The Legion in 2297, Part 4: Equipment

10. Individual and squad equipment

French infantry equipment in 2297 combines several generations of technology. The Army and Foreign Legion have standardized their frontline rifle units around the FAM-90 Gauss family, but conventional weapons remain important as machine guns, militia arms and reserve equipment. Plasma weapons, guided missiles, smart grenades, powered assistance and networked sensors give even a light infantry squad capabilities once confined to much larger formations.

This section identifies the systems that recur in ordinary Legion service. It is not an exhaustive inventory. A deployed squad also carries communications equipment, imaging and navigation systems, electronic countermeasures, medical supplies, environmental protection, food, water, tools, spare clothing and all the less dramatic equipment required to remain functional in the field.

10.1 The FAM-90 rifle family

The FAM-90 is the standard rifle of the French Army and Foreign Legion. It is a Gauss weapon firing small projectiles at extremely high velocity. Modern sights connect to the helmet display and tactical network, allowing range data, aiming information and reported target locations to be shared across the squad.

The standard rifle incorporates a 30 mm grenade launcher. Its programmable ammunition includes fragmentation, airburst, smoke, illumination, sensor-obscuring and specialist loads. A 30 mm grenade can be armed and thrown in an emergency, but its shape and mass make it a poor substitute for a purpose-built hand grenade.

The FAM-90P is the precision variant used by the squad marksman. It combines the same general weapon family and support system with a longer barrel, precision components and enhanced optics. Common ammunition and controls simplify training and supply without pretending that the marksman merely carries an ordinary rifle with a larger sight.

Gauss weapons are highly effective against modern flexible inertial armor and remain dangerous to hard plates, particularly at close range or where a projectile finds a gap. Their advantages come with demands for electrical power, electronic diagnostics and trained maintenance.

10.2 Conventional rifles, pistols and colonial stocks

The adoption of the FAM-90 by the Army and Foreign Legion does not mean that every French-controlled military organization has been rearmed. Colonial militias purchase equipment through local budgets, inherit weapons from earlier procurement cycles and commonly retain large stocks after regular formations have moved to newer systems.

The most widespread older rifle fires the 9×44 mm caseless cartridge also used by the AAT-78 general-purpose machine gun. In 2297 its standard combat load is a smart-fused high-explosive armor-piercing projectile. The weapon is heavier and less effective against modern armor than a FAM-90, but remains dangerous to personnel, cover, equipment and light vehicles. Shared ammunition with the AAT-78 makes it attractive to forces with limited logistical capacity.

Some colonial forces instead employ 7.5 mm binary-propellant weapons, while prosperous or strategically important units may possess FAM-90s or other modern Gauss rifles. Several generations of weapon may consequently serve on the same world and, occasionally, within the same militia force.

The PAM9 service pistol fires a powerful 9×24 mm caseless cartridge. It remains a practical sidearm but is not intended to defeat modern military armor. Pistols are common among officers, vehicle crews, military police and personnel whose principal duties make a full-sized rifle inconvenient.

10.3 Automatic weapons and the generational dispute

The FM-94 is the new French Gauss squad automatic weapon. It reduces ammunition weight, integrates cleanly with modern fire-control systems and offers excellent performance against armored infantry. Its compact ammunition supply is particularly attractive to units whose equipment must travel by spacecraft or aerospace transport.

The older AAT-78 is a conventional general-purpose machine gun firing the same 9×44 mm caseless ammunition as the preceding generation of French assault rifles. Its longer barrel gives somewhat better velocity, range and external ballistics than the rifle. More importantly, its heavy construction, feed system, cooling and replaceable-barrel arrangements permit a much higher practical rate of fire and sustained automatic fire.

The AAT-78 is heavier, louder and considerably more burdensome in ammunition. Its projectiles are slower and less effective against proper armor than Gauss rounds. It is also rugged, independent of weapon power, tolerant of field abuse and able to deliver smart-fused explosive fire against troops behind light cover, drones and unarmored vehicles.

·      Metropolitan formations and newly equipped expeditionary units receive the FM-94 first.

·      Mechanized and walker-supported formations can provide power, diagnostics and cooling more easily than isolated infantry posts.

·      Remote colonial companies distrust systems whose replacement electronics and specialist technicians may be days away.

·      Veteran Legion formations retain AAT-78s where commanders can justify the additional weight and ammunition.

·      Vehicle-mounted AAT-78s remain common and preserve sustained 9×44 mm fire even where dismounted squads have converted to the FM-94.

The conventional gun is therefore a legitimate choice rather than obsolete equipment for backward units. It trades weight and armor penetration for ruggedness, sustained fire and flexible ammunition. Later FM-94 production models may resolve many early complaints, but in 2297 the dispute remains alive in workshops, exercises and after-action reports.

10.4 Quinn-Darlan Mk 2-A2 PGMP

Each standard rifle squad includes a gunner and assistant for the Quinn-Darlan Mk 2-A2 PGMP. PGMP means Plasma Gun, Man-portable. The 12 kg weapon is used by both French and American forces and provides accurate, long-range direct fire against armored personnel, light vehicles, fortified positions and other hard targets.

The Mk 2-A2 has no true predecessor in the infantry arsenal. Earlier portable antivehicle weapons were generally short-ranged, disposable or dependent upon missiles and specialist ammunition. The PGMP gives an ordinary infantry formation a reusable direct-fire weapon capable of engaging hard targets at considerable range.

Although commonly described as a light anti-armor weapon, the PGMP is not simply an advanced launcher. Its accuracy, range and repeated-fire capability allow it to perform roles formerly divided among antivehicle missiles, heavy rifles and vehicle-mounted weapons. Its principal limitations are weight, power consumption, thermal management, signature and the burden of its supporting equipment. The assistant carries additional power and support equipment and can replace the gunner if required.

A direct hit from the plasma gun makes ordinary infantry armor largely irrelevant. Its function is not to provide suppression or replace a machine gun, but to give a light squad an answer to targets that rifle fire cannot reliably defeat.

10.5 Grenades and antivehicle weapons

Purpose-built hand grenades remain standard issue. Common types include fragmentation, concussion, smoke, incendiary and multispectral obscurant grenades. Their usefulness has not been abolished by integral launchers: a soldier can place or throw a hand grenade without exposing a rifle, obtaining a firing solution or relying upon the launcher’s electronic systems.

Each squad normally carries several Guiscard Blindicide-3 light antivehicle weapons. The Blindicide-3 is a disposable smart LAW intended for armored personnel, vehicles, firing positions and dangerous large fauna. Once locked, it guides itself to the designated target—in theory—and its programmable fuse selects an appropriate impact, delayed or airburst function. It remains a short-ranged weapon whose performance can be reduced by countermeasures, obscuration and poor target identification.

The Guiscard Blindicide-9 is a proper guided antivehicle missile rather than a disposable launcher. It offers greater range, a heavier warhead, more sophisticated guidance and considerably better performance against armored vehicles and protected positions. Blindicide-9 teams and missiles are normally controlled at platoon or company level and allocated according to the anticipated threat.

System	Normal level	Principal role
Quinn-Darlan Mk 2-A2 PGMP	Squad	Reusable, accurate long-range direct fire against hard targets
Guiscard Blindicide-3	Carried by the squad	Disposable short-range smart LAW
Guiscard Blindicide-9	Platoon or company attachment	Guided engagement of armored vehicles and protected positions

10.6 Air defence and smart mortars

Short-range air defence is provided by the Guiscard Martel, a compact shoulder-fired missile intended primarily for low-flying aircraft, drones and aerospace vehicles making close approaches. Its modest size allows launchers or reloads to accompany a platoon, but its engagement envelope and warhead are limited.

The Aérospatiale Narval Épervier-6 is a heavier man-portable air-defence missile with greater range, altitude, seeker discrimination and resistance to countermeasures. Its launcher, fire-control unit and reloads make it less convenient than the Martel. Épervier teams normally serve as platoon attachments or within company air-defence elements, while Martels can be distributed more freely.

Platoons and companies can also receive compact smart mortars. Automated laying, networked ballistic computation and target information from observers, drones, vehicles or weapon sights allow rapid indirect fire. Ammunition includes fragmentation, smoke, illumination, programmable airburst and guided top-attack rounds. The last provide an additional antivehicle capability against targets concealed from direct fire, but are scarce and do not replace the Blindicide-9 against a moving protected target.

A mortar can be distributed among its crew, powered-assist systems and robotic carriers, but its ammunition is not weightless. Vehicular support becomes highly desirable whenever a unit expects to fire more than a few rounds.

10.7 Powered assistance, technical equipment and field kit

Legion infantry routinely use powered load-assist frames. These are not sealed powered armor. They transfer equipment weight to the ground, reduce fatigue, stabilize firing positions, assist casualty movement and heavy lifting, and provide standardized power and data connections for armor and carried systems.

The soldier remains mobile if the assist system fails, although endurance and carrying capacity decline sharply. This is a deliberate robustness feature: an actuator or software fault should not instantly immobilize a rifleman. Naturally, improved load-bearing capacity encourages the institution to issue more armor, batteries, ammunition, missiles, drones and environmental equipment until the individual is once again carrying as much as doctrine permits.

Common technical equipment includes encrypted communications, positioning and navigation systems, multispectral imaging, weapon-network and target-sharing devices, reconnaissance and relay drones, electronic-warfare and signals-detection systems, counter-drone equipment, environmental and xenobiological sensors, medical diagnostics, field power supplies and electronic maintenance tools.

Beneath this sophisticated layer remains the ordinary burden of military life: clothing, boots, weather protection, shelter, medical supplies, food, water, hygiene equipment, entrenching tools, spare socks and eating utensils. No technological advance has eliminated the operational importance of dry feet, clean water or a spoon.

11. Armor and personal protection

French infantry protection is built around the EPI-92 modular family. Its configurations range from a flexible inertial base layer and limited patrol plates to integrated full environmental armor and heavily powered breaching systems. The standard Legion configuration remains half plate because most planetary operations reward mobility, endurance and ease of maintenance as much as absolute protection.

11.1 EPI-92 modular protection system

Designation	Component	Status or function
EPI-92	Ensemble de protection individuelle modèle 92	Complete modular personal-protection family
SI-92	Sous-armure inertielle	Flexible reactive armor base layer
CCM	Configuration de combat moyenne	Official medium combat configuration
Demi-armure	Legion field term	Ordinary name for the CCM half-plate configuration
CI-94	Casque de combat intégral	Standard integrated combat helmet

11.2 SI-92 inertial layer

The SI-92 remains flexible during normal movement but becomes rigid when struck by a fast-moving object, spreading the impact across a wider area. It is genuine armor and is highly effective against conventional small-arms fire, pistol and shotgun projectiles, shell and grenade fragments, ricochets and battlefield debris.

Gauss weapons defeat the layer through extreme projectile velocity and concentrated kinetic energy. Lasers bypass its primary mechanism by burning through it. The SI-92 also incorporates attachment and pressure points for powered assistance, basic thermal and chemical protection and physiological sensors, but it is not by itself a sealed environmental suit.

11.3 Half plate

Composite hard plates mount at standardized points over the inertial layer. They offer useful protection against Gauss fire and lasers, especially at longer range or against glancing impacts. They remain finite, localized protection: plates can crack, delaminate or be penetrated, and joints, faces, limbs and other gaps remain vulnerable.

The CCM half-plate configuration normally includes chest and back plates, side protection, an armored collar, shoulder and upper-arm plates, groin protection and helmet. Forearms, much of the thighs and lower legs retain the flexible layer only. “Half plate” describes its visual and practical character, not a mathematical coverage percentage.

Lighter patrol arrangements may omit side or shoulder plates. Mission modules add buoyancy, camouflage, additional cooling, chemical protection or attachments for specialist equipment without changing the configuration into full plate.

11.4 Full plate

Full plate is not half plate supplemented with a few additional panels. It is a complete, integrated combat system designed to isolate and protect the wearer from weapons and from the surrounding environment. It provides full-body armor, environmental sealing, thermal control, communications, multispectral imaging and limited life support.

Mission-specific packages adapt full plate to vacuum, toxic or corrosive atmospheres, extreme temperatures and unusually dense or high-pressure environments. It can therefore function as an armored environmental suit rather than merely an infantry armor configuration.

Full plate is heavier, more expensive and considerably more demanding to maintain than ordinary half plate. Its sealed construction is also less comfortable during prolonged operations in habitable environments. Powered assistance is commonly fitted to offset its weight and support additional equipment, although a standard suit remains usable—if awkward and exhausting—after the assist system fails.

11.5 Breacher plate

Breacher plate is a heavily reinforced assault system intended for boarding actions, fortified positions, urban entry and other short operations in which protection takes precedence over endurance and agility. Additional armor, power supplies, sensors, breaching equipment and heavy weapons increase the wearer’s load beyond what can be managed effectively without powered assistance.

Powered assistance is therefore integral rather than optional. Damage or power failure can leave the wearer severely encumbered or dangerously immobilized. Breacher plate is formidable in its intended role but bulky, conspicuous, maintenance-intensive and poorly suited to long patrols, stealth or unrestricted movement.

11.6 Helmet family

·      CI-94 casque de combat intégral. Standard combat helmet with communications, hearing protection, visor display, low-light and thermal imaging, weapon-sight link and environmental-mask mounts.

·      CL-93 casque léger. Lighter patrol and vehicle helmet.

·      CE-95 casque étanche. Environmentally sealed helmet used with appropriate suit configurations.

·      CA-94 casque d’assaut. Heavier face, jaw and neck protection.

·      CT-91 casque technique. Technician, drone-operator and vehicle-crew variant.

The standard visor may be retractable or detachable rather than a permanently sealed transparent bubble. Specialist modules include additional heat protection for plasma gunners, reduced shoulder bulk for marksmen, extra displays for drone operators and assault plates for breachers.

11.7 Protection hierarchy

Threat	Inertial layer	Hard plates or integrated armor
Fragments and debris	Excellent	Excellent
Conventional small arms	Very good	Excellent
Gauss rifles	Poor	Useful, especially at range
Lasers	Poor	Useful, especially at range
HE grenades and support weapons	Limited	Limited
Direct plasma or heavy-weapon hit	Negligible	Negligible

Armor matters without making infantry invulnerable. Conventional weapons struggle against properly equipped troops; Gauss rifles and lasers are intended to defeat modern protection; hard plates preserve a chance of survival; explosives, heavy automatic weapons, plasma guns and support weapons remain brutally effective. Full and breacher plate add environmental isolation and greater coverage, not immunity from battlefield physics.

12. Vehicles, drones, robotics and technical support

The Legion is light infantry, but it is not primarily foot-mobile. Vehicles, drones, robotic carriers, communications systems and technical personnel are distributed throughout the force. These systems allow relatively small infantry formations to patrol large areas, carry substantial firepower and remain operational far from established bases.

The scale, endurance and specialization of a system normally determine the level that owns it. A squad may routinely use a reconnaissance drone and robotic hauler without owning the workshops required to sustain them. A company can operate persistent reconnaissance and electronic-warfare systems, while battalion and higher headquarters control larger transport, surveillance and repair fleets.

This technological support is powerful but not weightless or automatic. Every vehicle, drone and powered system requires energy, software, communications, spare parts, trained operators and maintenance. The Legion’s effectiveness depends as much upon this technical organization as upon the performance of its individual weapons.

12.1 Vehicular support

A standard Legion infantry battalion is fully motorized but not mechanized in the cavalry sense. Its vehicles are intended principally to move, protect and sustain infantry rather than defeat enemy armored formations.

The ordinary squad carrier is a sealed six- or eight-wheeled vehicle with modular internal fittings and a remotely operated weapon station. It protects its passengers against weather, fragments, conventional small arms and dangerous native life. Environmental systems allow it to shelter a squad during severe weather, toxic exposure or temporary loss of local infrastructure.

Depending upon its configuration, the carrier can provide:

·      Tactical-network and long-range communications relay;

·      Charging points for weapons, powered assistance, drones and sensors;

·      Storage for ammunition, missiles, mortar rounds, medical supplies and environmental equipment;

·      Drone launch, control and recovery facilities;

·      Casualty transport and emergency shelter;

·      Additional sensors and electronic countermeasures;

·      A stabilized remote weapon station.

The battalion vehicle pool includes patrol, cargo, ambulance, command, communications, workshop and recovery variants, often built upon a small number of common chassis. Autonomous or optionally crewed cargo vehicles supplement ordinary trucks, while specialist machines support engineering, route clearance and operations in wetlands or unstable terrain.

Vehicles are allocated according to mission rather than permanently assigned in an inflexible one-vehicle-per-squad establishment. A routine patrol may operate with a single carrier and a light support vehicle. A reinforced platoon may receive additional cargo transport, an ambulance, a communications vehicle or a mortar carrier. Company and battalion operations require considerably larger transport, maintenance and recovery elements.

Powered assistance and robotic carriers allow troops to continue after leaving their vehicles, but dismounted endurance remains finite. Batteries, PGMP support equipment, Blindicide launchers, mortar ammunition, water and environmental supplies rapidly accumulate. A unit separated from its vehicles loses mobility, endurance, communications capacity and much of its reserve ammunition even if its soldiers remain tactically effective.

12.2 Vehicle armament and protection

Squad carriers are not infantry fighting vehicles, but neither are they unarmed transports. Most carry remotely operated weapons capable of supporting dismounted infantry, protecting the vehicle during movement and engaging threats beyond the useful range of personal weapons.

Typical installations include:

·      AAT-78 general-purpose machine guns;

·      Automatic grenade launchers;

·      Light cannon on heavier vehicles;

·      Blindicide antivehicle missiles;

·      Short-range air-defence or counter-drone weapons;

·      Smoke, aerosol and multispectral obscurant launchers;

·      Electronic countermeasures and active-protection systems.

The AAT-78 remains particularly common as a vehicle weapon. A mounted gun does not impose its ammunition burden upon a dismounted team and can exploit vehicle power, sensors, ammunition storage and fire-control systems. Vehicle-mounted AATs consequently preserve much of the sustained 9×44 mm firepower being removed from some rifle squads.

Remote weapon stations allow the crew to operate from under armor and share targeting information with dismounted troops. They remain vulnerable to sensor damage, electronic interference and ammunition exhaustion. Manual controls or emergency firing arrangements are retained where practical.

The presence of mounted weapons does not turn the ordinary carrier into a tank. Its protection and armament are intended to support infantry and defeat light opposition. Enemy armored vehicles, heavy weapons and proper antivehicle missiles remain serious threats. Legion doctrine expects carriers to use concealment, mobility and dismounted observation rather than fight unsupported armored engagements.

12.3 Drones

Robotics are distributed throughout the force rather than concentrated in a single drone unit.

Level	Typical systems	Primary use
Squad	Small reconnaissance drone; robotic hauler	Immediate observation, route checks, ammunition and casualty carriage
Platoon	Additional sensor and relay drones; pooled haulers	Extended local awareness, communications and mission-specific loads
Company	Persistent reconnaissance, target designation, EW, counter-drone and relay systems	Support to several platoons, local fire control and electronic protection
Battalion	Long-endurance surveillance, network relays, electronic surveillance and larger logistics fleet	Battalion-wide awareness, communications and sustainment
Regiment or theatre	Wide-area surveillance, large reconnaissance or strike systems and orbital links	Operational intelligence and theatre-level effects

The ordinary infantry drone is principally a sensor platform. It allows a squad to inspect terrain, buildings, routes and possible ambush positions without immediately exposing a soldier. It can relay communications, mark targets and provide imagery to weapon sights or command systems.

Larger drones carry more capable sensors, remain airborne for longer periods and operate across wider areas. Company and battalion systems support artillery and mortar fire, electronic surveillance, communications relay and target designation. Armed drones exist, but most infantry drones are too small to carry weapons of useful effect without sacrificing the endurance and sensors that make them valuable.

Drones are not assumed to operate unopposed. Camouflage, terrain, weather, jamming, hostile software, directed-energy systems and ordinary gunfire can reduce their effectiveness. Competent opponents use decoys and false emissions or deliberately allow a drone to observe misleading activity. Drone information is therefore treated as another source to be interpreted, not as automatic battlefield truth.

12.4 Robotic haulers and logistics machines

Squad and platoon haulers carry ammunition, batteries, missiles, mortar rounds, water, medical equipment and environmental supplies. They can tow equipment, assist with heavy lifting and help evacuate casualties. Some follow designated soldiers or routes automatically; others require closer control in broken terrain, heavy vegetation or electronically contested conditions.

A hauler increases the squad’s range and endurance but does not replace its ability to continue on foot. Essential ammunition, communications equipment, survival supplies and medical material remain distributed among the soldiers. A broken or abandoned hauler is a serious logistical problem rather than an automatic end to the mission.

Larger robotic vehicles move cargo within bases, depots and convoys. Some can follow a crewed lead vehicle or travel along surveyed routes with limited supervision. They reduce personnel requirements and exposure to danger, but difficult terrain, civilian traffic, communications failure and hostile interference ensure that human drivers and movement-control personnel remain necessary.

12.5 Tactical networks, sensors and electronic warfare

Helmet displays, weapon sights, vehicles, drones, ground sensors and command systems exchange information through encrypted tactical networks. A soldier can receive imagery from a squad drone, transmit a target location to a mortar team or vehicle and see the reported positions of friendly units without relying entirely upon voice communications.

Common technical equipment includes:

·      Encrypted voice and data communications;

·      Multispectral imaging and low-light systems;

·      Positioning, navigation and terrain-mapping equipment;

·      Weapon-sight links and shared target designation;

·      Ground-surveillance and environmental sensors;

·      Electronic-support and signals-detection equipment;

·      Jamming, counter-jamming and network-security systems;

·      Counter-drone sensors and electronic countermeasures;

·      Xenobiological, chemical and atmospheric monitoring;

·      Medical diagnostics and casualty-status monitoring.

This connectivity increases speed and coordination but also creates electronic signatures and new vulnerabilities. An opponent may jam communications, insert false information, locate transmitters or attack the software connecting otherwise functional equipment.

Legion training therefore retains voice, visual, wired and procedural fallbacks. Units practice operating with incomplete positioning data, intermittent communications and local control. A platoon temporarily cut off from the network should become less efficient, not incapable of acting.

12.6 Indirect fire and technical support

Platoons and companies can receive compact smart mortars according to mission and availability. These systems combine automated laying, networked ballistic calculation and target information from observers, drones, vehicles or weapon sights. Standard ammunition includes fragmentation, smoke, illumination and programmable airburst rounds. Guided top-attack projectiles provide an additional capability against vehicles or protected positions concealed from direct fire.

Mortars may be carried in vehicles or distributed among their crews, powered-assist systems and robotic haulers. The weapon itself is comparatively portable; its ammunition is not. The number of rounds, batteries and specialist projectiles required for sustained use makes vehicular support highly desirable.

Technical personnel are distributed accordingly. Squads possess enough training to replace common components, perform diagnostics and keep immediate equipment functioning. Company technical sections handle more difficult weapon, vehicle, communications and drone faults. Battalion workshops provide deeper repair, fabrication, recovery, software support and maintenance coordination.

Sophisticated diagnostics do not make equipment self-repairing. A system may identify its failed component perfectly while the nearest replacement remains in a depot several worlds away. Colonial units consequently retain salvaged assemblies, locally manufactured parts and older equipment that their workshops can support reliably.

12.7 The technological tail

Power is a supply class in its own right. Gauss weapons, powered assistance, drones, vehicles, sensors, armor, communications and electronic-warfare systems all compete for charging capacity and replacement cells. Fuel, ammunition, water, environmental consumables and conventional spare parts remain equally necessary.

A technically advanced formation can therefore suffer a gradual loss of capability without suffering many casualties. Drones are grounded for lack of replacement components; powered assistance is restricted to conserve energy; damaged vehicle sensors cannot be replaced; mortar ammunition runs low; communications range contracts as relay systems fail.

The Legion attempts to prevent this through common components, modular systems, mobile workshops and a broad level of technical competence. Aurore nevertheless complicates standardization. More than fifty years of settlement and successive procurement programs have produced several generations of vehicles, drones and support equipment. Modern systems operate beside old but locally familiar machines, often incorporating replacement components or modifications manufactured on Aurore.

This variation is most pronounced in colonial militia formations, but even 2/13 possesses a heterogeneous vehicle and equipment pool. Its technical strength lies less in owning the newest version of every system than in having personnel who know what is actually available, what can be repaired locally and which elderly machine will continue working after its nominal replacement has reported a diagnostic fault.