Rifts Up Close: LSR-250 Laser Rifle

By Tim Willard

The US Military had made the change to Laser Weapons in 2032, however the laser rifle they used was restricted even to NEMA forces, due to the modular design, high damage capacity, state of the art systems, and sheer expense, forcing NEMA to look over the 2027 field trials for energy weapons.

One weapon stood out in regards to accuracy and penetration factor, and that was the Litton/Intel LSR-250, which failed in field testing due to its inability to modified according to military mission needs. However, it was lightweight, energy conservative, accurate, and reliable. NEMA planners immediately contacted Litton/Intel about this weapon only to find out that the production run for field testing had been discontinued and the factory retooled to put out laser guidance systems for suborbital shuttles.

However, due to an agreement that NEMA would offset the restart costs, including building factories, with the understanding that weapons produced at that plant would come at a reduced cost until NEMA recouped their investment +15%, Litton/Intel built manufacturing facilities in the Mexico Protectorate of Cuba in order to bring in more jobs and raise the standard of living in that nation. In addition the crystals were manufactured in a plant on the Yucatan Peninsula, and the synthetic plastic parts were manufactured in Canada.

In 2081 the rifle began being mass-produced, and went through 3 years of field testing in order to make it serviceable and acceptable for deployment. Among the problems were poor laser cleaning of the focusing crystals, shoddily built power conduits (which were manufactured in Litton/Intel's Portland, OR facility), and faulty circuitry for fire control. It took nearly three years, instead of the typical 6 months, until the weapon was finally released to NEMA. However, the weapon they received was far superior to the design specifications they had originally delivered to Litton/Intel.

The LRS-250 comes with an integral energy canister, giving the weapon improved battlefield endurance, as well as a built in multi-function scope, a standard energy clip insertion point, a built in sidecar laser targeting scope with variable frequency, a buttstock cleaning/emergency kit, and could handle heavy g-shocks, electro-magnetic pulses up to the 750W range, handle water submersion, and was usable in wildly varying climates, from -45 degrees F to 145 degrees F, as well as showing limited component heat wear after extended use under those conditions.

The weapon uses 6 sided crystal matrix for laser focusing, with a 2.5 cm lens aprature. The crystal can be replaced by a trained operator in under 12 seconds under field conditions if it should be damaged, and the weapon can often compensate for a damaged crystal and put out a decreased energy bolt, but fire all the same.

The casing is a flat gray, with light gray pistol grips. The pistol grip has a plasticized compression grip, allowing the weapon to be used by those in armor or cyborgs, and includes a magnetic sub-plate, allowing ease of use and tight grip by power armor soldiers or agents in armor that have magnetic grip capability. The pistol grip can be easily detached and in case of emergency can be replaced with the grip from the MIP-21 or the PLP-20 when emergency field repairs are needed.

The energy canister contains heavy impact shielding, as well as a significant amount of capacitance gel. However, the gel is susceptible to ionization, much like vibro-weapons, so the ability to quick charge the canister has been disabled by inline current governors.

The forward grip is a light, deformable synthetic plastic, that allows the weapon to be tightly held to increase accuracy, The grip can have a bipod locked onto the front of it in order to increase weapon stability for long range shots or laser target designation.

The fire selection lever can be operated from either side, allowing ease of use by right and left handed firers. In addition, due to a data sheet printing error, the rifle has the capability to engage soft targets and non-hardened targets without the massive damage that the two primary settings inflict. However, there is no annotation on the weapon itself, rather there is a slight click between safe and low power, so the weapon can be fired to cause only minor damage. The pulse setting was repeatedly attempted to be implemented, but due to the 6 sided crystal matrix of synthetic ruby, the weapon was unable to benefit from rapid bursts as the ionization of the crystal did not dissipate fast enough.

The sight, mounted on the upper rear, is built into the weapon. It provides UV/IR/Nightvision, and magnification up to 10X normal vision. In addition, use of the IR2 setting allows the laser designator to be seen only by the user of the scope, the modulating frequency of the laser targeter automatically matched by the scope, preventing flickering or just plain not being seen.

The laser targeting scope, mounted on the side of the barrel, has three selections: IR1/IR2/LD. IR1 is a standard visible spectrum laser that places a dot where the bolt will hit. IR2 is a modulating frequency IR beam that will rapidly disappear and flicker to viewers using IR, but remains in sight via the scope on the rifle. LD is the laser designator, providing a beam that laser guided munitions can easily follow.

The "slave ports" that allow the weapon to be attached to a belt carried power pack or power armor exist on both sides of the weapon, allowing for ease of use by right or left handed shooters, but cannot be put in to use together, as the computer control circuitry overrides and locks out one port until the other is no longer receiving a charge. However, many long ranger operatives will hook each port to separate belt packs, allowing the weapon to be fired without reloading times when the first pack runs out of energy.

The buttpack contains two space focusing crystals, tools needed to disassemble the weapon, disposable wipes for wiping down circuitry, a wire saw, the bipod (folded up), and is where extra lens caps for both the barrel and the scope are stored.

During the Cataclysm, this weapon was often shelved in order for soldiers to carry weapons providing more firepower, however this weapon often remained in service with snipers and recon patrols, as its high accuracy and durability (It was actually designed to work in areas suffering volcanic activity!) made it a reliable and powerful weapon.

In Rifts Earth, this weapon is seen as another "legacy weapon" that the CS turns a blind eye toward. This weapon can often be found in rural farms, in an abandoned building, or found in an arms cache from the Cataclysm days. Squiddies are very fond of this rifle, as they were armed with it when they joined the NEMA cause.

Some units replace the 6-sided synthetic ruby with a 6 sided synthetic emerald for underwater work, and still others replace the ruby with 8 sided synthetic ruby crystal lattices, giving it comparable firepower to the LGR-360 and only increasing the weight by 2 ounces.

Weight: 5 lbs
Length: 39.6"
Caliber: 2.5 cm
Maximum Range: 2500m (7500 ft)
Maximum Effective Range: 1000m (3000 ft)
Typical Combat Range: 450m (1350 ft)
Magazine Capacity: 21 shots light/10 heavy shots via standard magazine, 36 light shots/15 heavy shots via extended magazine, internal canister provides 120 light shots or 75 heavy shots, belt power pack provides 168 light shots or 84 heavy shots.