MA5 ICWS Series

The MA5 series is the standard-issue bullpup assault rifle issued across most branches of the UNSC, and later adopted by the security forces of the Pheonix Initiative. Built from a proven design, each member of the series came with an extensive electronics suite that improved the soldier's capability on the battlefield.

Electronics Suite
While militaries have been incorporating electronics into infantry weapons for hundreds of years, most of these electronics are discrete modular systems. Misriah Armory chose to go with an integrated unit. The forward housing of the ICWS incorporates a ballistic computer, electronic scope with low-light filters, a bullet counter, and a smart-link compatible with the HINT-2 Battlenet. This electronics suite is powered either by a battery or a hydrogen fuel cell, depending on the environment that it is deployed into.

The ICWS electronic suite is meant to cover all mission profiles without modification. Modifying the suite to swap out the scope for a more powerful unit, for example, requires special training and armorer's tools. Even patching the software must be performed at the armory, a feature meant to prevent the spread of malware and badly programmed hacks through UNSC kit.

The MA5K uses a stripped-down housing with a simpler electronic scope that removes the vision enhancers. This shaves off over half a kilo of weight.

History
The Individual Combat Weapon System, as a concept, hails from the Interplanetary War. Koslovich ideology about improving human capability through integrated technology was applied to warfighting. More sensors and more computers were built into Koslovich gear. Their guns, their armor, their drones, their vehicles freely shared information with one another. When this technological omniscience failed to perform on the battlefield the way it did on the proving grounds, the Koslovichs doubled down. Rudimentary AIs were designed, and decision making was increasingly offloaded to the computer.

Of the many experiments that the Koslovich tried, the ICWS was one of the few that would live on to fight other wars, albeit in a reduced form. Modern individual combat weapon systems are select-fire rifles with on-board sensors and smart-links that share information directly with the user's headgear.