What type of SmallArms or Man portable gear would you make/want to see in the ST Universe?

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Given how powerful ST technology is, what kind of Small Arms or Light Weapons would you want to see made or brought into reality. Or how about man portable gear that can be used by an individual?

Given the definition of Small Arms are weapons or devices that you carry on your person and you bear the weight of. Same with any man portable gear (this includes accessories, armor, suits, etc).

Light Weapons are "Infantry Portable" but might require a small crew to operate.

Obviously, you aren't going to be carrying a Micro Fusion Reactor on your person, those are still big & heavy enough that you need a dolly or other equipment to help you move that kind of stuff around.

It's not something you're going to be carrying on your person.

The rules are you're limited to batteries or fixed ammunition supplies that you carry.

Even CEM (Condensed Energy Matrix) batteries are acceptable, the same ones used on the Series 5 long-range tactical armor unit are perfectly viable, those allow a small torpedo to travel 80 ly at Warp Speed and carry a M/A-M war-head along with powering alot of other sub-systems.

So remember, no built in "Reactors", but super energy dense batteries are ok!

For the last 3000 years, the average soldier carried up to 60 lbs (27.216 kg) worth of gear in total.
That includes armor, weapon, ammo, etc.

Only very recently has soldiers been overloaded with excess gear to the point of 90-140 lbs which has resulted in extra fatigue, long term injuries, reduced responsiveness, etc.

So keep that weight limit and battery/ammo limit in mind when it comes to gear mass/weight.

So when you send security or other StarFleet staff out on away missions and need to carry gear, there should be a reasonable weight limit for the average human to carry.

Obviously, other species might be able to carry more given their body strengths, but we're dealing with what we know, humans, so keep the weight limits to what we can reasonably carry for long periods of time out in the field.

 

[Tim Walker]

1. Phasers, of course. TOS did this best, from hand phasers up to phaser rifles.

2. Projectile weapons:

a. The largest carried by individuals would be missile launchers similar to those in use today [ for anti-tank and anti-aircraft ("manpad") purposes].

b. Mortars, such as the one used in "Arena" (TOS).

These would have an advantage compared to phasers, not being restricted to line-of-site. Also, grenades.

 

[valkyrie013]

Depends on the mission.
Standard away team, deserted planet, Everyone armed with a phaser. Someone carrying backpack with some tents, water provisions, etc. just in case the ship needs to leave in a hurry or something happens and there stuck.
Hostile away mission, 5 person team, Everybody has a phaser, one has a phaser rifle, all wearing phaser resistant vests, carrying stun grenades (seen in Enterprise) Each person has a backpack, extra power packs for phasers, food, water. one has a heavyer pack with tents etc. but depends on environment.

 

[C.E. Evans]

A tricorder that looks less like a smartphone. I know the slimmer open-faced models are supposed to be contemporary to current tech, but that's just it--it doesn't have to be. Tricorders are supposed to be rugged field tools that could be dropped down a cliff or survive a rockslide. Having a bulkier casing like the tricorders in TNG, DS9, and VOY doesn't make it less primitive than a smartphone, but provides more shock protection in the field for its internal systems (the same argument can apply to the flip-top communicators in TOS, IMO).

That being said, I don't mind the 32nd-Century tricombadge--a combination holographic tricorder, combadge, and personal transporter--but that's the 32nd-Century. Until then, I want something more substantial.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/01/65/2f/01652f3c933323bf7651a5fb2ed34001.png

 

[valkyrie013]

Star Trek has had a problem with equiping landing teams ( has gotten better somewhat with the Tactical equipment in DSC, and SNW).
If beamed into a established city, colony etc. sure, but most times its to a desolate planet, or some hostile environment, yet they just have some phasers, maybe a tricorder, no one has a backpack full of supplies ( Strangely The Cage DID have some backpacks) no one has extra power packs, canteen of water per person, grenades, Etc.

Now with the technology, you could easily have an anti grave sled with all your equpment beamed down with you, and it follows you like a Boston Dynamics Dog robot.. That can have all your stuff, even some heavy armament like a heavy phaser, or RPG.

Stargate SG1 got it right, everyone kitted out, and an atv carrying extra stuff that you can get to if needed.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Star Trek has had a problem with equiping landing teams ( has gotten better somewhat with the Tactical equipment in DSC, and SNW).
If beamed into a established city, colony etc. sure, but most times its to a desolate planet, or some hostile environment, yet they just have some phasers, maybe a tricorder, no one has a backpack full of supplies ( Strangely The Cage DID have some backpacks) no one has extra power packs, canteen of water per person, grenades, Etc.

i think a lot of that has to do with a reliance--and possibly even overreliance--on transporters. Since most away teams are within transporter & communication range of a starship, anything more than a phaser and a tricorder can be beamed down. Conversely, away teams usually don't stay more than a few hours (if that) and are beamed back to the ship in time for lunch. That doesn't explain away why having survival gear isn't a good idea in the event of transporter failure/loss of contact, but it may suggest that Starfleet counts too much on its technology at times (I'm reminded of a scene in the TNG episode "Contagion" when Doctor Pulaski had to tell one of her medics to make an old-fashioned splint when a bone knitter had stopped working).

As far as the one backpack we saw someone carrying in "The Cage," I always figured that held some kind of scientific equipment as we also didn't see any tricorders in use during that episode. It might have contained survival gear for the entire landing party, although there was a radio antenna sticking out from it.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Given the proliferation of shields and energy-dampening technology, I've always wondered why projectile weapons were not more common.

Starfleet once toyed with the idea of the TR-116, a projectile weapon that could shoot through walls, by firing a bullet and then transporting it to the intended room with all of its inertia intact, but it was abandoned in favor of yet another phaser.

Picard demonstrated that the Borg–enemies who often hold a technological advance over the Federation–perforate easily in the face of primitive projectile weapons. You'd think the Federation would want to pursue such an effective technology, but no...

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Given the proliferation of shields and energy-dampening technology, I've always wondered why projectile weapons were not more common.

Simple. Projectile weapons are weapons, nothing more, nothing less... to an organisation that likes to claim it's not a military (whether true or not)... then phasers, which are tools which happen to be usable as weapons (particularly the mid-24th Century versions) are politically and doctorinally preferable.

Starfleet once toyed with the idea of the TR-116, a projectile weapon that could shoot through walls, by firing a bullet and then transporting it to the intended room with all of its inertia intact, but it was abandoned in favor of yet another phaser.

Actually, the vanilla TR-116 was a fairly conventional anti-armor/sniper weapon, the micro-transporter was modded to it by the killer, though later uses within the First Splinter and STO 'verses appear to have added the mod.

 

[XCV330]

I would rather no new weapons come into reality, but they will.

But in terms of easily deployable gear that can get you around fast on the ground, I would like to see star trek's take on a realistic (in star trek terms ) bicycle.
I would imagine extremely lightweight carbon nanotube frame, suspension fore and aft, motor assist, antilock braking, provision for storage or at least a rear rack. Puncture proof or non-pneumatictires, and preferably the entire thing folds a decent size

 

[valkyrie013]

I would rather no new weapons come into reality, but they will.

But in terms of easily deployable gear that can get you around fast on the ground, I would like to see star trek's take on a realistic (in star trek terms ) bicycle.
I would imagine extremely lightweight carbon nanotube frame, suspension fore and aft, motor assist, antilock braking, provision for storage or at least a rear rack. Puncture proof or non-pneumatictires, and preferably the entire thing folds a decent size

Well. if you have Rocket Boots.. why need a bike??

 

[XCV330]

Well. if you have Rocket Boots.. why need a bike??

Those boots seemed problematic. Bicycles are incredibly efficient. You can't guarantee everything will work well in the field so you need things to be robust and easy to repair.

 

[fireproof78]

Well. if you have Rocket Boots.. why need a bike??

Because the boots can't carry extra weight.

 

[Wingcommanderdarkwolf01]

hats for the sun etc and helmets for combat.

 

[Wingcommanderdarkwolf01]

why did stargate get this right anyway?

 

[fireproof78]

why did stargate get this right anyway?

Why did they? Because they based it off of Air Force equipment already available. They didn't have to invent anything whole cloth to satisfy the needs of the story.

And even Stargate made transitions, with not using the rover as much, and still walking pretty much everywhere.

 

[Wingcommanderdarkwolf01]

fair point.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Well. if you have Rocket Boots.. why need a bike??

Anti-Grav Vests to help individual users fly for a short period of time.

If Jonathon Archer can have Anti-Grav RC Toys.

Anti-Grav Helper Mini droids in SNW / DISCO that can carry the weight of a full person.

Jett Reno's little Anti-Grav helper drones she calls "KIDDS" (Kinetically-Impelled Detachable Drones) <- A STO created acronym for her little helper droids.
She stated that her KIDDS has enough lifting capability to suspend her upside down with the help of counter-weights. I'm making a simple assumption that she used a standard pulley setup.

Assuming that Tig Notaro falls within standard US Women's weight. That should be somewhere close to 100-140 lb range + equivalent counter-weight for the pulley & suspension + rope.

That's close to support 200-280 lb (90 - 127 kg) of weight.

That's ALOT of weight to support for a Anti-Grav droid, especially over a prolonged period of time.

It stands to reason that you can use the same Anti-Grav technology from all your Droids to help create a Anti-Grav Vest to move people around.

 

[XCV330]

Why did they? Because they based it off of Air Force equipment already available. They didn't have to invent anything whole cloth to satisfy the needs of the story.

And even Stargate made transitions, with not using the rover as much, and still walking pretty much everywhere.

It helped that most planets were British Columbia

 

[Tim Walker]

What to wear? Hats, sunglasses, jackets....

 

[fireproof78]

It helped that most planets were British Columbia

Darn Ancient world seeders were left on the BC setting.