without magazine)

• Weight: approx. 3.7 kilograms fully loaded (approx. 3.1 kg unloaded)

• Barrel length: 50 centimeters (1:26 rifling twist for standard performance)

• Feed system: double-stacked vertical 30-round detachable box magazine

• Cyclic rate of fire: approximately 700 rounds per minute (standard gas setting)

• Effective range: approximately 600 meters (maximum range  1.4 kilometers)

• Primary manufacturer: Steyr-Takuya Arms Factory (based on Callisto)

Weapon description:

The RS-57 entered development in 2319 but languished on the shelf for thirty years due to the rise of Draconism. When the Alliance of Free Worlds was incorporated in 2339, they initiated a program to boost the development of new standard-issue weapons systems for the Armada de Mundos Livres. One of those settled on was the same Steyr-Takuya design that had been shelved since the 2320s, which was then refined for mass-production and ruggedness in combat. After numerous delays, it was adopted in 2357 and saw use in the latter years of the Draconist Wars (2324-2361) and throughout the Frontier War (2371-2381). As of 2389 it has been in use for more than thirty years, and owing to its stellar reputation with Ground Forces troops, it could be in use for many more before the Armada seeks a replacement.

Historical notes:

When the Alliance of Free Worlds was incorporated in 2339, its chieftains determined quickly that their new federation would need a military force on par with the Spacer Corps if it was to endure as an alternative to the ICA. One thing this new military force needed was a solid and dependable infantry rifle with which to equip their soldiers in the field. Pressed for time and short on money, they selected a cheap but outdated design from the Rökland Military Armaments Corporation, later adopted as the RS-46 (see below).

However, the Armada was not satisfied with the clunkier and more old-fashioned RS-46, and began planning to replace it less than five years after adoption. To solve this problem, they pumped funds into the development of the Steyr-Takuya design that had been on the shelf since the mid-2320s. The design ultimately settled upon is fed from a detachable 30-round vertical box magazine that slides in behind the pistol grip, and can sustain a cyclic rate of fire of roughly 700 rounds per minute. The RS-57 rifle comes standard with a top-mounted integral optical sight capable of up to 7.5x magnification with infrared illumination.

Several variants of the RS-57 served with distinction during the entirety of the Frontier War in the Ground Forced and Forças Especiais, with at least ten million produced between 2371 and 2381. All of this frontline service afforded the Armada the opportunity to continually improve upon the design through an ongoing trial by fire. As of 2389, the Coalition has stockpiled more than five and a half million of the latest versions of the RS-57 family, and Ground Forces personnel rate them very highly as weapons of war.

Variants:

RSE-61 carbine - 40.9 cm barrel; 76.2 cm overall length (including suppressor); 3.3 kg loaded weight; foregrip for close-quarters combat; clamped on 2M312-1 reflex sight; add-on 2RS17 suppressor

RS-57 rifle with L-62 grenade launcher - standard rifle layout with add-on underbarrel grenade launcher firing a 40 x 43 mm projectile; can fire high-explosive dual purpose (HEDP), smoke, airburst, multi-purpose (scattershot), and a variety of other types of ammunition

RA-52 (Rifle Automático modelo 2352)

• Caliber: 7.8 x 47mm (first developed in 2289 by Titan Military Industries)

• Standard round: 73-M-216 (optimized for anti-personnel usage)

• Dimensions: 114.3 (L) x 10.5 (W) x 24.5 (H) centimeters (standard configuration)

• Weight: approx. 7.6 kilograms fully loaded (approximately 6.2 kg unloaded)

• Barrel length: 53.6 centimeters (1:28 rifling twist for standard performance)

• Feed system: detachable box with 100 rounds in disintegrating linked belt

• Cyclic rate of fire: 1,000 rounds per minute (can hit 1,200 with gas tweaks)

• Effective range: approximately 800 meters (maximum range 2 kilometers)

• Primary manufacturer: Pedreira Arms Plant (based on Callisto)

Weapon description:

When the Armada de Mundos Livres was born in 2339, its overseers faced the challenge of arming their planned large-scale armed defense force in only a few years. The Gabinete de Assuntos Logísticos initiated an R&D push in the mid-2340s to design a new automatic rifle to supplement or replace the large stockpile of M278 Squad Automatic Rifles which they had received as part of the deal which ended the Jovian Civil War (2324-2341). This program prioritized using the same 7.8 x 47 millimeter cartridge used by the then-standard RS-46 and was centered on a design principle the GAL called metralhadora universal or “universal machine gun.” Armada R&D painstakingly refined the rough design into a final test concept by 2351, called Projeto 209, which was finally adopted as the RA-52 less than a year later.

Historical Notes:

The RA-52 emerged from the same period of frenzied weapons development early in the history of the Armada that had birthed the RS-46, which is fitting given that these weapons were the original primary and secondary weapons of the Ground Forces infantry squad. Issued to espaçadores to provide a volume of fire to the basic infantry section or seção. In keeping with the metralhadora universal concept behind the RA-52’s design, this weapon is meant to fill this role across all levels of the Ground Forces infrastructure.

Much like the RS-46 it was designed to supplement in ground level combat, the RA-52 was shopped out to a variety of customers during the 2350s and ‘60s, including elements of the Draconist movement then in armed conflict with the Spacer Corps. These trials by fire allowed the Armada to effectively field test their design against its chief intended target, and then to refine that design through persistent trial and error. By the time the Frontier War began in 2371, the RA-52 design was a veteran of nearly twenty years of brushfire conflicts, and during the ten years which followed it proved itself more than worthy of its stripes.

The RA-52 has served across the outer system in every conflict from the second half of the Draconist Wars to the Frontier War, and the now nearly forty-year-old design still serves to provide sustained fire to ground level units in the Armada as of 2389. Although some in the GAL and the Alliance Central Commission have made moves indicating a desire to replace the RA-52, it remains very popular with the espaçador grunts and seems poised to serve another forty years or more without any interruption to this popularity.

RS-46 (Rifle de Serviço modelo 2346)

• Caliber: 7.8 x 47 mm (first developed in 2287 by Titan Military Industries)

• Standard round: 73-M-216 (optimized for use as anti-personnel round)

• Dimensions: 85.2 (L) x 7.1 (W) x 20.6 (H) centimeters (standard configuration)

• Weight: approx. 4.4 kilograms fully loaded (approximately 3.8 kg unloaded)

• Barrel length: 33 centimeters (1:19 rifling twist for standard performance)

• Feed system: detachable double-stacked box magazine with 20 rounds

• Cyclic rate of fire: approximately 650 rounds per minute (standard setting)

• Effective range: approximately 700 meters (maximum range 1.6 kilometers)

• Primary manufacturer: Rökland Military Arms Corp. (based on Callisto)

Weapon description:

When the Alliance Central Commission formed the Armada de Mundos Livres in 2339, they had a rapidly growing military which required armaments with which to outfit its troops. The ACC founded the Comissão de Armamentos Militares in 2342, and by 2345 they had selected a diverse portfolio of weapons concepts with which to start building the stockpile for their budding Armada. One of these was an updated version of a decades-old design originally by Rökland Military Armaments Corporation called the Sturmgewehr 341, which had originally been fielded by the Titan Pact during the Mars-Titan War (2292-2297). This design was taken off the shelf, hurriedly brought up to modern standards, and fielded in 2346 as the RS-46, just in time to serve during the Second Titan Civil War (2348-2361).

Historical notes:

The rifle known to Armada Ground Forces troops as the RS-46 began its life as a stopgap weapons design fielded by elements of the Jovian Federal Militia during the Mars-Titan War. Although this service ended in 2298 following the dissolution of the Titan Pact, a large stockpile of Stg. 341s remained on hand for the newly formed Outer System Security Force. This stockpile formed the basis of part of the armament deal inked by the Alliance of Free Worlds as part of the peace agreement which ended the Jovian Civil War.

After reworking the design of the old Stg. 341 rifle, the Alliance Armada adopted it for service in 2346 as part of their planned arms buildup. Over the next five years, the weapon served in frontline and rear guard units of the Armada Ground Forces, and gained extensive field experience in the Draconist Wars. The Alliance secretly funneled large supplies of arms to Draconist cells operating in the outer system between 2347 and 2361, and by 2354 there were millions of RS-46s floating around the frontier in the hands of guerrillas and mercenaries alike. However, that year was also the beginning of the end for its service life.

Although the RS-46 was phased out beginning in 2357, its story did not end there. It remains in service in 2389 as a specialty weapon, as commando units such as the Guardas Fuzileiros find its combination of stopping power and reliability a major benefit to their operations. It likewise remains in service with many second-tier elements of the Força de Defesa Nacional, and is ironically also a favorite of the Colonial Liberation Front, which makes ready use of Draconist weapons caches in their rebellion against the Alliance.

Variants:

RC-54 DMR - 42 cm barrel, 96 cm overall length; 4.8 kg loaded weight; comes with 2MA52 telescopic gunsight with 5-20x zoom; standard 7.8 mm ammunition fired from longer barrel gives dependable stopping power over long distance for designated marksmen

RSE-49 carbine - 33 cm barrel, 92.4 cm overall length (78 cm with stock collapsed); comes with 2RS11-2 suppressor and MA78-1 combat optical gunsight; solid stopping power in a compact package makes this weapons ideal for Forças Especiais commandos

Vehicles of the A.M.L.

CV-48 ‘Boiuna’ (Caçador de Veículos modelo 2348)

• Primary manufacturers: Callisto Assembly/Pedreira Arms Plant/National Armaments Plant of the Democratic Republic of Titan/various others

• Standard complement: three (1 driver, 1 gunner, 1 commander)

• Dimensions: 12.1 (hull length) x 4.2 (height) x 4.7 (width) meters

• Mass (fully loaded): approximately 35,100 kilograms/35 tonnes

• Power plant: 1x G-137 hydrogen-powered electric hyperturbine

• Maximum speed: approximately 95 km/h on full hover speed

• Range: up to 800 kilometers given full stockpile of H² fuel cells

• Armaments: 1x 3M62 140 mm linear accelerator with 40 rounds stored for autoloader; 2x RA-52 7.8 mm machine guns with 2,000 rounds stored (1 mounted coaxially, 1 in roof turret); 1x 5G39-3 anti-munition laser turret; 12x 4G12 IR smoke grenade launchers

Vehicle description:

The Comissão de Armamentos Militares began production of the CV (Caçador de Veículos or “vehicle hunter”) series in 2346, and two years later they rolled out the CV-48. Nicknamed ‘Boiuna’ after a mythical dark serpent from Brazilian folklore, the CV-48 is a hover tank design which utilizes an advanced hyperturbine powerplant to generate the immense thrust necessary to levitate above the harsh terrain of worlds like Titan, where it has done the bulk of its fighting. The CV-48 carries the much-feared 3M62 linear accelerator cannon, which can fire a 140 millimeter projectile at a velocity up to 4 kilometers per second and defeat most armor fielded by the IDC in a direct shot, allowing CV-48s like the captured display model above to wreak havoc in pitched battles during the brutal combat of the Frontier War (2371-2381).

Historical notes:

Almost before the ink had dried on the Pact of Allegiance which formed the Alliance of Free Worlds, the Central Commission was planning a bold campaign of military spending to prepare their planned neo-socialist frontier utopia to defend itself against ICA aggression. One of the many plans that poured out of the Department of Military Logistics between 2342 and 2347 was the CV-48, a tank killer design that was meant from the first step of its design phase to stop ICA armored vehicles in their proverbial tracks.

Designed between 2344 and 2347, the CV-48 entered production in 2348 and has racked up nearly sixty thousand total units since then. They served with distinction during the latter stages of the Draconist Wars, when the Armada used them as a show of force against anti-Alliance rebels on worlds of the outer system. They suffered during the Zharan Uprising, however, as zharan producers of improvised anti-vehicle ordnance proved themselves capable of staying one step ahead of Alliance military planners. Still, the CV-48s were well-loved by their crews, and earned the name ‘Boiuna’ as a testament to their toughness.

As with most weapons designed by either side of the power struggle in Solar Space, their true test came during the Frontier War. As CV-48s and similar models carried out hunter-killer raids against IDC armored convoys on worlds like Titan and Triton, their crews earned a reputation among the Spacer Corps for being merciless pursuers and murderously efficient duelists. One example, a lone CV-48 of the 43rd Regimento de Assalto Mecanizado, even pursued a pair of IDC M87s almost 800 kilometers across Titan in 2374.

Martian Armed Forces:

Weapons of the M.A.F.

R31 (Rifle, model 31, 3.3 millimeter)

• Caliber: 3.3 x 56 mm caseless (developed in 2506 by the Martian Arms Corp.)

• Standard round: NS-19-B3 anti-personnel (caseless, magnetic-accelerated)

• Dimensions: 74.4 (L) x 6.2 (W) x 19 (H) centimeters (without attachments)

• Weight: approx. 3.6 kilograms fully loaded (approximately 3.1 kg unloaded)

• Barrel length: 31.4 centimeters (uses accelerator rail for max performance)

• Feed system: double-stacked vertically-fed 30-round detachable box magazine

• Cyclic rate of fire: approximately 900 rounds per minute (three-round burst)

• Effective range: approximately 500 meters (maximum range 1.3 kilometers)

• Primary manufacturer: Mars Military Industries (based out of Nereidum)

Weapon description:

When the Martian Federation was formed following the Crimson Revolution military coup of 2492, its leaders worked quickly to build up their armed forces. The Martian Central Command selected the M26 combat rifle platform that had been fielded during the Kuiper Wars (2465-2489) by the Union Defense Forces as a stopgap measure while a dedicated primary infantry weapon could be devised. After fielding the M26 under the new designation of R26 (“Rifle model 26”) for more than a decade, the MCC initiated a replacement program in 2532 following the independent design of the 3.1 millimeter caseless flechette munition. Following a four-year development cycle, the new R31 was first produced for frontline service in 2511 and served with distinction during the second half of the Centauri War (2501-2527).

Historical notes:

The R26 rifle initially fielded by the Martian Armed Forces was obsolete within its first few years of service. Extensive upgrades were able to prolong its service life, but by 2506 it was clear to the Martian Central Command that a replacement was needed. The impetus for this replacement program was the development of the 3.1 x 63 millimeter caseless flechette, along with the much earlier development of the modular magnetic accelerator rifle platform. When these two factors came together, the R31 was the result.

The rifle is at its core an updated version of concepts first tested in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and uses electrically-driven mechanisms to cycle caseless flechette ammunition at a rate of nearly a thousand rounds per minute. The power for this mechanism is provided by a detachable battery pack loaded into the weapon’s stock, while a vertically-fed magazine holding sixty rounds in three columns is loaded in front of the pistol grip. The rounds are designed to slow down dramatically from many hundreds of meters per second and shatter on impact, causing intense physical damage as they tumble through flesh.

The R31 was one of a laundry list of designs which, in addition to being shipped to the Centauri Cluster in transport vessels by the Martian Federation, were uploaded to the Network so that they could be produced on location. By the time the Centauri War ended in 2527, there were over two million R31s floating around in Centauri space, and as of 2539 they are a favorite weapon of remaining rebel factions like the Centauri People’s Front. In this capacity, they have even seen extensive action against Martian forces.

Variants:

R31 with GL28 grenade launcher - 77.2 cm overall length; fires 25 mm multipurpose grenades (HEDP, airburst, etc.) out of a triple-deep removable magazine tube; rounds programmable from the H.U.D. computer on an M.A.F. spacer’s combat suit; added weight approx. 1.3 kg

AR38 (Automatic rifle, model 38, 3.3 millimeter)

• Caliber: 3.3 x 53 mm caseless (developed in 2506 by the Martian Arms Corp.)

• Standard round: NS-21-A2 multipurpose (caseless, magnetic-accelerated)

• Dimensions: 96.7 (L) x 10.1 (W) x 27.8 (H) centimeters (without attachments)

• Weight: approx. 5.7 kilograms fully loaded (approximately 4.8 kg unloaded)

• Barrel length: 41.4 centimeters (externally cooled for optimal performance)

• Feed system: detachable drum with 160 rounds in disintegrating linked belt

• Cyclic rate of fire: approximately 800 rounds per minute (standard setting)

• Effective range: approximately 800 meters (maximum range 2.1 kilometers)

• Primary manufacturer: Martian Arms Corporation (based out of Nereidum)

Weapon description:

After fielding the R31 in 2511, the Martian Central Command identified a need for a new, dedicated automatic rifle platform for infantry-level squads. The development process lasted roughly two years, half as long as that of the R31 itself, largely because the Martian Arms Corporation (MAC) had already begun research on a new concept in 2508. The AR38 was designed to use the same 3.3 millimeter caseless flechette round as the R31, a choice made to ensure efficiency in supply and ease of ammunition sharing in frontline units. The weapon uses a design more or less unchanged from the general purpose machine guns produced since the 1930s, and performed admirably in its primary role as a squad-level volume-of-fire weapon for the Martian Armed Forces during the Centauri War (2501-2527).

Historical notes:

When they developed the 3.3 millimeter caseless flechette round in 2506, the Martian Arms Corp. sought to develop weapons which could utilize this munition and market them to the Martian Armed Forces as part of the ongoing buildup necessitated by the Centauri War. One of these weapons was the Mk. 162 squad automatic rifle concept, which the Martian Central Command selected for development in 2511 following the adoption of the R31 rifle. Two years later, the Mk. 162 was adopted as the AR38.

The AR38 was produced in large numbers beginning in 2514, and by the time the Centauri War ended in 2527 there were over half a million of them in service with various factions of the convoluted civil war in Centauri space. Their primary user was of course the M.A.F. Ground Forces, but a large number were also sold or donated to the Army of the Federal Protectorate of Talvan and other Mars-backed governments, as well as to pro-Mars paramilitary organizations like the United Centauri Front. Much like the R31, many of these trafficked weapons also found their way into the hands of anti-Mars forces.

By the early 2530s, as it became clear that the two primary focal points of the struggle for control of Centauri space were gearing up for a long-term asymmetric conflict, the M.C.C. began production on a new generation of AR38s. These weapons were deployed with Martian peacekeeping forces stationed on Talvan and elsewhere from 2534 on, and five years later they are still the second most common ground-level weapon system in the Martian Exosolar Command, with old stocks sold off to U.C.F. militias.

More to come, when it's ready...

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