Revision: Modular Firearms
4
The ABR-1 is a very well-made weapon. It's reliable, accurate, and powerful. Sure, Moerth may have guns that shoot micromissiles, but we have beauty in our simplicity. With modular firearms, we plan on making the ABR-1 a mainstay of Amaok's armed forces for decades to come.
We've revised the entire weapon to be based on a modular structure. Now, the ABR-1 can be disassembled and reassembled using any other parts from the field, and the process is simple enough that any soldier can be easily taught how to quickly modify or reassemble the ABR-1 using the new modular technique. Each part of the gun is now based on that modular structure, meaning later revisions and designs introducing new models allow for easy switching in the field as well as a whole host of other benefits. The rifle also now has attachment points across it for additional attachments such as silencers and more as well as rails on the top allowing for placement of items like scopes.
We considered four attachments as part of this project - the stock, silencer, tripod, and scope. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we were only able to really implement one of these modules - the stock - and that mostly falls under the category of the modular structure of the gun and not a separate attachment.
We attempted implementing a full-auto mode for the gun, but it proved to be rather difficult. The mode is present, but we didn't have enough time to actually revise the rifle to facilitate it. The gun just simply isn't designed for an automatic firing mode and its performance in auto mode shows that quite well. The firing action was intended to fire in semi-automatic, and forcing it to do otherwise with little tweaking makes it jam frequently. The rest of the gun's interaction with the automatic firing simply reduces the accuracy of our bullets to a degree much worse than that of a regular assault rifle or similar automatic weapon.
Unfortunately, this does not fix our problem at short-ranges whatsoever. The issue was ammo shortages, and Central Command decided to stop use of ABR-1s at close range in order to preserve enough ammo to use the ABR-1 without worry at other ranges. With this new revision, the rifle still won't be used at close range in order to conserve ammo. Auto-mode will go largely unused by troops due to both its technical issues and ammo problems.
The modular ABR-1, now dubbed the ABR-1M, is still a straightforward upgrade to our existing weapons. Without the ammo problem fixed, we doubt to see any significant benefits in combat, but it opens up many possibilities in the future. In fact, we could probably even revise the gun to create multiple (semi-related) attachments at once in needed, and the auto-fire mode will be much easier to fix than it would be to do it from scratch again. But for now, Central Command still would prefer the ammo problem fixed.
However, the modular nature of the gun makes it easier to store on the person and allows for better field repairs and salvaging, which should hopefully somewhat increase the general effectiveness of our troops.
ABR-1M: A simple yet effective semi-automatic battle rifle completely designed in Amaok, using custom-designed ammunition. Works best at a moderate-long distance, but still works well at long and moderate distances. Grows less effective at closer and more long-ranged engagements. Very effective at punching through light Kevlar and other armor. The gun is entirely modular, with each part of the gun (not just attachments) being easily removed and attached. Hot-swapping and repair can be done effectively in the field and the creation of new modules or attachments taking advantage of this is quite easy. Its modularity makes field repairs and storing on one's person extraordinarily easy, somewhat increasing combat effectiveness. The rifle has an automatic firing mode, but its prone to frequent jamming and is notably inaccurate. Ammo shortages require use of the ABR-1 to be heavily limited in close-range engagements.
Weight: 1 CU = 4x
Expense: 4x
Resources: Metal
It is now the Strategy Phase of 2210.
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Topic: Planetary Arms Race - Amaok, Strategy Phase 2212 (Read 34691 times)