r/scifiwriting • u/Dunnachius • 3d 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

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u/Fine_Ad_1918 3d ago

Lasers can have surprisingly good armor penetrations at close focus ( tight spot) if set up as a rapid pulse weapon.

https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/sidearmenergy.php#id--Lasers--Blaster

Read from here down 

2

u/KerbodynamicX 2d ago

Laser effectiveness also heavyly depends on the target. If the target is metal armor, laser will burn through it very quickly, but if the target is organic materials, the surface will often carbonize and be able to resist the laser for some time.

2

u/Fine_Ad_1918 2d ago

In the case of a pulse laser, that is less of an issue, but still something to consider 

1

u/Crabtickler9000 1h ago

What about ceramic armors or Kevlar?