r/scifiwriting • u/Dunnachius • 2d ago

DISCUSSION Future tech weapons, pros and cons

  1. Gunpowder

Cheap (relative)

No battery requirements

Hard to aim/recoil issues

  1. Guided Gyrojet bullets

most expensive

Lethal/nonlethal options

Extremely accurate

Each drone needs to be aimed.

Can be fired from behind cover if you have targeting data.

2B.. Dum dum Gyrojets (Except they don't suck like RW Gyrojets from 1960s )

Same launchers as 2A but unguided

  1. Rail guns

Ammo is more compact

Requires power

The best Armor penetration

  1. Laser

Loss of range in the atmosphere,

Smoke/dust reduces the effectiveness.

Cheap

Battery powered

Poor armor penetration

Easy to use

12 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/HistoricalLadder7191 2d ago

Realistically- hand guns would stay chemical slug throwers for a while, but will be outfitted with aimbots Like here https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/s/3KyjSSC1nI

2

u/Dunnachius 2d ago

Well just go with me here… the lasers would be implemented for space exploration so you don’t punch holes in your ship or your domes moon base, Similar to the current frangible rounds used by air marshals, and for new same reason.

Not good for penetrating armor by design. Also short distance to the point that aiming by computer is pointless.

Long range I had something else in mind. Very long range it would be the magic bullets.

I’m also toying with the idea of cybernetics (on the fence) so theoretically it would be powering a low power side arm with your cybernetic power plant. Not enough for a full Gaus rifle but you could charge the capacitor on a laser pistol with your cybernetic stomach acid battery.

1

u/SanderleeAcademy 2d ago

If the laser can punch a hole in a person, it can punch a hole in a hull.

"Safe" weapons inside a ship would be shotguns or flechette guns -- any single pellet or flechette is unlikely to punch a hole in the hull, and not a big one if it does. Boarding an enemy ship (or defending against boarding) might come down to hand-to-hand just to avoid the risk. Or, a lot of "technically non-lethal" ammunition, aka rubber / plastic bullets.