HP-45 Assault Rifle

Overview
The HP-45 Assault Rifle was the standard infantry rifle of the UNMC from its introduction in 2315, all the way up until late 2345 when it was replaced by the HP-45A1 Assault Rifle. The original rifle was widely accepted and liked by infantry forces, and became so popular that the UNMC ended up basing a lot of its weapon platforms on the rifle's design.

Design
The HP-45 is a gas-operated rifle, designed to be reliable, sturdy, and long lasting. It incorporates the newest HP weapons technology such as recoil dampeners, smart-linked sensors, advanced materials, and many more. The rifle also greatly improved the accuracy of what was thought capable for combat rifles, and is perfectly effective engaging targets up to almost 900 meters before its accuracy starts to greatly degrade. The rifle can also be equipped with multiple upgrades, attachments, and tech to increase the rifles performance.

History
The HP-45 entered active service just a couple months before the Rebel Insurrection ended, and as such saw little action against them at this time. However, the rifle stayed in service with the UNMC, and even spawned a few variants of itself (such as a machine gun version and carbine version). These variants also became widely used by UNMC infantry. The UN Army also acquired their own model of the rifle in 2331, the HP-45 AMOD Rifle, which largely replaced the original model in the Army branch. The UNAC on the other hand did not accept the AMOD into widespread use in their branch and the original HP-45 remained as their standard assault rifle. Serving faithfully through the Insurrection, the EMPIRE Campaign and The Factions War, the rifle and its variants greatly helped the success of the UNMC by being superior to their enemy counterparts. In 2342, the HP-45 was slated for replacement by its successor labeled as the "A1" model, and the newer rifle began its production on multiple colonies including Valde Suggero and Olympia, as well as on Mars and Earth. In 2345, the Exohumans unleashed their attack on Earth, and the HP-45 rifle saw massive action across the planet while being mixed in with its replacement, the HP-45A1. Over the next few days, the original version of the rifle was slowly replaced by incoming A1 rifles shipped from HP weapons facilities on the colonies, and by the end of 2345 the HP-45A1 had completely replaced all HP-45 rifles in service on Earth, and was quickly replacing their original models throughout the UNMC. However, the original rifles still exist in the UNMC in some form, mostly used for military police, security, and ceremonies.