General Weapons of the future.

[Rigel Stardin]

Okay. I figured I start this thread since the one where we were discussing different detection systems for anti-vehicle mines was being to drift into the area and I didn't want derail the post. So what little nasty weapons have you used in your TU that were based on ideas in the real world or fictional worlds (TV, movies, and books).

Here are some of mine:

Black Rain: Basically its a railgun used in ortillery that fire a one meter long projectiles at targets on the planet surface using the same physics as a meteorite, except it does it like a mini-gun.

Dragon's Teeth: Another ortillery. It's a cluster bomb made up of one meter spheres which leave very nice craters when striking a planet surface. The pattern of the spheres impact and size of the area affected can be altered.

Swarm Missile: Anyone who watched Robotech and mecha based shows knows this systems. It's where a missile launcher fire dozens of missiles at a target in an attempt to overwhelm the target with incoming fire.

Scatter Pack Missiles or Cluster Sub-Munitions (CSM): Basically, the same as above in tactics but used by ships. CSM can also be deployed as 'space mines' and only fire at passing ships without proper codes.

I've got at least three more off the top of my head, probably a dozen more if I dig around. Let me know what you've come up with

 

[Enoki]

Guided bow and crossbow arrows / bolts. Low tech weapon that gets around law levels but brings one-shot, one-kill accuracy with everything from rocket assist, guidance, and HE warheads. Add sensors / fire control to allow the arrow / bolt to lock onto a specific target and track it to a kill.

Edged weapons that include things like poison injection when they hit. You get sliced and then the poison takes effect...

Subcaliber munitions for shotguns. Things like a case round. You fire it like a slug, it hits and penetrates the target, then explodes with a small burster charge inside the target spraying shot in every direction. The same kind of round can be fired with a time fuze to airburst over the target. Add in something like Dragon's Breath where the resulting spray of small shot are WP, incendiary, or explosive. A high tech "cut shell" if you will.

Rocket propelled shotgun round. This is a variation of the old Gyrojet gun projectile. You fire it, it then ignites and is accelerated towards the target.

Anti-robot round. Designed to penetrate most robots then detonate spraying the insides with a conductive / magnetic powder that is then subject to a high voltage discharge to wipe out the electronics.

Expanding rod penetrator. The round goes out to a certain distance (VT fuze?) then deploys a series of rods that form a circle about a meter in diameter, slicing and dicing whatever is in its path.

4cm RAM "bouncing" laser shot round. Fired, it activates spinning at a safe distance from the firer. The round spins emitting one or more laser beams like a laser carbine would (same damage). It is designed to spin to a bounce, then bounce several more times to hundreds of meters (at a minimum) cutting a swath about 6 to 8 meters wide and damaging any target within that path. The laser only lasts like two seconds, possibly less depending on the flight time of the round.

Subcaliber penetrators similar to say an APCR round that gives a common rifle the ability to penetrate as much as a couple inches of armor plate.

Mixed penetration rounds. A larger round like an ATGM that combine something like a one-shot high energy laser that burns a hole or partial penetration into a target followed by hitting it with something like a HEAT round to finish the penetration.

Spider mines. These are small heat (substitute something else here too) seeking mines that look like say a large matchbox. On sensing a target, they deploy limbs then run at, jump on, and detonate on the target.

Remote controlled weapons. These are whatever set up with a fire control system and controlled from a remote location. Need a sniper in that tower? Put a remote system there, along with a number of other similar weapons to create a kill zone and you control them either by data link or solid cable to avoid detection and jamming, and have at the bad guys.

 

[kilemall]

Using snub pistol rounds as ersatz light grenade launcher add on to SMGs. Handy shipboard package.

ATR/AMR of the sort like the LAG only continued progression through caseless, ETC and gauss versions, Striker so penetration equal to TL. So nice big gun to crack early BD at least.

Laser homing versions of rounds, starting with snub rounds and miniaturization leading to rifle and pistol versions by TL9-10, gauss rounds by TL13. The particularly nasty versions can home on an enemy laser designator.

Personal gravitic repulsors.

BD users carrying heavy shields- angled they give just enough protection against PGMP/FGMP. Side point, with assisted power arms and targeting, rifles become single handed weapons.

PD lasers for BD (not my idea but just common sense).

BD sized melee weapons- made of advanced material, insane edges and larger. Quite a bit more kinetic and cutting power, an actual Marine cutlass weighs 3x as much as the traditional version and has much greater penetration/ductility then conventional steel. Robots so armed are also deadly.

Caseless conversions for all classic rifles/pistols, gets 20% more rounds in the same package, +1 Striker pen value, ROF +1 for 25% more weapon/ammo cost.

RF pulse lasers, can be used as either an area MG spray against multi targets or sniper mode, all shots going against one target for increased pen/damage. Very expensive and heavy due to cooling systems and prone to overheating on continuous fire.

VRF Gauss guns armed with californium rounds for recreation of the Ogre/GEV milieu.

APHE pistol/rifle rounds, penetration like normal but detonation in flesh adding +1D/2D damage, highly illegal as my setting is Near Earth Future. Major production item in the Cloud.

 

[Condottiere]

Kamikaze drones.

Ninja nanobots.

 

[Rigel Stardin]

Here are some more:

Gryojet rounds: (Taken from real life) Look up AA-12 Shotgun for the look and standard round type. HE and Anti-personal round https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FRAG-12

RAM (Taken from real life): At the time I brought them into the game, they were not real. Uses a M79 style launcher to fire small anti-tank/bunker buster missile.

Cybernetic Combat Armor (Think Ironman suit or Elemental from Battletech) A bulkier Battle Dress with weapons mounted on them and a generator to power them. Standard during the weapon lay out during campaign I ran. Two or four anti-tank missile on the back, Heavy Lasers, one on each arm and a spigot style grenade launcher built into the chest. Super-dense armor covered the exterior and percussion lining to prevent the wearer from becoming mush if they took a hit from a direct hit from an anti-armor kinetic round.

Pulse weapons: General term for energy weapons which carried the impact of a .44 magnum/penetration.

Chameleon Option: (Think Predator movies but not as high tech) It was a layer you put on your armor that changed to match the surrounding environment. had to stay motionless for full affect to take place. It also reduced your Infrared/electromagnetic signature. Would be damaged by weapons fire, but nice to have on stealth missions.

And please post your gadgets as well. I love gadgets too

 

[Condottiere]

Related to hovercrafts, I do think that air/rafts will be used extensively, but more in the sense of land speeders from Star Wars, since anything that sticks out higher than nap of the earth is going to attract missiles.

You're going to need either hypersonic speed, active defences, and/or massive armour plating, hence flying super heavy tanks, to survive.

Unless you're firing up or down from a hill, the horizon is about five miles, which sets the limit for direct fire.

 

[Rigel Stardin]

We call them FAS-Vees in our stories. Thruster bases lift system (Energy in, thrust out) Max altitude was 50 meters and could traverse most terrain with easy. We didn't like Grav vehicles that much after we read the article in JTAS about GDX (Gravitronic Distortion Explosives). Getting cut in half wasn't well like by the players. Heck, they played around with the idea, used them in boob-traps only to realize how barbaric they were. Never really used them after that.

 

[Condottiere]

Electric vehicles and battery packs, to go off track, and remain somewhat silent.

Traveller batteries do produce enough juice for air/rafts.

Should keep an eye out for small teddy bear indigents, since they like to set up tree trunk booby traps.

 

[Drew]

I was thinking of mass drivers in a planet's asteroid belt launching hundreds of rocks. The estimated Tunguska meteorite was 48 to110 meters) wide and look at that damage. How about putting thrusters on an asteroid to accelerate it to 6 g. The defense has to be 100% accurate with every one of them, but the offense can be only 1 or 2% accurate. One would be able to do it with minimal calculations.

 

[Condottiere]

Spinal mount railguns are supposed to be able to speed up twenty tonne slugs to near light speed.

On the more terrestrial level, robo dogs and mechanical mules to lug equipment on more difficult terrain; or act as weapon platforms.

 

[Drew]

Spinal mount railguns are supposed to be able to speed up twenty tonne slugs to near light speed.

On the more terrestrial level, robo dogs and mechanical mules to lug equipment on more difficult terrain; or act as weapon platforms.

The only mechanical mule that I know is the M274, although the Marines are experimenting with a semi-autonomous gator for hauling supplies.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Cruise missiles with grav drives.

Buddy/wingman sacrificial decoy drones (or separately armed).

 

[Condottiere]

Add solar panelling, eternal cruise until triggered.

 

[JohnCalyn]

Add a small air/water collector and electrolysis to a micro-fusion unit and you get the same effect without the dependence on sunlight.

 

[Enoki]

A super cavitating "Rod from God." This is an inert penetrator that is launched from orbit and accelerated to hypersonic velocities and is emitting a shield gas at the nose that prevents it from heating to temperatures that would melt it. Hits with kiloton range kinetic energy.

 

[JohnCalyn]

"Slaver" units: an EM/magnetic unit (like a PET device) that fits over the head like a hair net (but glued on) and using broadcast power. Suppresses conscious thought of the wearer, or induces specific responses, including autonomic control. Not a nice thing, but theoretically possible (look up recent research on suppressing specific brain function with PET and magnetic resonance).

Swarm grenade: releases a swarm of smart, small munitions of various types (HE to drugs to poison, &c.) that each target individually and coordinate between themselves to best cover the area and/or identify and concerntrate on tougher or specific targets. Multiple grenades can be linked and thrown either together or in rapid succession, or delivered by mortar, parachute, missile, aircraft &c. This leads naturally to swarm personal defense clusters warn on person to intercept/deflect incoming munitions (including other swarms, of course) and/or attack an attacker. Necessarily short-ranged, but that's generally what you need and want

...which leads to localized EM field generators for stopping swarms in general. And slaver units, incidentally. But consider a "tuned" EM burst for causing unconsciousness, or temporary loss of autonomic control, &c.

 

[JohnCalyn]

Bug eggs: miniature cameras and microphones about the size of insect eggs. Cheap and easy to use (just scatter 'em). Use solar or thermal (or broadcast) energy. Link together by very short range radio (like bluetooth) to pass along whatever they've observed. An occasional bigger unit can hide, filter and pass on their observations.

Add mobility and munitions among slightly larger units and it can serve as a smart and self-targeting active defense perimeter, or a reconnaisance tool. Think satchel charges/charges that find their targets and deliver themselves, as well as smart mines.

In theory they could self-deploy from a larger unit...and self-recover as well, so they're also reusable and re-deployable to at least a limited degree.

 

[JohnCalyn]

Ring bombs: Tens of thousands of tons of electromagnetically neutral sand of widely-varying partical sizes (dust to bowling-ball) dispersed via directed sub-nuclear to nuclear munitions to inject the debris at high-speeds into orbits around a planet to take out satellites and other orbital facilities and delay their replacemet by the planet's inhabitants. These can also be mounted on lingering automated platforms for lingering and/or re-deployment from higher orbits.

This isn't a long-term counter to space travel given TL 8-9+ but it makes it makes it both more expensive and more dangerous. It's a quick way to damage and/or remove a planet's orbital infrastructure.

Throwing lots and lots of fine dust into a planet's upper atmosphere (or a specific layer of the atmosphere) can also impact its climate; making the planet darker, or brighter, or negating an ozone layer, for example. As another example dump enough dust at relatively low velocity into L1 and you can cool the planet to a specific degree for decades.

 

[Dragoner]

Mini-Suicide Drones: Hummingbird sized, loiter then hit like an ACR HE round.

Atom Laser: fires a beam of coherent matter, vs light.

Induction Gun: high tech flame thrower.

Magnetar Beam: magnetic disintegrator.

Grav-con: Concentrated gravity induced shear, ripping at delicate parts.

 

[JohnCalyn]

Gravity "bullets" (fairly large: about the size of a 'D' cell flashlight battery): Instead of explosives they contain a miniature gravity generator (like a gravity plate). When the hit a target they activate, creating a small (a few inches to a very few feet), momentary high-gravity field (25-50 Gs). Very bad for the digestion. Very bad for the digestion. Very good for punching holes in most structural material...and people. Also available as more powerful grenades.

An alternative is contragrav bullets/grenades. Same form factor. Activating on impact to create a 1.2-3 G negative gravity force about a meter in diameter, they lift the target at .2 to 2 Gs and keep lifting until their power gives out. Oops. Also good for clearing/(re-)moving light debris and standing armor emplacements on the battlefield (up to a few hundred kilos).

Micro-fusion bullets. Same form factor. Activate on impact, releasing a small (but not microscopic) volume of fusing plasma and shrapnel. Bad for armored or unarmored personnel, equipment and/or vehicles. Does momentary radiation damage across the spectrum from heat to gamma rays. Mostly the former for "practical" uses. Also cause secondary radiation in and around the target. Not recommended for clearing an area you're about to walk through immediately without armor/radiation protection or firing close range; although the radiation level is fairly low in short order, it's initially high enough to be contra-indicated for repeated exposure for the first several hours.

"Half-Back" black globe generator: Two modified and specially-tuned black globe generators that each generate a half-sphere as long as both are turned on at the same time and remain on. Mounted "back-to-back", they leave a narrow gap (typically a few micrometers to a few meters) through which weapons and engines can be directed and energy otherwise dumped. Turning off one of the generators cause the other to "degenerate" into a normal black globe generator. Results in improved stealth and endurance on the battlefield, but is not completely "invulnerable", although it is very hard to hit. It is also very difficult and expensive to make and requires "matching" black globe generators, which are extremely difficult to either find or make. If one of the generators fails or loses its "tuning"and/or positioning respective to the other, one of the fields will collapse, merging with the other and releasing its collected energy into it, so failure can be very dangerous. But those are just engineering issues, right?

Anti-matter bullets. Half a gram to 5 grams of antimatter contained in a micro-stasis field that is deactivated on impact. The name pretty much says it all. Not recommended for close combat.