u/VitallyRaccoon

Conscripts in the 3rd nation rarely get the best equipment. While the situation is not quite so dire as depicted by films such as Enemy At The Gate, access to resources in the communist state is paradoxically highly stratified. More so than lacking equipment, the 3rd nation concerns itself deeply with the ‘correct’ distribution of resources, getting equipment to those who most represent the nations collectivist ideals. This leads to volunteers and career military receiving the best of the best the state has to offer, while those conscripted are left to pick over the dregs. Occasionally, this results in non-sense allocations. Like an avian volunteer receiving a scoped rifle he has no hope of using. In situations like this, while equipment trades are greatly frowned upon, it is not uncommon for volunteers to engage in some long term loans, exchanging equipment they're unable to effectively use with lucky conscripts who have something to offer. For one particular pair of soldiers, this exchange took on a strange twist. Fynyc, a gold medal avian aerialist originally intended to serve as a recon bird, was mis-assigned to a sniper unit. The bird -given a scoped MD-30 and sent to the front found himself in hell, neck deep in a meat grinder he was never capable of serving in.

Vitally, a conscript of the 3rd nation found himself in much the same position, although in his case -a skilled mouser and accomplished small game hunter, found himself deployed with no effective arm. Instead, instructed to push in to the trenches behind a group of well equipped volunteers who would keep Vitally's unit safe until they could reach a forward arming point. The tactic falters, and the young raccoon, terrified and panicking, skittered into a side street and into a series of abandoned apartments overlooking the streets below. The very same building Fynyc was cowering with his rifle in.

The pair meet and after a tense minute of negotiation a deal is struck, Vitally gets the gun, but only so long as he promises to keep Fynyc alive until the bureaucratic fuckup is resolved and Fynyc returns to flying. Vitally agrees, and with his rifle secured it seems likely the young raccoon will survive the next couple of hours.

More than a year later, Vitally and his odd avian spotter have made a name for themselves amongst the 3rd forces and were officially members of the 3rd nation's volunteer sniper corps. “Honorary reindeer.” accepted among the highly species specific corps. Fynyc and Vitally would serve across marksman disciplines for the 3 years of their service in Das-k, operating as snipers, anti tank rifle gunners, and in the waning years of the conflict as forward-of-the-front snipers targeting fascist officers and rear line logistics rather than supporting troops on the front.

Out of Character Thoughts:

One of the greatest challenges I face working on my project is balancing coding and authorial shorthand against maintaining the integrity of the setting. Senvar is not earth, and while convergent design allows a lot of familiarity between the equipment my characters interact with and the equipment we have here on earth, its utterly immersion breaking to have characters directly use an earth weapon. While elements of my world building are clearly inspired by the real world, Das-K being furry Stalingrad for example, there has to be a distinction, both visually and in nomenclature. But if you push the design too far away from an earth equivalent you lose the narrative efficiency of the coding audience members will ascribe to a given design. These firearms are an experiment to try and find the balance between recognizable historic firearms readers will understand intuitively, and entirely unique designs.

I've tried to include unique design language common to my world building, such as a muzzle break on the rifle to make it more accessible to the diminutive species of Varian who make up the majority of the 3rd nation (and senvar's population in general). Or the mixture of ambidextrous controls on the VSD showcasing the 3rds horseshoe slip into pseudo hyper individualism as a corruption of the more pure communist ideology espoused on paper by the nation

Conscripts in the 3rd nation rarely get the best equipment. While the situation is not quite so dire as depicted by films such as Enemy At The Gate, access to resources in the communist state is paradoxically highly stratified. More so than lacking equipment, the 3rd nation concerns itself deeply with the ‘correct’ distribution of resources, getting equipment to those who most represent the nations collectivist ideals. This leads to volunteers and career military receiving the best of the best the state has to offer, while those conscripted are left to pick over the dregs. Occasionally, this results in non-sense allocations. Like an avian volunteer receiving a scoped rifle he has no hope of using. In situations like this, while equipment trades are greatly frowned upon, it is not uncommon for volunteers to engage in some long term loans, exchanging equipment they're unable to effectively use with lucky conscripts who have something to offer. For one particular pair of soldiers, this exchange took on a strange twist. Fynyc, a gold medal avian aerialist originally intended to serve as a recon bird, was mis-assigned to a sniper unit. The bird -given a scoped MD-30 and sent to the front found himself in hell, neck deep in a meat grinder he was never capable of serving in.

Vitally, a conscript of the 3rd nation found himself in much the same position, although in his case -a skilled mouser and accomplished small game hunter, found himself deployed with no effective arm. Instead, instructed to push in to the trenches behind a group of well equipped volunteers who would keep vitally's unit safe until they could reach a forward arming point. The tactic falters, and the young raccoon, terrified and panicking, skittered into a side street and into a series of abandoned apartments overlooking the streets below. The very same building Fynyc was cowering with his rifle in.

The pair meet and after a tense minute of negotiation a deal is struck, Vitally gets the gun, but only so long as he promises to keep fynyc alive until the bureaucratic fuckup is resolved and Fynyc returns to flying. Vitally agrees, and with his rifle secured it seems likely the young raccoon will survive the next couple of hours.

More than a year later, Vitally and his odd avian spotter have made a name for themselves amongst the 3rd forces and were officially members of the 3rd nation's volunteer sniper corps. “Honorary reindeer.” accepted among the highly species specific corps. Fynyc and Vitally would serve across marksman disciplines for the 3 years of their service in Das-k, operating as snipers, anti tank rifle gunners, and in the waning years of the conflict as forward-of-the-front snipers targeting fascist officers and rear line logistics rather than supporting troops on the front.

Out of Character Thoughts:

One of the greatest challenges I face working on my project is balancing coding and authorial shorthand against maintaining the integrity of the setting. Senvar is not earth, and while convergent design allows a lot of familiarity between the equipment my characters interact with and the equipment we have here on earth, its utterly immersion breaking to have characters directly use an earth weapon. While elements of my world building are clearly inspired by the real world, Das-K being furry stalingrad for example, there has to be a distinction, both visually and in nomenclature. But if you push the design too far away from an earth equivalent you lose the narrative efficiency of the coding audience members will ascribe to a given design. These firearms are an experiment to try and find the balance between recognizable historic firearms readers will understand intuitively, and entirely unique designs.

I've tried to include unique design language common to my world building, such as a muzzle break on the rifle to make it more accessible to the diminutive species of Varian who make up the majority of the 3rd nation (and senvar's population in general). Or the mixture of ambidextrous controls on the VSD showcasing the 3rds horseshoe slip into pseudo hyper individualism as a corruption of the more pure communist ideology espoused on paper by the nation

Nuclear war redefines the boundaries of civilization; A world once explored and conquered becomes wild once again, and an environment once thought safe grows new fangs.

The LEC-770B 'Mathan' (Bear) is a unique modernization of a war era paratrooper bus. Originally intended as a semi-disposable way to drop the 1st nation's finest into the meat grinder, the LEC-770 found new life in the post war world as a highly capable pioneer aircraft. The Beith (Bravo) conversion represents a top-to-bottom refit of the airframe; equipped with new engines, new avionics, and 10 feet of new fuselage spliced into the original design, the 770B is designed for hardcore remote operations.

At some 110ft in length, the 770B is designed for two tasks; Landing anywhere, and taking large amounts of cargo to that anywhere.

Fully loaded, the bear requires only 500 meters to stop, and uniquely carries onboard the systems to develop 0/0 (zero visibility, zero ceiling) approach procedures to any suitably flat location. To achieve this seemingly impossible task, the aircraft is equipped with more than a dozen sensor systems; including traditional and synthetic aperture radar, LiDAR, LaDAR, and range gated imaging, highly sensitive barometric, Magnetic, optical and thermographic cameras. The aircraft includes computer systems to develop and transmit approach plates for other aircraft for any available approach technology.

To make use of existing engine logistics, the 770s original radial piston engines are replaced by the HCH-321 heron's and MAH-48 Red Kite's turboshaft engines. These engines, while specifically designed for helicopters, simplify the logistics of the LEC-770B fleet to something any airbase of forward operating base in the UCC can support.

the UCC produces fewer than a dozen Mathan aircraft, each aircraft is unique, and cost well over 60 billion rand to produce.

Length: 110.5ft

Width: 115ft

height 30ft

empty weight: 60,000lbs

Max takeoff Weight: 120,000lbs

Max payload: 32,000lbs

Range 5,000 Senvarian Nautical Miles (10,000km approx.)

Crew: -1 Pilot (Minimum)

-1 pilot, 1 First Officer, 4 Navigators (Unprepared landing site crew)

passengers: 100 economy class. 60 first class. 40 wasteland equipped soldiers

engines: 2x Coupled Turboshaft Engines @ 4000hp each (2000hp per core).

2x Coupled Turboshaft Engines @ 3000hp each (1500hp per core).

Total: 14,000Hp

ROM-12 "Dragonfly" Utility Gunship

Type: Light Utility VTOL

Manufacturer: ROM Air Weapon Systems

Users: UCC Airforce, UCC Mafia, UCC Navy

Length: 38ft

width: 41ft

Height: 9ft excluding rotors

Empty Weight: 7500lbs

Equipped Weight: 13,000lbs

Max Take-off weight: 15,000Lbs

Max internal payload: 2,500lbs

Max hardpoint payload: 2,000lbs

Max slung payload: 7,500lbs

Maximum Fuel: 2500lbs (375 gallons)

Cruise Speed: 400kt

Maximum Speed: 450kt

Endurance: 3 hours

Range: 1200nm

Primary Weapon: 23mm ghast cannon (x2500rnds)

Secondary Weapon: 4x Hardpoints (Up to 2,000lbs combined stores)

Sensors:

-FLIR/Optical PTZ with laser spot track and laser projector

-Downward Facing LIDAR

-Downward Facing Synthetic Aperture Radar

The ROM-12 "Dragonfly" is a weird beast. It is a small, high-performance tilt-rotor gunship designed to deliver rapid time-on-target fire support in even the most challenging wasteland environment. It's not a particularly well-armed ship, often entering combat with only its chin-mounted 23mm gun. It is however swift and capable of delivering precision fire against all forms of enemy targets, up to and including light and medium amour. While initially intended only as a close support recon gunship, the VTOL saw its mission change midway through development. The VTOL was equipped with a recessed belly hook and sling gear, allowing it to carry over 7,500lbs of cargo externally. This allows the aircraft to function as a light tactical airlifter, bringing supplies and even light vehicles into the field.

When loaded for bear, the dragonfly can carry up to 2,000 pounds of additional ordinance under the wings. Typically these hardpoints are equipped with 64x RTAB-8 anti-tank bombs. However, mixed payloads of 5-inch Folding fin rockets and conventional cluster munitions can be equipped. This turns the dragonfly from a light scout gunship into an anti-infantry monster.

From what I've dubbed a 'contemporary' Science fiction series I'm working, set during the development of aerospace technology on an alien world called Senvar.

From what I've dubbed a 'contemporary' Science fiction series I'm working, set during the development of aerospace technology on an alien world called Senvar.

Medium Attack Helicopter

Crew: 2

Passengers: 6 Externally

Weight (empty): 13,700lbs

Weight (typical): 19,750lbs

Weight (max takeoff): 25,000lbs

Fuel (maximum): 3000lbs

payload (external): 2600lbs

payload (weapons): 2600lbs

Cruise Airspeed: 150kias

Never Exceed Airspeed (benches closed): 170kias

Never Exceed Airspeed (benches Deployed): 150kias

Never Exceed Airspeed (troops): 90kias

Service ceiling: 18,700ft

Hover ceiling IGE: 17,00ft

Hover ceiling OGE: 13,800ft

Engine: 2x Coupled Turboshaft Engines @ 2500hp each (1250hp per core). 5000hp total

Fuel consumption (full throttle): 1800lb/h

Fuel consumption (typical OGE hover): 880lb/h

Fuel consumption (typical IGE hover): 786lb/h

Fuel consumption (typical en route): 700lb/h

Combat endurance: 3.0 hours Range: 645nmi straight line, 250nmi radius

Armament:

2x 3 position troop benches

1x NS-37 37mm revolver cannon

1x NS-2-23 23mm twin-barrel autocannon in turret

24x unguided rockets (Optional)

The MAH-48 Red Kite is the UCC's primary ground attack aircraft, seeing use by every national force that fields combat aircraft. Users include the UCC mafia (40x), UCC Public Air Force (x400), and the UCC Special Air Wing (x48), the latter being entirely comprised of Red Kite variants. The Red Kite is a workhorse, rated for operations in all wasteland and habitable environments at altitudes up to 18,700ft, making it the only combat VTOL capable of operating even at the peak of the UCC's tallest mountains. The Red Kite is such a staple, it's rare to spend time in any UCC city without encountering at least a two-ship of these aircraft on patrol.

Unlike later developments, the Red Kite is a more lightly armed aircraft than the rotary-wing fighters developed during the Union air crisis. Generally, when patrolling friendly airspace the helicopter is equipped only with its guns, its bench weapon mounts stowed to improve endurance and reduce noise. During low-intensity operations both guns are loaded with non-explosive ammunition; the 37mm cannon fit with a basic APCR projectile and the gimbal-mounted gun with frangible lead-free projectiles. This enables the helicopter to engage non-military (wildlife and wasteland) targets with minimal risk of collateral damage.

During combat operations the Red Kite maintains its two guns, both re-fit with proper military ammunition; HE/API Dual feed for the 37mm and HEAPI-T in the 23mm. In addition to its guns, the aircraft can also don various mission-specific loads; Generally unguided rockets provide light and medium intensity CAS capabilities. However, Unlike most contemporary gunships the MAH-48 fills a unique dual role, with dedicated CAS as an afterthought. Rather than operating as a tasked unit -deployed when needed- the Red Kite acts as an embedded troop transport and fire support vehicle much like an APC or IFV. A pair of MAH-48's carry a squad of eight, as well as an attached 4 man FAC/JTAC unit to provide targeting information to the gunships during ground operations.

Heli-born troops, deployed either by the MAH-48 or other rotary-wing aircraft make up the majority of the UCC's regular and special forces, allowing rapid deployment of front-line troops throughout the vast swaths of contested wasteland between the UCC and Union.

From what I've dubbed a 'contemporary' Science fiction series I'm working, set during the development of aerospace technology on an alien world called Senvar.

-Crew (Standard): 5 (Pilot, Co-pilot, Medic, Crew Chief, Door Gunner)

-Crew (SSOD CSAR): 7 (Pilot, Co-pilot, Chief Medical Flight Officer, Flight Surgeon, 2x Combat Medic, Junior Combat Medic)

Passengers: 20 Internal (Maximum)

Weight (empty): 12,200lbs

Weight (typical): 25,750lbs

Weight (max takeoff): 29,000lbs

Fuel (maximum): 4000lbs

payload (external): 3500lbs

payload (weapons): 3000lbs

Cruise Airspeed: 150kias

Never Exceed Airspeed: 170kias

Service ceiling: 17,500ft

Hover ceiling IGE: 15,000ft

Hover ceiling OGE: 10,800ft

Engine: 2x Coupled Turboshaft Engines @ 3000hp each (1500hp per core). 6000hp total

Fuel consumption (full throttle): 2000lb/h

Fuel consumption (typical OGE hover): 980lb/h

Fuel consumption (typical IGE hover): 812lb/h

Fuel consumption (typical en route): 720lb/h

Combat endurance: 5.0 hours

Range: 750nmi straight line, 320nmi radius

Armament: 6x pylons (4x hot pylons, 2x cold pylons)

1x NS-37 37mm revolver cannon

2x NS-338-6 Rotary Door Guns

-Or-

1x NS-37 37mm revolver cannon

1x NS-15 15mm UHMG

1x NS-338-6 Rotary Door Gun

The HCH-321 Black Heron is a unique combination of medium cargo helicopter and front line combatant. Designed to provide direct front line logistics, transportation, and fire support to infantry in combat, the Heron carries a significant amount of armor as well as a powerful offensive weapons load. In its standard configuration the aircraft is capable of carrying 20 personnel across 5 rows. In practice however this payload is often de-rated to accommodate additional weapons, fuel, and performance. Used primarily by the Special Support Operations Division, this helicopter often receives a souped-up engine package and additional heavy armor. This additional armor makes the aircraft all over resistant to anything lighter than a 14.5x114 mm, with some areas rated to stop 23mm anti aircraft fire. In addition to supporting troops in combat, the HCH-321 serves as a multi-role special support helicopter, used to exfil casualties, POWs, and other high value assets as well as deliver engineering troops anywhere in the wasteland In practice the Heron is a guardian angle to most, a patty wagon for others, and all around respected by its crew. Every Heron pilot has seen combat and the aircraft's survivors often adorn their uniform with an embroidered Black Heron patch even after progressing onto other aircraft.

Final update with the front view of the aircraft. This time equipped with 6x 500lb unguided bombs.

To read more about the aircraft check out the original post or the spec-ops version!

An updated version of the HCH-321 art with a top view

-Crew (Standard): 5 (Pilot, Co-pilot, Medic, Crew Chief, Door Gunner)
-Crew (SSOD CSAR): 7 (Pilot, Co-pilot, Chief Medical Flight Officer, Flight Surgeon, 2x Combat Medic, Junior Combat Medic)

Passengers: 20 Internal (Maximum)

Weight (empty): 12,200lbs
Weight (typical): 25,750lbs
Weight (max takeoff): 29,000lbs

Fuel (maximum): 4000lbs

payload (external): 3500lbs
payload (weapons): 3000lbs

Cruise Airspeed: 150kias
Never Exceed Airspeed: 170kias

Service ceiling: 17,500ft
Hover ceiling IGE: 15,000ft
Hover ceiling OGE: 10,800ft
Engine: 2x Coupled Turboshaft Engines @ 3000hp each (1500hp per core). 6000hp total

Fuel consumption (full throttle): 2000lb/h
Fuel consumption (typical OGE hover): 980lb/h
Fuel consumption (typical IGE hover): 812lb/h
Fuel consumption (typical en route): 720lb/h

Combat endurance: 5.0 hours
Range: 750nmi straight line, 320nmi radius

Armament: 6x pylons (4x hot pylons, 2x cold pylons)
1x NS-37 37mm revolver cannon
2x NS-338-6 Rotary Door Guns

-Or-

1x NS-37 37mm revolver cannon
1x NS-15 15mm UHMG
1x NS-338-6 Rotary Door Gun

The HCH-321 Black Heron is a unique combination of medium cargo helicopter and front line combatant. Designed to provide direct front line logistics, transportation, and fire support to infantry in combat, the Heron carries a significant amount of armor as well as a powerful offensive weapons load. In its standard configuration the aircraft is capable of carrying 20 personnel across 5 rows. In practice however this payload is often de-rated to accommodate additional weapons, fuel, and performance. Used primarily by the Special Support Operations Division, this helicopter often receives a souped-up engine package and additional heavy armor. This additional armor makes the aircraft all over resistant to anything lighter than a 14.5x114 mm, with some areas rated to stop 23mm anti aircraft fire. In addition to supporting troops in combat, the HCH-321 serves as a multi-role special support helicopter, used to exfil casualties, POWs, and other high value assets as well as deliver engineering troops anywhere in the wasteland In practice the Heron is a guardian angle to most, a patty wagon for others, and all around respected by its crew. Every Heron pilot has seen combat and the aircraft's survivors often adorn their uniform with an embroidered Black Heron patch even after progressing onto other aircraft.

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WELL! It turns out that drawing is really hard.

First character drawing of mine.

Meet:

Scoti MacRuaidhrí

Gender: Male

Orientation: Gay

Height: 5'10 (178cm)

Weight: 175Lbs (79kg)

Species: Sciurus Vulgaris

Born During: Great War Era (7GW)

Too young to see military service during the great war, Scoti MacRuaidhrí is a laid back, forever student currently persuing his PhD in chemical engineering. Born to a Squarely middle class family far from any military front, Scoti was spared the worst of his generations tramas and grew up in a world recovering from nuclear war; not besieged by it.

Working as a Waiter at a restaurant famous for its mafia ties, Scoti uses his high-for-industry wage to focus most of his time on bettering himself, his friends, and in persuit of his hobbies. Cheif among his hobbies is the dying art of commercial hunting, where he manages a game reserve in the post war wasteland large enough to provide a small percentage of the UCC's fine game supply, and more than 20% of its wild caught meat.

Looking for some feedback on this design. I've been hacking away at graphic design through sheer force of will for a few years, and I find I really enjoy this logo as a patch or laser engraving.

Finally feeling a little less precious about it. What elements could I improve with this design in the context of a patch or marking?

I took a crack at a logo for a fictional manufacturing conglomerate in my novel project. I tried primarily to take inspiration from High-tech and military industrial firms of the 80s-2000s. Im pretty happy with this one! Very new to logo design and have been mostly searching for my own artistic language.

Chambered in the dedicated hunting cartridge 9.27x74mmR and manufactured in shocking small quantities, the ROM-365-2 is a unique firearm prized by hunters the world over. Each gun is meticulously hand fit to its user, and stands as a unique, personal attestation of the users style and skill. Dangerous game hunting is very rare on senvar, and weapons like this exist in the dozens, not hundreds.

As an author the intention is to explore weapons in my world that exist not as tools of war, but tools of personal expression. This particular rifle belongs to a hunter by the name of Scoti MacRuaidhrí, a happy go-lucky squirrel waiter at the local fine dining restaurant. His game is often the centerpiece of the restaurants menu.

Gender: Male

Height: 6'1" (185.4cm)

Weight: 145Lbs (65kg)

Species: Raccoon Mutt

Born During: The Great War (-27GW)

Occupation: Conscript, Pilot, Politician

-Military Service: 10 Years (3 Conscripted, 7 Volunteer)

-Mafia Service: 4 Years - Founder, Leader

-Mafia Service: 45 years - Head of Red District Security

Highest Merit Achieved: Don

Aircraft Flown (In Chronological Order):

1. PU-2 "Donkey" Crop Duster (230h Lifetime)
2. BR-200 MultiLifter (7,500h Lifetime)
3. CCV ALKA Zeppelin (175h Lifetime)

Born to a widowed mother, Vitally's childhood years were almost idyllic. The young kit never knew wealth, or ever felt the lack of it beyond his duties to his small loving family. From age 8 he was tasked with putting food on the table; form foraged berries to small game half vaporized by his fathers cavalry rifle Vitally took to poor rural life with abandon. The northern town of Pechora was a farming village, and allowed the raccoon access to one luxury few his age ever got to enjoy; crop dusting. Not long after Vitally ventured from his mothers lap to start collecting game he began making friends around town, including local farmers that would trade an hour or two in their planes for Vitally's ill shot game. These trades where, ultimately altruistic in nature. Even as Vitally's aim improved the goal was to give this young male kit a fighting chance at survival. All young men in the 3rd nation eventually left for the war. Those that left in cattle cars as infantry rarely returned, although those with marketable skills such as the ability to fly, they often became war hero's. A fate the women of Pechora wished to assure vitally.

Their efforts were for naught however, On Vitally's 13th birthday he was drafted into the 3rd nation army as a conscript, his birthday falling too far into winter for the fighter schools to consider taking him. He would go on to spend three bitter years in the streets of Das-K, fighting first as an infantry man and later as a sniper through the ruined city.

Unlike so many, Vitally survived the war and would flee to west, going AWOL for the remainder of the increasingly vicious world war. He'd later serve as a mercenary pilot on the CCV ALKA turbozeppelin. This role would see him pivotal in the nuclear demise of his world.

My first digital painting, took a crack at an expie inspired by the 'fluffy neck' vs 'double ears' art by Eraptor

Intended for deployment in the lush red and yellow foothills and prairie farmlands of the eastern UCC the 'Antho Woodland' camouflage pattern emulates the colors and texture of anthocyanin rich foliage common to these regions. Mirroring fall colors here on earth, antho-woodland biomes are most prevalent in inland regions where Senvar receives the most intense 'worklight' from its resident red giant star. While this light contributes relatively little thermal energy to the planets eco systems, its near IR glow is enough to kill most plants not evolved to its near constant presence in the sky.

The above equipment is typical of an active duty solider in the UCC's public and professional militaries. The uniform is designed to provide protection and concealment not only from the elements, but also from lingering CBRN contamination left behind by the great war.

From left to right:

1. Contamination Resistant "CR" base later: Designed to protect the user against contamination by physical threats such as toxic or radioactive particles, the base layer is worn at all times when in the field.
2. Mid-layer: Presentable day-to-day clothing suitable for off duty time and activities on base. Provides thermal and ware resistance against heavier outer garments.
3. Full Uniform: Base stab-resistant, fire-resistant, and contamination repelling uniform jacket and reinforced pants.
4. Multi-Plate Species Adaptive Armor: A modular, expanding armor system designed to provide uniform protection across Varians of all shapes and sizes, the model shown is a 9-plate configuration common to medium and large Varian species. Smaller Varians typically ware reduced 3 or 5 plate vests, which offer the same protection level scaled to cover their smaller critical organs. Very large Varians like bears or big cats custom order bespoke 10-12 plate carriers to contend with their larger frames and internal organs. MPSAA armor is available in various ratings, and while PUBFOR armor ratings don't directly match earth NIJ standards they typically offer protection equivalent to 3A, 3, and 3+ standards. These armor plates are designed to be lightweight and are typically manufactured from plastics and titanium.
5. Magazines and IHARM: UCC soldiers typically carry between 6 and 10 15-round magazines for their primary service rifle. Soldiers carrying lighter arms like the LPW-38 often double or triple the magazine count. additional networking and personal safety equipment like the IHARM: The Individual Hazardous Atmosphere Radiation Monitor and datalink enabled PDA allow troops to communicate and coordinate even in hostile wasteland environments.

Art by the incredible Gauthier on X/BlueSky
Characters an concepts are all original work by myself