MA5B assault rifle

The MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System was an assault rifle used by the UNSC Marine Corps and Navy throughout most of the Human-Covenant War. Easily one of the most recognizable and pervasive infantry weapons fielded by the UNSC during conflict with the, if not the most.

Developement
The MA5B ICWS was commissioned by the UNSC shortly following the explosion of violence in the, such as the uprising that resulted in the in 2492, and the  in 2494. Fearing the worst, the UNSC commissioned a number of weapons in order to update its aging arsenal in preparation for the worst.

Misriah Armory and a handful of other weapons designers quickly churned out a number of prototype weapons. While most were quickly turned down, there were several that showed promise, including XM392A2, The XM55, the XMA25A1, the XM90A and the XSRS Series 2. The XMA25A1 proved to be a hit amongst the marines who demonstrated the weapons, but most stated they disliked the designation, which they found to be a mouthful. Misriah Armory responded to this by making the decision to redesignate the rifle the XMA5B, and similarly renamed the XM55 the as well.

The newly christened XMA5B was a heavily revamped version of Misriah's MA5 assault rifle that was adopted by the in 2437. The weapon built further upon the principles that led to the success of the original MA5; ruggedness, versatility, and vicious medium-to-close-range firepower. Thanks to remarkably few setbacks in the rest of the development process, the finalized model of the XMA5B, now the MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System, was finished in record time, and in 2506 the UNSC Marine Corps adopted the MA5B to replace the MA5 as their primary service rifle, with the UNSC Navy following suit in 2514. however, the Army and decided that keep fielding the original MA5 (known as the MA37 by the Army), since it was cheaper, still highly effective, and still receiving ongoing manufacturer support from Misriah.