Marine

good point, and btw it isent prob even 50 calibers, its the future so its prob some new metal type with even bigger impact

 

or we could put a sharp edge on the rifle instead of the bayonet

 

True. But it would probably be more effective if it was an "energy" beam similar to a light sabre so they could simply swing it, etc.....

We have absolutely no information on the size of the round that the Marines fire, but based on the Cinematics, I wouldn't think it was a .50 round.

 

It's a gauss rifle, so the gun would probably be bigger anyways. Looking at the size of the hole, though, I'd say it's at least 50 cal.

 

Yes, but simply from the amount of kickback, it probably wouldn't be all that effective to use the .50 cal ammunition. Even with the enhancements, the gun's recoil would be pretty dastardly.

Of course, it's quite possible. None of us really know the limitations of a Marine's suit.

I would expect their weapon to just fire around 5.56mm (M16/CAR15... this is the standard round for the American military rifles) rounds in order to increase accuracy. It's not all in the size of the bullet. It also has a lot to do with the velocity and what the bullet is designed to do on contact. For example, a cupronickel jacketed bullet will leave an extremely small hole but will cause massive internal damage. There are also "yellow-jacket" rounds that will pierce low-scale body armor.

I would assume the Terran would go more for this approach of a smaller, higher velocity round which would travel better in space atmospheres and have a greater amount of accuracy. They would then design their bullets to do the maximum amount of damage possible upon impact. This means having the bullet "mushroom" upon impact and explode within tissue. They might also combine this effect with armor-piercing characteristics.

 

Jon, keep in mind, with a gauss rifle (though the Science Fiction take on it is a little silly.) There technically is no recoil. The round is essentially vacuumed out the barrel at uber speeds by a magnet. There should technically be no muzzle blast, but then you'd be like "wtf, it's not shooting anything." And kickback? They're in cybernetic power suits dude. .50 cal wouldn't do shit.

 

It would still affect the accuracy of the weapon the larger the round is fired.

However, I'm working with earth constrained physics, so things could change, of course. I wasn't aware of how the Terran weapon "worked" lol.

And actually, Earthly military designers have come up with a new type of recoil diminishing firing mechanism which effectly eliminates recoil from the firing of weapons, but it is still not sufficient to allow for the handling of a .50 weapon by a soldier. It's not a strength issue, it's simply that the projectile is huge and thereby the gun will waver when that much weight is released.

And I was under the impression that the power suits were designed to amplify the body's abilities, mostly in a defensive manner, rather than to actually increase their "strength" per se. I thought it would amplify the leverage they would have, but I doubt they would be able to lift a tank, etc.

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Here's the prototype KRISS submachine gun:

[img width=670 height=502]http://www.defensereview.com/stories/kriss/SHOT%20Show%202007%20-%20KRISS%20Super%20V%20System%20Submachine%20Gun%20%28.45%20ACP%29_2.jpg[/img]

As you can see by looking at the metal contraption below the gun, that pin facing toward the barrel is forced backward when fired, which then transfers weight (through simple leverage action) downwards into the handle of the weapon which thereby nearly eliminates the recoil of the weapon. It also counteracts "muzzle-climb" that is usually associated with weapons that can fire automatically. This is one of the first effective submachine guns to successfully (and extremely accurately) fire a .45 caliber round.

In my opinion, the Terrans would be aiming for accuracy primarily, and then for stopping power. After all, it's not going to do you much good if you can't hit the target in the first place because your rifle is inaccurate due to a larger round.

 

the suits also have a firing stance to deal with recoil, which is elaborated in some of the books. According to fluff its firing 8mm rounds at 1800 rounds per minute full auto.

 

There are also electronic guns that give almost or no recoil when shot, and all you have to do is turn it on and touch the trigger I think. Only weakness is a simple battery runout/black out/ EMP. THey showed this on Futureweapons

 

Yeah. See. There ya go. 8mm rounds is pretty darn decent, especially at that rate of fire.

That could be considered a "hail" of bullets. And 8mm ammunition wouldn't cause much of a reduction in accuracy due either to size of the bullet or potential recoil.

@ Zergling , I think you're getting your ideas confused. The recoilless weapon they featured on that show was the KRISS, which I just posted a picture of. They also featured a futuristic communications network (can't remember the acronym, I think it was S.O.L.D.I.E.R., pretty retarded, I know) that consisted of a "mini-map" and a guidance aiming system. But that system didn't deal with recoil.

 

gee jone, you'd think that human weaponry will be at a standstill for the next few centuries

 

Lol. I wasn't suggesting that. But it seems to me that we've already found the optimal way to kill things with metal.

If you want to step it up to lasers and other projectiles, fine. But as of now our current technology is pretty darn efficient with gunpowder and lead.

 

which is where innovation comes in

 

what does any of that have to do with the marines of SC?
they need grenades, what good marine does not at least have one frag on him?

 

Grenades would probably be more of a danger than a helpful tool.

The Terrans rely on firepower, not infantry-infantry combat techniques.

 

What Marines need is an infusion of Red Bull, so they get wings.

 

The marine its need be more fast and more "agile" (sorry my bad english)
And a rage of fire more powerful

 

you could probably knock a good 5 or so zerglings out with a frag.. lets say you only get one of them. they're not value-less in starcraft

 

Grenades are for house-to-house fighting and among obstacles. Not on open ground. That's realistically and story-wise of course.

Otherwise you just plain can't give the Marine an AoE attack.

 

you soooooo can. you just dont like the concept.