"Guns do not kill people, recruit! Marines do! That gun you carry will not help you against the Brute who would blow your head and eat your kids if you don't have the training to use it properly! A Marine is someone that will fuck up every other form of life in this galaxy! If you cannot be that, then your armor, your rifle, it's all useless because you don't know how to fight or aim and fire under pressure!"-Recruit Training Master Sargent Farah Karimi, UNSCDF Fort. Fasil Ghebbi, New Durban, Actium, crica 2543
Description: With the end of the Great-War, deficiencies illuminated to UNSC Armed Forces during the fight against the Covenant in weapon and armor lineups have resulted in a push for major upgrades. These upgrades have led to the Men and Woman of the UNSC being better armed and armored than ever before.
Armor
M89 GRAM Battle Armor-The latest in UNSC personal armor technology introduced in 2553, but wasn't produced on a truly mass scale until 2557 due to economic, and logistics issue's, the GRAM is a major improvement over the Pre-War, and During-War BDU's. The armor is made up of four major elements. First, a thin layer of refractive coating. Second, hardened plates made up of a molecularly enhanced Titanium-Tungsten alloy and nanocrystalline polymer reinforced by laser-compressed carbon fiber. Third, a lining of reactive carbon nanotube mesh that gives the armor light physical enhancing properties and extra protection. And fourth, a Titanium nanocomposite bodysuit. All of this is rounded out by an onboard Electromagnetic-Plasma Deflector generator powered by a fist sized electric-hydrogen power cell. Wearers of the GRAM can carry more weight into combat, run at bursts of up to 20 mph in full gear, and lift three times their bodyweight. The armored plates are highly resistant to small arms fire up to 12.7mm in certain locations and can withstand up to 5 direct hits from plasma rifles and most other light plasma weaponry. The armor is also moduler, allowing various configurations for any form of combat environments.
M95 FIREFALL Orbital Insertion Armor-The M95 is specifically built for ODST personnel and made to survive a very low orbital jump. It's a more powerful variant of the standard GRAM that use's a myomer 'muscle' coating over the nanotube mesh to increase the physical enhancements, and plasma compressed carbon fiber to double the durability of an ODST over the standard battle armor. The suit's plating is polarized and pressure sealed, allowing it to stand up to vacuum for an hour, even more with an attached oxygen pack. However, the largest reason the UNSC adopted this more powerful model is due to the fact that ODSTs carry very heavy weapons loadouts as necessitated by their orbital insertion. The FIREFALL makes hefting these weapons far more easy.
Weapons
BR-96SR Battle Rifle-First trialed in 2568, this rifle shares many looks with some of the older, more conventional BR Gauss rifle series, mainly the BR-85N, and is around the same dimensions too. However the overall appearance is where the similarities end. The rifle relies on a hybrid operation, the main body houses an ETC-like system while the barrel is lined with rails. Electric energy triggers the plasma cartridge, igniting and controlling the rounds propellant before the rails boost the acceleration caused by the resulting jet of super-hot gas. The accuracy and muzzle velocity is dramatic, with an accurate range of over 2000 yards and a muzzle velocity in excess of 4880 m/s, double times the m/s of the older BR rifles. The rifle can switch between firing modes like the BR-55/75/85 models, singleshot, three-burst, and full-automatic. All rifles come standard with A5 scope, though this can be swapped out for other options like Red dot sights, Recon sights, iron sights, etc. The ammo counter houses the fire control systems necessary to properly time the rails, ETC system, and a miniaturized targeting computer able to interface with standard UNSC smart-link hardware.
CQS48 Bulldog Assault Shotgun-Adopted by the UNSC in 2560 to replace the aging DTM series of shotguns, the CQS48 delivers devastating close range firepower. Similar to the M45 Shotgun or M90 CAWS, the CQS48 can be chambered for 8, 10, 12 gauge, or FRAG-36 shells. A standard magazine holds 10 FRAG-36 shells or 30 from a drum magazine and is full-auto, capable of firing 300 rounds per minute.
M739M Squad Automatic Weapon-A typical UNSC infantry squad of 10 men carries two M739 SAWs, and the fire superiority this gives them makes Hunters second guess charging into battle. It can be fed ammunition from a belt or magazine. The standard configuration is a 150 round belt contained within a Drum mag attached onto the weapon, the SAW capable of spitting them out at a rate of up to 1000 rounds a minute at an accurate range of 800 meters and with a muzzle velocity of 2000 meters a second thanks to a Electrothermal Chemical operating system. This weapon's purpose is to lay suppressive fire very fast and very quickly. While these weapons are mainly used by infantry squads, some SPARTAN operators have taken to using them in place of regular rifles.
M57 Pilum Light Anti-Tank Weapon-Rising to prominence during Remnant conflicts, the Pilum was the most preferred LAW for when dealing with most light armored vehicles, structures, reinforced positions, and heavy infantry. Its features a single, reusable, fixed tube and detachable box magazines, mainly made from hollow fiberglass reinforced with titanium alloy reinforcement. Each box can carry two 50mm Plasma-AT rockets, though more specialized ammunition can be used, like 20mm laser-guided mini-missiles. The M57 is used to augment heavier weapons, such as the M74 Jackhammer, and is commonly deployed in urban combat situations. Its light weight and ease of portable allows for operators unhindered agility.
M182L1 Light Plasma Cannon-Mounted on dropships and used by SPARTAN forces, this LPC is one of the first modern UNSC-made infantry plasma weapons. Made from noncrystalline polymer and ablative ceramic, this weapon has a unique design that Misriah spent years designing. The barrel is laced with electromagnetic coils that create a shaped magnetic field, plasma is volleyed down this field by a plasma generator which creates super-hot gas and ionizes it into the plasma. The resulting energy bolts are spat out at 1000 m/s and over 700 yards, and each bolt has enough power to put down most infantry in a single hit. And unlike most Covenant plasma weapons, the M182L1 can swap out depleted power cells with new ones instead of having to use recharge stations. These weapons are also the preferred choice for dealing with Forerunner successor forces, especially Promethean's.
Equipment
M16C Plasma-FRAG Grenade-Adopted as the standard issue grenade in 2551. When detonated, a M16C produces fragments of plasma and a special formalated metal. It has a blast radius of 10 meters, double the radius of a M9 HEDP grenade. Issued to Standard infantry
MC11 Individual Data/Net Terminal TACPAD-First used in 2557, the MC11 is a detachable holo-projector device with a built-in computer microframe, and sensor analysis pack. Using the projector, it can analyze and display combat info, pull up maps of the local area and display images, etc. Issued to commissioned and non-commissioned officers.
Tactical/Trauma Health Pack-Standard issue Frist Aid Kit for the UNSC. Contains Biofoam canister, a stitch kit, polypseudomorphine, self-adhering antiseptic battle dressing, synthetic blood plasma, and other components. Issued to corpsmen and medical personnel