Standard Infantry Equipment

Chinese Small Arms and Equipment

QLB-85 'Helix' Assault Cannon
The 'Helix' is designed for full conversion cyborg bodies or battlesuits, as even a mobility-suited soldier risks injury trying to fire the heavy, 30 kilogram weapon. Fed from a pair of 45-round helical magazines and using a revolver-cannon system to maintain a high rate of fire for effective burst fire, the 'Helix' fires 32 x 70mm slugs using a magnetic launch system. Most soldiers load it with a combination of smart gyrojet and thermobaric ammunition for a combination of fire support and all-range firepower. Equipped with a smartlink, the Helix is an advanced and incredibly powerful weapon which has seen service with both the PLA, many expanse powers, and ZOCU.

EU Small Arms and Equipment

Heckler und Koch G94
The standardized infantry rifle of the EU, the G94 is the baseline to which most infantry rifles are compared. With a 6.5mm AP component for pure kinetic energy delivery and a 6-round, 25mm coilgun capable of firing either gyrockets, nonlethal ammunition, or fragmentation, as well as an excellent electronic sight and multiple mounting rails for various components, the G94 has only become more popular after the end of the war, and the EU paratrooper holding a G94 is one of the most recognizable sights for the ZOCU war. If there are faults with the weapon it is that it is somewhat more expensive and somewhat heavier than it could possibly be.

Independent Powers' Small arms and Equipment

Avalon Armaments M72
Much like Kalashnikov was synonymous with "cheap" in the late 20th and mid-to-early 21st centuries, the M72 has become the weapon most commonly used by space pirates, poor rim worlds, and criminals with black market connections. Originally designed as a low-cost military solution for Valera's budding military, the M72 was too primitive to get much headway, despite its low cost. However, for worlds which would make up the League or other poor rim worlds, the design was excellent. Low-maintenance, still a credible threat, and easily reverse engineerable, the design was bought by several powers, and soon after knockoff copies were found just about everywhere. Using a 30 round magazine of 6.8mm AP rounds fired from a coilgun, as well as a single-shot breech-loading 35mm gyrojet launcher, the M72 is powerful but heavy, somewhat inaccurate, and lacks ammunition capacity.

PACT Small Arms and Equipment

EM12 Assault Rifle
The EM12 is logistically designed to be compatible with the EM56, firing the same 25.4x108mm guided munitions that the EM56 uses as standard as its primary component, with 5 and 8 round magazines available. As a secondary component the EM12 is modular, capable of supporting various systems from sensors packages, nonlethal energy weapons, or kinetic energy modules. Standard issue for the PACT soldiers was a 3.7mm kinetic energy component, designers judging that the low firepower would rarely be a problem and the light ammunition would allow soldiers to carry more guided munitions. The EM12 was reasonably effective, although not as enthused over as the G94.

EM56 Smartgun
Where the EU's EM weapons technology was some of the most advanced in the Sphere, the PACT had superior electronics and guidance systems to most, and preferred accuracy to hitting power. The EM56 is a gyro-braced, exoskeleton mounted squad support weapon using AI target and tracking acquisition to eliminate targets with a brace of 25.4mm guided rounds. Although heavy and cumbersome, and sometimes maintenance problematic, veterans of the USMC in the ZOCU war have spoken loudly about its strong points-incredible accuracy, above average ECM resistance, and high rate of fire.

Adharan EM49 Carbine
Adhara has been a center for research and development since its 'liberation' from the previous government and although mostly uninvolved in the ZOCU war, it has still been advancing its military technology quite heavily. The EM49 has only recently been introduced in 2192, and is a successor of sorts to the EM12. Firing a 20mm guided munition from a high velocity coilgun, the EM49 lacks the secondary component entirely, allowing it to use a helical magazine to increase its ammunition capacity as well as additional sensors. The lack of a suppressive fire solution could be problematic, but the increase in firepower is potentially desirable.

XM350 Variable-Rate Pulse Laser
A rare weapon issued solely to Adharan full conversion cyborg shocktroopers, the XM350 VRPL is designed to adjust pulse rate, pulse power, and focus to maximize effective range and usability against all targets. Capable of effectively engaging light vehicles, battlesuits, and even, with a skilled operator, enemy projectiles, the VRPL pays for this by being immensely expensive and massing over 85 kilograms-nearly 50% more than the next heaviest battlesuit support weapon.

ZOCU Small Arms and Equipment

Londinium Metals AR-2164
Unlike the other powers, ZOCU did not standardize its infantry weapons, and often ended up with logistical problems in ground battles due to it, which its transgenic soldiers did not fully compensate for. The Londinium Metals AR-2164 was the standard weapon for Londinium and nearby powers at the start of the war, which combined a 15mm coilgun firing gyrojet, solid, or airbursting rounds with a 4.5mm coilgun firing APPF (armor piercing pre-fragmented) rounds. Ammunition Although lightweight, accurate, and low cost, matched against the EU G94 it suffered from inferior range and stopping power, a key problem in early ground battles against EU soldiers. Harawayian IW-45 Standard Individual Weapon
The Harawayian IW-45 was one of the several common infantry weapons that ZOCU used. The more transhuman Harawayians settled on a heavier secondary round, with the potential capacity to knock down or wound EU soldiers via kinetic energy alone. The IW-45 looked great on paper, with a 20 round capacity for its 8.5mm tungsten penetrators and a capacity of 4 25mm gyrojet munitions, but the weapon's bulk and high energy draw and low magazine capacity made it unpopular with the soldiers in the field, and despite its improved stopping power and the accuracy of its transgenic users, the 7.5mm penetrators were still insufficient to penetrate infantry armor without a good hit against EU armor at close range. In 2190 Haraway modernized its small arms, going to the IW-48, reducing the power of its secondary component to increase ammunition load for its primary gyrojet.