Rifts Up Close: LGR-360 Laser Grenade Rifle

By Tim Willard

While the US and Canadian military used modular designs for their combat rifles, NEMA chose to simply add in a heavy rifle with indirect fire capabilities built into the weapon rather than field the modular system. Many members of NEMA were not in fact military, but instead police officers, SWAT specialists, intelligence agents, and firemen, despite the name "Northern Eagle Military Alliance". The organization was tasked with fighting terrorists, responding to hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions (including the famed Mexico City Eruption of 2041). Modular weapon systems take extensive training and practice, and NEMA chose to forgo that in favor of a heavy weapon that only select members of a fire team would need to be trained on.

The initial choice of NEMA was the Dow/Chrysler Laser Fusion Systems Rifle, but field tests showed that a sharp impact on the fusion containment system would cause the magnetic bottle to fail, often with catastrophic results (six NEMA Future Warfighter Program testers were killed in less than 30 days from fusion bottle ruptures) and so the weapon was dropped from the program, despite the heavy damage output from the weapon and it's extended battlefield endurance. The LFS was sold to Peruvian military forces, who added in a failsafe feature to the micro-fusion plant, but the weapon still had the disconcerting habit of detonating at times for reasons unknown.

Out of the field tests, a 2 year exercise in which hundreds of NEMA Future Warfighter Program testers used the weapons in every environment imaginable and under extreme conditions that were often accused of only existing in the minds of the testing directors (Which later would become the defacto battlefield of Chaos Earth), resulted in the Litton/Gerber LGR-360 Laser Rifle/Grenade Launcher combination being chosen for use.

The forward frame is manufactured at the Gerber Canada Ontario plant, the lower receiver is manufactured in central Mexico, with the laser crystals being manufactured in the Dominican Republic, and the circuitry manufactured at the Litton Grass Valley plant as well as the Gerber Corpus Christi plant. The weapon is assembled at the Litton/Gerber manufacturing plant on the Baja California Peninsula.

The LGR-360 is a sturdy and reliable weapon, able to function after repeated abuse and with minimal maintenance, even under the harshest conditions. (Including the famed subarctic volcanic eruption test that washed out roughly 80% of the contenders)

The frame and moving parts are made up of synthetic plastics and lightweight molecularly bonded alloys, with all moving parts surfaces coated with Nu-Teflon alloy in order to lower wear on the grenade launcher parts. The frame is a dark gray, with light gray grips. The buttstock contains the standard maintenance compartment containing the buttkit that allows the user to maintain it under field conditions without needing the services of a unit armorer for minor repairs.

The sight lenses have non-reflecting coating to avoid "lens flash" during covert situations, and the sight is much more studier than it looks, capable of withstanding up to a 9G shock, or a direct impact by small arms fire without failing. (In one instance a counter-sniper using a chemical firearm shot at the teams sniper, hitting the lens, and not even scratching it)

The underslung grenade launcher has an internal magazine capable of holding 7 14mm micro-grenades, and although NEMA doctrine frowns on it, many operatives carry the weapon with a grenade loaded into the chamber, bringing to total rounds carried by the weapon to eight. However, the grenade launcher is known to misfire upon receiving a hard jolt, and more than report of the weapon going off when dropped, or when an operative dove to the prone position and the weapon struck the ground sharply. NEMA Directive 97564-A specifically forbids the weapon to be carried with a grenade loaded into the chamber.

The buttstock is the common collapsible version, able to adjust within a six inch space, extending it as far as 3 inches beyond normal setting to three inches shorter. When stored in a weapons rack, the buttstock is always compressed to its shortest length.

Behind the sight, on the top of the weapon, is an access panel that allows the weapon to be hooked into a smart frame firing system, as well as be linked to a power pack or power armor power port. In addition a unit armorer can change the frequency of the laser rifle manually via this access panel. In addition the weapon can have the variable frequency circuitry added into the weapon via this access port, of course the manual adjustment circuitry and the smartframe interface chipsets have to be removed. In addition to this a cable can be run from the panel to a soldier's HUD interface socket in order to use a suit of armor's HUD to assist in targeting.

The scope itself provides passive nightvision, IR, UV, telescopic sighting, indirect firing angle assistance, rangefinder, and variable IR vision. In addition the scope selector function can be used via button on top of the scope, trigger tap, eyelid blinking selection, or armor HUD interlink. The indirect fire assistance is used by setting the crosshairs over a target and selecting it, then selecting 12mm grenade launcher. The onboard computer will compute the firing angle, and show the angle in the scope. Once the weapon is lifted to the correct angle, a tone will sound within the user's helmet, or the sight picture will flash a "LOCKED" LED in the upper right corner. The Variable IR is for use with the laser target designator, where the IR beam rapidly cycles through frequencies to avoid being seen by enemy soldiers equipped with IR vision enhancement. The scope is automatically synched to the variable IR targeter, allowing the user to use the beam without any difficulty.

When attached to a helmet HUD, the firer may use any fire support systems in the armor to assist targeting with the weapon. In addition, the sight picture can either be placed in front of the eyes, or in the upper corner of the HUD, allowing the user to extend the weapon over/around cover and get an accurate sight view of what the terrain is, or the actions of enemy personnel without exposing themselves.

The grenade launcher is a 12mm grenade launcher, with an intergal magazine that can contain up to seven grenades. The grenades are loaded into the clip from the bottom of the launcher, with the cocking mechanism in the forward position. The weapon reloads with a manual cocking mechanism much like 20th Century shotguns. This system has shown to be easily fouled by volcanic ash if care is not taken to clean the system regularly. One design flaw allows the grenades to be loaded backwards by inattentive operaters, and this flaw was corrected in the A1 series released in 2087, in addition to an after-factory modification kit allowing the problem to be fixed at a unit armorer level. The grenade launcher uses the same safety mechanism and trigger as the laser rifle portion.

The 12mm grenades are electrically fired rounds containing chemical propellant in solid form, negating the existence of spent shell casings. However, if the weapon is loaded improperly, the grenade fires into the rifle itself, often detonating the energy clip as well as destroying the weapon in a hail of shrapnel. However, in 2089 the grenades were modified for a heavier payload, the removal of the propellant, and are fired via magnetic acceleration, this A2 version had only replaced 60% of the stock by the time of the Cataclysm. However, not all units went to the A2, as the grenade launcher could not be used without an energy source, and each grenade launch used up a single shot worth the energy.

The laser focusing matrix is synthetic diamond, "grown" in an 8-sided crystal and laser "cleaned" of doping elements within the crystal. Use does degrade due to firing, and has an estimated life of 125,000 shots before degradation of the focusing crystal begins to affect the weapon's performance. However, the scope does signal that the crystal is starting to decay by flashing a yellow LED in the lower right of the scope picture. The crystal can be replaced in under 15 seconds by a trained operator under battlefield conditions.

The weapon can be set to burst setting, however the burst setting puts additional wear on the crystal focusing matrix. The burst setting allows time for ionized air in front of the weapon from degrading the following laser "bolts" by allowing a split second for ionization to dissipate.

The LGR-360 also has a flange on the bottom of the handgrip that was overlooked in standard datasheets. This flange allows the weapon to be hooked into power armor or smartframe equipped mounts and the combat computer of either one to use the scope for additional data. Additionally, the trigger assembly can be slid forward to lock onto the "clip" just to the rear of the magazine well so that the weapon can be used by heavy cyborgs or power armor troopers.

The buttkit contains a cleaning kit, 1 extra focusing crystal, tools to disassemble the weapon, a small camouflage net to camouflage the weapon, as well as a plastic sheeting to protect the weapon's optics during sand storms.

One of the noted problems with this weapon, in addition to the problems with the grenade launcher, is that the fire selector is only on the left side of the weapon, making it more difficult to use for left handed firers. Additionally the weapon often becomes stuck in one firing mode or the other after approximately 6 months of service, and often after 12 months of service (without proper maintenance and service) the weapon has a tendency to "stick", with burst fire mode producing fully automatic fire until the energy source is depleted. In very rare cases it fires a solid lasing "beam" until either the focusing crystal shatters or the energy source is depleted.

Variants:
LGR-360A3
This weapon possesses a canister energy cell like the one mounted on the LSR-250, however it was contracted for production in 2097 and less than 15% of NEMA forces have been equipped with these upgraded variants.

The addition of the canister cell adds 1.25 lbs to the weapon's weight.

During Chaos Earth and the Second Dark Ages, this weapon was a mainstay of combat forces. Regular maintenance kept down the "lasing problem" and grenades were easily manufactured.

In Rifts Earth this is considered a legacy weapon, however the Coalition States demands that the grenade launcher and the burst fire mode of the weapon be deactivated and registered as such with the databases. This weapon is often found in ruins, in caches, and in the New West, and is considered a steady and reliable weapon, although often the variable frequency circuitry is missing, as well as the mounting data-flange being missing.

Weight: 7 lbs (unloaded) 7.3 lbs (loaded) 8.1 lbs (with grenades)
Length: 40.14"
Caliber: 2.75cm/12mm
Maximum Range: 2000m/500m (6000/1500 ft)(grenade launcher-propellant rounds) or 750m (2250 ft)(grenade launcher-magnetic launching)
Maximum Effective Range: 750m/300m (2250 ft/900 ft) (grenade launcher-propellant) or 500m (1500 ft)(grenade launcher-magnetic launching)
Typical Combat Range: 450m (1350 ft)
Magazine Capacity: 420 low power/21 single blasts/6 bursts from eclip, 630 low power shots/ 31 single shots/9 bursts from an extended e-clip, internal canister provides 2000 low power shots/100 single blasts/33 bursts, belt power pack provides 3000 low power shots/147 single shots/49 bursts. The grenade launcher holds 7 in the magazine (9 for the A2)