DAUNTLESS Arachne IVA Marshite Modification
Arachne IVA Modification Testing for Mobility
Arachne IVA Modification for Comfort
Background
The Marshite military is the second largest user of the DAUNTLESS protection system, fielding more than 500 million IV+ systems. It has earned a reputation for keeping Marshites safe and sound and despite the heavy weight of the system making long-distance combat operations uncomfortable, it was considered a worthwhile issue because of the inability of most enemy weapon systems. However, as a result of The Shift, Marshites have underwent a massive change in terms of size and strength. While Marshites are still uniformly fit, athletic, and near peak possible physical condition, with average male height around 5'3 and weight around 140 of packed muscle, the heavy DAUNTLESS armor system became untenable when taken in with the weapons, ammunition, and supplies Marshites take into the field.
Marshites looked to Arachne, the soft armour system of DAUNTLESS, as a savior. Comfortable, full-body, and effective, Arachne is both light and distributed across the body. After several new designs, the Church unveiled a multi-layered Arachne only design. By layering Arachne together and increasing the protective zone, the Arachne IVA modification is capable of applying a new classification of protection at IVA over the entire body while being significantly lighter and distributed across the entire body.
Manufacturing and Design
Arachne is made from anciniform silk from spiders of the Nephila genus, specifically Nephila Maticulata, the Giant Wood Spider. It is worth noting, at this point, that anciniform silk is considerably stronger than that used for spinning webs, and is used primarily for securing prey once captured. Lyran Arms was successful in getting silk worms to produce the silk, which allowed massive amounts of the silk to be made. The Marshite Church was pleased with the outcome, but desired more. Being a nation of advanced genetics designs- a fact which would backfire and lead to The Shift- the Church was able to isolate a few species of silkworms best suited for the job. Splicing and breeding produced several generations of evolved silkworms of the Pushanian Weaver and Hitlion Dreamcatcher, two superb examples of the creature. The Weaver is well known for the sheer production capability and the Dreamcatcher for its tightly wound strands that are of the greatest possible strength and thinness. These two advanced silkworms were joined together, creating the Desiri Waliuo Itsguri breed of Silkworm. Mass bred and created even before the need for Arachne IV, it helped satisfy more than six times as many orders as before.
With Arachne IV needed post-Shift, the Desiri became the vocal point. Arachne IV called for increased protection across the whole of the body and in multiple layers. The stronger strands of silk from Desiri allowed for the weight of the Arachne basic design to be cut down by 33% as less silk was needed for the same strength. Full body protection up to the old standard weighed only 2.2 kg. Producing much more silk than before at a much greater strength, the Desiri was able to produce enough silk to help create an Arachne IV vest at the same rate as a normal Arachne vest.
Once spun, the silk is woven into protective clothing in the same manner as clothing anywhere. The fibres mesh well, and fibrous internal friction is low while elasticity and tensile strength both remain very high, allowing for exceptionally good multi-shot resistance, particularly so when compared to other soft armours. The fibres, unusually, become proportionally stronger as they get thinner, and research and implementation quickly established what spiders established millions of years ago, that weaving 100 thin fibres into a silken strand is almost 60% stronger than an equivalent width single strand, while utilising (approximately) only 80% of the material mass. Also, critically, spider silk has a biphasic modulus – when initially subjected to force it is very stiff, like Kevlar, but just before the yield point it becomes very elastic, like Nylon. It also undergoes hysteresis, so if released from tension it comes back into shape. Upon the completion of the armour or garment, various coatings are applied in the conventional sense, such as anti-UV protective coatings and Xylane waterproofing.
Spider silk is also, when compared to alternative ballistic-grade fibres, extremely comfortable, being smooth, lightweight and breathable. When the properties are simultaneously taken into account, some of the potential of the substance becomes readily apparent.
Arachne IV covers the whole body from the neck to the toes and fingers. From the wrists to the ankles and neck, Arachne IV has three layers. There is an open space from the anus to the genitals to allow for use of the bathroom but beyond that it is a full body suit. The fingers and toes each have individual slots as well, allowing comfort and usability. There is only one layer on the feet and hands. A head-covering of Arachne IV is distributed but not required. Attached to the neck portion of Arachne IV in the front and back, it has slots for the ears and mouth and offers IVA protection as well with three layers. In addition to BALCOTH, it makes headshots a relatively ineffective solution, even if one can still expect to knock someone out.
Signature Reduction
DAUNTLESS along with LDCPU led the way in signature reduction. However, by inserting the Carbon armor inserts, signature reduction of DAUNTLESS became poorer. As the covering on top of DAUNTLESS took damage, reduction became less effective. As the LDCPU was torn apart the system started to collape and signature reduction was rarely kept after the first few impacts. This is a simple fact of warfare. But with the decreased armor effectiveness inherent in Arachne IV, it became paramount that signature reduction was never itself degraded. To counter this, the final layer of Arachne- and the parts covering the head and hands- is inlayed with IR-reducing materials consistent with LDCPU. While this final layer is this not as effective as the two other layers- Level IIIA protection- it has several signature reduction advantages. Due to the way Arachne works, meaning it is either penetrated or stops the weapon without tearing, the IR-dampening materials are not torn to shred during normal combat operations. Since there are no inserts to mess with the signature or create a bulky outline, Arachne IV offers a significant increase in the longevity of signature reduction with only a slight upgrade in the quality of that reduction. The result is a consistently more stealthy profile that enhances combat capability by allowing Marshites to engage at a time and place of their choosing.
Protective Qualities and Mobility
The Arachne IV System does not provide the same level of protection as the full DAUNTLESS system. Indeed, while IVA is a superb, it does not match up to the IV protection offered by Dragonskin SOV-3000 or the IV+ DAUNTLESS system. However, the Church believes there are several advantages to Arachne IV that negate these disadvantages.
SOV-3000 can weigh up to 21.5 kilograms in order to achieve level IV protection. The plates that make it up are easy to break and come apart in extreme temperatures, temperatures the Marshite nation find itself operating in. It is heavy and unreliable, meaning that while it is useful under certain circumstances, it is an inferior protection.
DAUNTLESS weighs 17.7 kg and offers vastly superior protection and reliability. However, it weighs significantly more- almost three times as much centered as opposed to over the whole body- and at several places offers inferior protection to Arachne IV, namely the arms, hands, neck, and possibly head.
Arachne IV weighs 6.5 kg and offers IVA protection from the neck to the ankles and wrists, and IIIA on the hands and feet. A new designation, IVA protects against 7.92x57mm Armour Piercing bullets with nominal masses of 10.4 g at a reference velocity of 870 m/s. Weight is distributed across the entire body, making it an easy armor system o use and wear. It retains the breathable and flexible qualities that it is famous for- in effect, Arachne IV does not have any impact on the mobility of the user. While it does not offer the same protection as the full DAUNTLESS, it still offers a very high level of protection- Arachne IV can and will protect against just about any commonly fielded weapon. A full body suit of protection, it is extremely mobile and easy to live in, with many infantry choosing to never remove the system. This can in effect turn it into a second skin of protection that Marshites are accustomed to living in.
The head-covering of the Arachne IV system weighs 0.6 kg and gives IVA protection to the head, in addition to BALCOTH. Combined with full body protection system, total wight comes out to 7.1kg.
Creation of Arachne IV-based gloves and protected boots followed, and soon the Arachne Footing and Handling pack was made, offering IVA protection to both the feet and hands while retaining breathability and ease of use.Thanks to the inherent advantages of the design, the boots and gloves are easy to clean and do not accumulate oil and bacteria, making both superb for long term use.
Export
The Marshite Church has produced this armour system with permission from Lyran Arms as a modification for its own people. The success and effectiveness of Arachne IV is such that the Church has decided, with permission, to offer it as an alternative to the DAUNTLESS system. It is considered an unfeasible addition to the current DAUNTLESS protection platform- Arachne IV cannot be used in conjunction with the DAUNTLESS vests and carbon fiber inserts. Therefore, this is an alternative system. Because of the superb protection to weight ratio and the mobility and longevity offered, it is considered a Level 3 protected modification.
Arachne IV full-body suit + head-covering: NS$10,000.
Arachne IV full-body suit + head-covering + Combat Boots and Gloves: NS$12,000.
DPRS are not available to non-allies. Available to purchase through Covenant Arms.
