Once the national army for New Haven was being organized, the first order of business was to acquire a steady source of weaponry for the troops that would come to defend the holdings of the Republic. As the Tamiya Elite had long since used the L-20 Pulse Laser Rifle, it was only natural that Regent Tamiya would seek to procure the schematics and tooling to begin mass production of the type.

      Pictured at the top left is the standard stock model L-20 Pulse Laser Rifle. It was a common weapon prior to the cataclysm produced in many countries around the world as a sort of "energy weapon carbine" used primarily by corporate security forces against infiltrators under the employ of competing corporations. As a result, the weapon was produced in prolific numbers, tooling is relatively commonplace, as are the design schematics thus it was relatively easy to come by these items. Naturally, however, neither Tamiya Nyan or his advisors could justify producing an L-20 on an as-is basis. Being primarily an island nation combat at sea and beneath the waves always loomed as a potential situation, thus the frequency of the beam had to be altered from Infrared to Ultraviolet via refitting it as an argon based florescence chamber as opposed to the typical carbon dioxide florescence chamber. Furthermore lightening the primary assault weapon of the military was essential and as a result technicians busied themselves with proposals to accomplish that goal. Plans were made to develop attachments for the weapon but these never made it off of the drawing board.

      Once the finished product was unveiled for field tests, the weapon could barely be recognizable as having derived from its pre-cataclysm ancestor. The internal components however, were nearly identical. The weapon differed both in the gasses used to create the beam however, it was much lighter, and far less bulky than its ancestor. Provisions were made for a multi-optic scope that patched into the weapon's power supply, and a snap ring was provided on the barrel for a vibro-bayonet. It performed exactly as expected and soon after entered service as the Republican Industries Type 78 UV Spectrum Pulse Laser Rifle, the standard rifle for all troops in New Haven's military. It continued to be the primary weapon for several years, with many veterans keeping their rifles to fulfill their role in the reserves if New Haven ever fell under siege.

      Following the events of the "Freighter War" between New Haven and Water Point Preserve, several examples of Preserve technology was captured and analyzed by Republican Industries. Perhaps the most fascinating example was the plunger style charger of the laser bow carried by modernized members of the Makah tribe. A tricky charger system that required at least fair strength to utilize, but despite that, the implications of being able to adapt that concept to an energy rifle was too tantalizing to pass up. As a result a Type 78 was modified in 90PA with a modified version of this charger. This weapon would take no clips, but would have an internal energy reserve. Replentishing the weapon's charge was effected via a pump action modification. As it was hypothesized that this new weapon would be an ideal weapon to be carried on long range patrols or even for covert operations behind enemy lines, thus it was fitted with a collapsing wire stock and nicknamed the Type 78/90 Scout UV Spectrum Pulse Laser Rifle. The production run was limited, but years later hundreds more would be converted to the same standard. (The Type 78/90 UV Spectrum Pulse Laser Rifle is displayed at the bottom of the illustration, displayed with the plunger pulled forward to portray the slide-action modifications.) This revolutionary application of new technology promised to revolutionize New Haven's future military deployments without having to rely on large power plants to charge energy clips and as is the case with the Type 78/90 - the elimination of energy clips altogether.

      Despite the elation developed by the recent advance in field capabilities, dire news arrived In 94PA when an envoy from the Kingdom of Tolkeen arrived and shared bleak news with the Republican Council; The Coalition States was working on upgrading their standard firearms to pulse lasers that exceeded the ranges of New Haven's Type 78 UV Spectrum Pulse Laser, and furthermore Wilk's Industries was developing a powerful pulse laser rifle that would outclass most pulse laser rifles in North America. Included in the warning were copies of partial schematics to each and even a prototype sample somehow acquired from Wilk's Industries (One of the dozen or so prototypes that would later come to be known as the Wilk's 457.)

      With an example of Wilk's famed laser technology in hand, Republican Industries set to work immediately in unlocking the secrets behind their precision and unrivaled capabilities. It was soon discovered that the reason for Wilk's success was the method in which their focal and delivery lenses were manufactured, in conjunction with outstanding weapon balance. The lenses were flawless, even on the microscopic level, meaning that they had developed a way to produce lenses in a vacuum suspended in an anti-gravity field. While anti-gravity generators capable of suspending large objects was still decades away for any power on RIFTS Earth, small anti-gravity fields were feasible with powerful electromagnetic generators. Knocking off this technique was expensive, but New Haven's modest military strength could ill afford to fall behind in terms of military technology.

      Feverishly, Republican Industries worked to produce the necessary tooling to create the advanced lenses and began working on the new weapon design patterned after the prototype that technicians were allowed to study in depth. Eventually this weapon would emerge as the Republican Industries Type 95 UV Spectrum Pulse Laser Rifle and would become the successor to the venerable Type 78 UV Spectrum Pulse Laser Rifle. Meanwhile, the Type 78/90 UV Spectrum Scout Pulse Laser Rifle would remain in service for long duration missions that may take troops far away from New Haven's supply lines. This left the Type 78 UV Spectrum Pulse Laser Rifle to remain in the hands of members of the military reserves and opened up commercial distribution of the type both along the Pacific Coast and as far East as the Pecos. (It has grown to be a favorite among river pirates and merchantmen alike!)