US M240

CLAW MARK 5
"PEACEMAKER"

The PhailSafe AR-80/S-76 Integrated, or M240, was designed specifically to defeat personal body armor by using a combination of either standard NATO armor-piercing ammunition or sub-caliber sabot flechette rounds, backed up by an integrated shotgun chambered to fire the M24 20mm HEDP mini-grenade.

Within the game timeline of the Alliance Archives; although the weapon won the 2010ad “Ops21” design competition, the US Army declared that the weapon was too heavy and lacked any major advantages over the new programmable air-bursting ordinance and weapons systems that were being introduced at the time. That was until an incident in which their new electronically fused ammunition was influenced by an outside source; you don’t need to know the rest.
 

[LEFT] Back in the early 90s, the closest I could get to a computer-rendered version of my work—on my budget—was the bitmap Paint program on my clone PC. Prior to that, I'd put my certified mechanical drafting skills to good use. As a result, most of my work was done (and is still done) using BMPs. [MIDDLE] The Peacemaker is my first attempt at a 3D model based on my small arm designs. [RIGHT] Parts; just as if it was a real weapon made of plastics and metallic alloys, it’s made of groups of individual parts (each color coded to make locating them easier).
 

[LEFT/MIDDLE] After a month's worth of work, the first full-color renderings of the Peacemaker. [RIGHT] Titled, “Tabletop,” it is a still-life about the Peacemaker's ammunition; three loaded magazines, 20mm HEDP (High-Explosive, Duo-Purpose) mini-grenades (the green shells), 7.62x51mm NATO, and 7.62 RADEF (RApid DEployment Force) caseless.

With the introduction of the lightweight, rifle-mounted grenade launcher, such as the M203 40mm, the military lost interest in rifle / shotgun hybrids. Not only could the grenade launchers fire "Shotgun-like" ammunition, but also a wide range of explosive and incendiary ordinance.

Interestingly enough, I have recently heard that the Army was planning to remove the 60mm mortar from its inventory; it would seem that the M203 has also made it obsolete.

Today, the combination rifle is a weapon of science fiction, namely the Pulse Rifle from the movie Aliens, the Morita from Starship Troopers (both were produced by special-effects master John Richardson), and even a real-world version of the Ciener Ultimate in Predator.