Steyr ACR

One of the candidates of the early 1986 Advanced Combat Rifle program, aiming to find a successor to the M16 due to perceived precision issues, the ACR was Steyr's representative competing against H&K's G11 as well as Colt's ACR and AAI Corporation's ACR (both not to be confused with the Bushmaster ACR). The program saw multiple developments about ammunition technology: H&K used caseless ammunition with the G11 and Colt used duplex rounds (two smaller bullets inside a regular cartridge) while AAI and Steyr went with flechette ammunition. Flechettes (from the French fléchette, "small arrow" or "dart") had already been used by armed forces during World War 1, thrown from planes at infantry or observation balloons before before aircraft-mounted machine guns became common; their use as small-arms ammunition was at the time considered by small arms manufacturers due to allegedly improved aerodynamics and armor penetration compared to regular bullets, as well as potential use as poisoned ammunition. Visually close to the AUG, the ACR shares also it's integrated optics. It's ammunition consisted of 1.6x41.25mm carbon steel flechettes, held by a polymer sabot inside a 5.56x45mm cylindrical plastic case, held in 24-round magazines; unlike the G11, the propellant was not acting as the sabot, instead encasing the flechette and the sabot inside the case. Uniquely, the chamber was blown downwards after firing (instead of back), loading a new round before being pushed upwards by springs. Rate of fire was estimated at 1.200 rounds per minute in 3-rounds bursts. The ACR main issues before the program was terminated were strength variations between cases causing potential malfunctions and, more importantly, the high speeds at which the sabots were ejected, potentially injuring soldiers close the the shooter or the shooter himself if firing while lying prone, as the sabots had a tendency to ricochet off hard surfaces; otherwise, reactions were rather positive. The ACR program was shut down in early 1987 without a winner, to come back later as the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (the program that would birth the XM8, the XM29 and the M320 grenade launcher), causing the ACR and it's competitors to never leave the prototype stage. Flechette ammunition soon followed, with the last project using flechette ammunition (the Close Assault Weapon System, which birthed the HK CAWS shotgun) being canceled in the late 1980s. Personality: A late stage tsundere with abundant destructive urges. She's eager about the mission but often brings disaster upon herself and makes "surprises" for her teammates. On the surface, she looks like she can't be bothered with her big sister AR AUG's nagging, but in truth she stores each and every one of her big sister's smiles in her neural cloud.