The weight of the carbine is a meager three and a half kilograms, incorporating a lasing aperture, battery, and capacitor bank into a tiny weapon frame made of ultra-durable composites that cannot be homogeneously replicated if one far less advanced than those that make up the cube as the composition is identifiable.
So, about the same weight as an M4 carbine.
By comparison, the weight of a fully loaded M16A4 rifle (complete with magazine and the sling you carry it with) is about 8.8 pounds or four kilograms, a fully loaded M14 battle rifle weighed five kilograms.
Whoever designed this laser rifle was probably designing the laser equivalent of an M4. Given that sapient species in the galaxy seem fairly diverse as to strength and physique, it's not surprising that the 'typical' Galactic infantry weapon would be kind of a lowest common denominator. Especially since I gather that there may at some point have been some intention on the Synod's part of handing weapons like this to Lirrir sepoys, who I gather are smol.
The mission for infiltration of academies started fairly well with the coordinated deployment of a decentralized network of officer school candidates that reported directly to a decentralized command chain. Most were recruited with the idea of being deniable assets with little information outside of reporting to a handler who would then process information and organize it well. What could not have been predicted is that the very network meant to report information would be brought up to the civilian authorities as an alarming case of some faction attempting to influence the army and directly infiltrate posts at officer academies. The decentralization of our networks ensured that no one got caught but some lower-echelon handlers with almost no information decided to independently report to the civilian government. Almost a dozen politicians have reached out warning on the matter and asking for it to be investigated rapidly due to the sheer threat to the government it represents.
Well, crapbaskets.
The good news is that we can hope to finesse this by pointing out that
we had created this network in an attempt to monitor the exact problems we already had clues about. For instance, we can point to the social media profiles of select military cadets, on a level that hopefully doesn't reveal any illegal skimming on our part; there have assuredly been SOME cadets who were indiscreet enough that our efforts to investigate will merely appear overzealous.
The bad news is that somewhere in this process, the far right is tooootally going to find out that we're generally hacking and investigating their penetration of the military.
I may be missing something here, but this crit doesn't seem
that bad.
[]Delay Funding: The army lacks the money needed to fund the technologies in the boats but payments still have to be made to keep Bun solvent and developing systems further. These payments will be far less in amount than a formal contract and will in effect be wasted but as the mobilization of economic assets is still incomplete it is the most that can be done. (150B Or Cost) (Budget decision in the next budget) (Finishes Procurement)
[]Order Twenty-Six Boats: Developing the technology and test examples can be funded now with the contract ensuring that they work before future submarines are ordered. This would fully utilize the yards through the current financial cycle and the next one without funding an expansion. Something of the baseline order expected this would provide enough capacity to have at least sixteen out at any one time patrolling while the others are in refit, allowing a quick mobilization of all but four ships if a rigid schedule for refits is followed in case of emergency. (400B Or Now, 400B Or from the next budget) (Finishes Procurement)
[]Order Thirty-Six Boats: Funding the partial expansion of the Bun yards for the construction of submarines will speed up how quickly ships can be delivered. This will mean committing to a contract that in no way can be canceled without endangering the entire order especially if issues crop up in the prototypes. Still, the ability to build more submarines will be essential as a further thirty boats can be added to the fleet across the budget cycle after the next one reinforcing Dannan against any likely alien assault. (400B Or Now, 600B Or from the next budget) (Finishes Procurement)
Hmmm. This is a toughie. We have no idea when the first alien threat might show up. People who have a better handle on the budget situation should probably make this call.
A big part of the question is, is the current generation of orbital defense submarine the kind we want to
use, or do we view it as a prototype for a future system we like better and a basis for development?
If this is just "the shape of ships to come" and we want further ambitious modifications to the design, then we absolutely don't want to buy 36 of the things and should seriously consider just paying the 150 gigabucks for the prototype development and then paying Bun to develop a better one.
If we actually intend these as a serious chunk of Danaan's orbital defense network for the next several decades, then we should probably go ahead and buy 36 with the serious intent of buying more, because if the balloon goes up we could
absolutely use a lot more than 36.
[]Build as Is: The laser systems onboard are not expected to be a primary weapon and the use of continuous beams is more than adequate when it comes to point defense roles. A refit will make the craft's least effective weapon far more effective but these are not primary weapon systems making the gains limited as this would only enhance absolute close-range combat capacity with minimal effect at likely engagement ranges, especially as the alien enemy is likely to optimize for anti-laser armor. (No Cost) (No Chance of Delay)
[]Modernize Current Media for Pulse: Current laser systems are more than adequate to function as pulse lasers with some minimal modifications. Incorporating the discharge capacitor banks onto the ship will not take up significant amounts of space, with cooling requirements only moderately increasing along the laser system. The hasty refit will reduce gains from the technology but even then anti-armor capacity of the laser system is expected to increase by more than an order of magnitude. (50B Or Cost) (Little Chance of Delay)
[]Agressivly Develop Polymer Capacitor Lasers: New pulse laser systems need to accompany the new technology and their development will be key for future ships. Entirely new lasing media capable of enduring high-energy pulse trains at the limits of capacitors can create something of a relativistic blaster. The system itself will be optimized for a RoF or around three pulse trains a second to avoid the worst extremes of energy use and maintain acceptable point defense performance. New techniques will be made to keep the lasing media as capable as possible, especially as the thermal load can be applied in pulses rather than continuously. (150B Or Cost) (Chance of Delay) (Possible Laser Tech Roll)
Hm. If I really expected us to get hit right away I'd be opposed to the last option, but I kind of like the last option as-is. We're still in the "building workable tools" phase. And I get the feeling that we're really, really going to need high performance lasers for shipboard missile defense at some point.
Multirole VTOL: Continued work on the VTOL system has fixed several of the issues in the original AR system, simplifying it for development and allowing for the continuation of development. The turbine at this point is mature along with most of the avionics systems leaving little to be developed outside of the plane's ordinance complex. Current thoughts are towards an all-missile armament, incorporating air-breathing solid fuel ramjets with cumulative heads to ensure the destruction of alien craft. At least eight high-velocity missiles are to be mounted in the bay with a rapid firing pattern and minimal interference to enable saturation attacks on hardened targets. In a more conventional sense or when doing ground support operations more conventional cluster munitions have been revived. The wing pylons are to be ready to support up to two tons each of independent low observability cluster cassettes or planned hypersonic nuclear ordinance. The theoretical need for a gun in case of lacking the capability to engage with radar has been proposed and incorporated with a 30mm cannon built into the nose to give the airframe some chance in case alien stealth technologies are far greater than our own. (57)
Real talk, those 30mm cannons aren't going to be worth shit against alien craft capable of any kind of endo-atmospheric self defense, but who knows, we might be able to outnumber them literally 100 to 1 and mob them enough to score occasional gun kills, especially if they rely heavily on flying utility vehicles and whatnot.
[]Replace Old Units: Older suits are useless for unprotected deathtraps but they have functioned for the better part of three decades at this point. As they wear out the worst examples can be replaced by modern Type 43 systems without too much issue. In a decade most of the force will be modernized except for some stations, saving money on a new procurement program and allowing it to happen naturally. (No Cost) (Finishes Program)
[]Accelerated Replacement: Retiring suits in service on warships and those directly involved with heavy EVA activity need to be prioritized. As the mining ships are built they will be equipped with new suits along with the exploration craft that are currently being constructed in the slipways. Colonies will receive them second, likely changing over before the start of the new budget cycle outside emergency supplies. From there as suits age out they can be easily replaced with few logistical issues. (20B Or Cost) (Finishes Program)
[]Agressive Modernization Program: The Type 06 suit is a deathtrap in every respect and the sooner it is replaced the better for the entire force. Active forces will get priority allocations of Type 43 suits but the stations need modernization as well. Ramping up production as quickly as possible based on the old suits is possible and conducting a deep inventory modernization will bring everyone to the same standard of capability. There are still going to be some Type 06 suits in inventory for emergency use, but those are secondary and will be replaced in a decade anyway. (50B Or Cost) (Finishes Program)
I'd say that unless the Type 06 is much more dangerous than I hope it is, we should go with the first of these options, or the second if we have spare cash and nothing obvious to do with it.
Further, the significant blinding effect of the laser rifle practically necessitates a full AR system as a bare minimum, favoring an enclosed suit in a similar design to wartime units.
Well, at least we have practical experience dealing with laser blinding equipment from the nuclear war, I guess.
[]Heavy Anti-Armor Rifle: Polymer Saboted 15x120mm cartridges can generate enough penetrative power to piece most elements of alien frontal plates. Incorporating the previous HMG round into a combat rifle poses a significant challenge but Curach Machining Plant has come up with several innovative solutions. The fourteen-kilogram battle rifle is equipped with a sixteen-round dual stack magazine along with an advanced recoil-damping moving internal frame and a finely machined muzzle break. Polymer furniture with standardized mounting brackets has already been developed with a Lunos hunting optic mounted derivative, incorporating continuous and discontinuous automatic adjustment modes with full AR image integration. A bullpup design has been required to balance the rifle and obtain enough barrel length for optimal firing in confined conditions, but this is similar to wartime systems. (5B Or Cost)
Can our guys even carry this shit? Fourteen kilograms for a 'battle rifle.' That's a lot heavier than I thought. Just how swole are our guys?
[]High Precision Developments: Lunos has the second least conventional offering with a development on the Type 39 DMR incorporating several lessons learned and an advanced targeting system. Variability of the barrel assembly allows for a degree of independence in targeting, and borrowing technical developments from conventionally armored technologies. The rifle adopts the same 10x84mm polymer sabot rounds in a bimetalic case as the HKG offering but instead of a hyperburst capability promises unmatched precision. The adjustment of the targeting mechanism to 25 MoA along with an electro-optical/IR contrast optic can enable the laying down of the high-precision fire. The rifle itself is inherently complicated and more of a fielded computer with a rifle mechanism attached but the ability to finally eliminate any cause of imprecision through high-quality targeting has demonstrated sub 0.5 MoA accuracy under combat conditions if a lock can be made. The rifle is the longest and has a bullpup design but it may be able to defeat the aliens through the weight of high-accuracy fire. (15B Or Cost)
Hm. This is probably not useful as a rifle for grunts who might actually have to mix it up with alien power armor at close range.
But it might be
very useful if we can take the same technology and adapt it into, say, a robot gun turret or remote weapon system. Something where the fact that the odds are that the best you can do with your precision fire is crack their optics block or damage their rifle doesn't really matter, because you still come out ahead even if enemy return fire blows the firing platform clean off.
I'd kind of like to see this alongside one of the other options, but I guess we can't do that.
[]Grenade Launcher Derivatives: The Medach Industrial Concern has proposed and demonstrated the radical idea of using a modified grenade launcher cartridge for an advanced rifle concept. The rifle itself is almost eleven kilograms with a ten-round magazine but the round itself partially compensates for its relative deficiencies. The 25x60mm cartridge can incorporate a variety of payloads ranging from the primary cumulative munition to instant laser-fused proximity munitions with the former being delivered at 450m/s onto targets, reducing range but not excessively. The inherent need to compensate for the drop of heavier rounds has already been integrated into the optic, improving field capacity to hit targets. This in itself is a radical departure from conventional designs but it promises to entirely revolutionize anti-material armaments. The gun is the least controllable or accurate of the entrants, but it promises to pierce even the primary protective plate of the sampled power armor. (15B Or Cost)
This is an interesting option, but the weight is surprising. Infantry might love this weapon even if it doesn't become the standard service arm.
Armor Development:
[]Light Armor Systems: The need to integrate a full AR system along with comprehensive chemical protection has limited what can be done with current-generation systems. Theoretically, a sealed suit with a limited degree of external cooling and a full seal can be developed without issue. Building on the assumption that the alien weapons will penetrate most armor that can be fielded, only light protection against fragments will be built into the new generation of infantry equipment. Standardized AR visors with full visibility and selective datalinks will be built as a unified helmet-mask combination with venting provisions for non-chemical environments to maintain thermal control. Protection across the front will be negligible but the significant mounting space left for rebreather and rigging will allow for more ammunition and mask cartridges to be carried while keeping costs low. (15B Or Cost)
[]Wartime Developments: Derivative off wartime kit for a new generation of armor is sensible and a proven method of design. Seelie during the war had few issues wearing an adequate amount of equipment in the heaviest conditions and that can still be maintained without compromising dismounted mobility. Plans call for a helmet comprised of thicker plating with some integral ablator for glancing exposures and to minimize pulse-train width in case of penetration. A central body cavity plate without shoulder coverage will be built out of a mixture of high-density plastic foam impregnated with boron nitride particles to resist exposure to laser weapons as powerful as the captured rifle. Exposure will cause a revealing cloud of particulate to be released but that will avoid the creation of a 10cm wide disrupted cavity through the body on impact. Gas protection will be built in with a standard armored rig incorporating a rebreather, offering a capable compromise on protection. (25B Or Cost) (Expensive)
I think the "light" option would be appealing if we could always count on overwhelming numbers up against tiny numbers of alien infantry at the point of contact, but we may have to, say, fight them on a space station or something.
The wartime design sounds good.
(it will be hilarious if we overadapt to Synod laser rifles and we end up in firefights with some other alien species that just uses railguns for everything)
[]Heavy Armored Program: Increasing the load on soldiers who are going to use vehicles for the majority of transport is a logical development of previous tactics. The current program calls for the use of far heavier mixed material plating across the entire upper torso with some limited leg protection to defend against hemodynamic threat vectors. This will increase the weight of the plating alone to almost thirty kilograms with most of the rebreather system outside emergency backups placed behind the plate with side access. Magazine storage is to be on the front along with general equipment, using a backpack to balance the general system. Increasing the weight allowance and the capacity for mounting equipment on the rear allows for the incorporation of a cooling system, keeping the wearer at a comfortable temperature as long as the armor is not in power conservation mode. The helmet AR system is also armored further with primary frontal blocks allowing for at least one beam exposure from the front. (30B Or Cost) (Expensive)
Hm. Not bad, and a logical extension of the basic system. Realistically, our first generation of "able to engage Galactic infantry in combat" troops will be a mix of defensive garrison troops and vehicle-mobile units rushed in to counter landing attempts, so being able to do a ruck march in this stuff isn't a major handicap.
[]Power-Assisted Armor: Load-assistance devices have a storied history of operation with special forces units and there is little reason that they cannot be produced for a mainline equipment set. Moving towards even heavier armored plating and a significant number of batteries can allow for significantly longer operational ranges. Assistance would reduce instability when standing and effectively support the majority of the equipment weight in stable and unstable positions. The largest advantage of this would be adequate frontal armor to protect organs against bolts of significantly higher power if alien developments have incrementally improved their capability. Armor protection on the head can also be made adequate through a more closed system to resist similar bolts, providing near-total protection against immediately lethal fire. Primary rebreather systems will be located beneath the front plate while cooling, recharge, storage, and secondary systems will be moved rearward to reduce weight loadings. Total system weight is unlikely to exceed 90kg and IFV loadings will have to be modified for bulkier equipment but even a semi-powered system provides a good basis with which to match the enemy. (60B Or Cost) (Very Expensive)
Tempting, but
man this is a bridge too far for our short-term technical capability, I think.
The rapid changes in combat are no different from the introduction of the anti-ship missile or adequate plasma stealth, leaving those officers who cannot adapt useless for promotion.
Hilariously, though the antiship missile was probably introduced well over a hundred years ago by this point, we probably have a significant number of military officers who remember that time.
The limited capacity on any ship sent to the Lirrir has been significant as there is little that can be done in a short timeframe. Combined with the scientific, diplomatic, and educational missions that are being assembled to transit on the Investigator with crew-extension military training personnel have been restricted to only twenty. Two of these are staff capable commanders that have proven adequate if unexceptional in exercise with the remainder capable instructors for teaching Lirrir modern doctrine and approaches. Several demonstration weapons and ATGM's adapted for the battlefield are to be shipped across with several printers and older chip-making machinery. Modernizing their military to the point that it can combat a full-scale alien threat larger than a few hundred mercenaries will be the work of decades, but with new technologies, discipline, and education that can be overcome. The largest goal so far has been the transfer of battery technologies as simple sodium units can entirely revolutionize their power grid and finally enable them to go towards a mechanized agricultural stage, freeing hundreds of millions from unproductive toil.
Yaay, we're helping!
