Fallout Lore | I would like to propose a few corrections on laser weapons and their place in the lore of Fallout’s pre-war military. This is not a rant, but I did a lot of reading and I want to share. Feel free to correct me if any of this is wrong!

I would like to propose a few corrections on laser weapons and their place in the lore of Fallout’s pre-war military. This is not a rant, but I did a lot of reading and I want to share. Feel free to correct me if any of this is wrong!

Posted: 05 Nov 2020 09:28 AM PST

According to the in-game terminals, mostly from Fallout 3's Citadel and one in Fort Independence, energy weapons were prototypes expected to eventually replace traditional ballistic weapons (assault rifles). However, the laser pistol and laser rifle were still field-tested prototypes, not standard-issue weapons, when the bombs fall.

Critically, people here miss that detail and often (mistakenly) describe the laser weapons as the standard-issue arms of the US Army and military at-large, citing the wiki articles. These articles totally misread the terminal entries which clearly describe both the laser pistol and laser rifle as field-tested prototypes, not full-production standard issue weapons yet.

Let's look at the laser pistol entry, which people commonly misread and misinterpret:

The AEP7 laser pistol was put into service to replace the AEP5, a model which was notorious for its problems with overheating. The AEP7 features a new design in the photonic focusing chamber as well as an entirely redesigned focusing crystal pattern. The bulk and weight have both been reduced over previous models and it was likely that within the new few development cycles, the successor to the AEP7 would replace the N99 10mm as the standard issue sidearm for all forces. The AEP7 took advantage of new manufacturing techniques developed shortly before the Great War. Although many were produced, most did not make it into field service because of logistics problems concerning their deployment during active wartime. The AEP7 can be a rare find in the Capital Wasteland, and any models that are produced should be returned to the Citadel for repair and recalibrating before field deployment.

A lot of people use that entry to cite that the laser pistol was indeed a replacement for the 10mm pistol and had become the standard-issue sidearm of the US military. That is not true. If you read closely, you see that in fact "it was likely that within the new few development cycles, the successor to the AEP7 would replace the N99 10mm (10mm pistol) as the standard issue sidearm for all forces." As we can see here, the laser pistol had not yet replaced the regular 10mm pistol—it was still a field-tested prototype in the middle of development cycles and upgrades.

Now let's look at the laser rifle entry:

Unlike many of the weapons in use today, the AER9 is actually not the top laser rifle that was in service at the time of the Great War. The model line went up to the state-of-the-art AER12, which saw service in a handful of specialty units. The reason that the AER9 is much more commonly found is that it was much sturdier and more reliable than the models that followed. The AER9 features a titanium housed crystal array which proved to withstand long years of exposure to the elements much better than the gold alloy housing of the later models. As a result, the crystal arrays stayed focused within operating parameters, rather than falling completely out of focus like the newer models. As with all energy weapons, the AER9 can suffer from poor performance if not properly maintained. The crystal arrays and non-mechanical components are delicate and if not properly serviced can lead to a loss of beam intensity, overheating, and energy regulation failure.

So we know right away that the AER9 was one, older model in a development cycle that was still improving and tinkering with laser weaponry before the bombs fell and halted progress (and life). But here's one more, equally crucial entry from the Fort Independence terminal, referring to laser rifles and pistols:

Further research regarding Laser Weaponry has not revealed much we didn't already know. Small production run of prototype weapons developed by US Military.

This is, to my mind, the defining entry about laser weapons that puts to bed the notion that they were replacing ballistic small arms (combat/assault rifles). Not to say that they wouldn't eventually, but simply to say they had not yet, nor are any of the ones we see in-game the models that would actually end up as finalized service weapons.

It is also very important for people here to understand how field testing works. We can look to real world examples—the XM25, XM8, and OICW—to see that the US Army has field tested but ultimately not adopted many weapons in the past. Field testing is the key phrase here and explains why the weapons were used by soldiers but not actually finalized and adopted into service: when a weapon is being developed, prototypes are distributed to active soldiers for testing and use in the field. These results are then incorporated into development feedback and help determine whether or not a weapon is adopted. Also, just look at the weapons. They are pretty clearly unfinished designs, with a lot of exposed wiring and crude metal-stamped bodies.

It is very clear based on the entries we have that laser weaponry was still very much in development and not finalized when the bombs fell. That said, they are in the game because they are fun to use and they look cool. Game lore never supersedes gameplay in the later Fallout games. Therefore, we get more laser weapons to use than what we would probably be able to find easily if Fallout was trying to be very realistic. We can also assume that there were numerous prototypes of all of these weapons in warehouses all across the US. While they were not adopted for military use at full-scale, they were still very much in production and development, so the Brotherhood and Enclave made it a priority to locate these weapons.

As for why the laser rifle is so ubiquitous in the Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 cinematic prologues, we can safely assume that the soldiers present (as much as these cinematic cutscenes can be considered cannon) were simply units responsible for field testing the laser rifles, the way US Army infantry field tested the XM25 automatic grenade launcher in Afghanistan during combat missions. Context clues in the game also place the combat rifle and assault rifle as military weapons—both are found in the ruins of US Army bases and near dead soldiers somewhat frequently. Also worth noting that if we're using pre-war imagery as proof, consider the US Army soldier photo of the Rangers in Fallout 76 posing with long barrel/stock combat and assault rifles.

Anyway, that's my info dump. If anyone would like to correct me, please do so! I love learning about these games.

submitted by /u/Liightman
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Energy weapons are ineffective and seem to be expensive to make compared to ballistic weapons in-game, why do they exist?

Posted: 05 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST

submitted by /u/hozofama
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