So I’ll be the one to ask: What will Space Force’s individual weapon be?
- Thread starter rickyrick
- Start date
A computer...
It's electioneering..the USAF, along with other service members in their staff, already has a 'Space Force'..'Space Command'..the 'new service' gig is just an expensive, election driven, exercise.
https://www.space.com/41452-space-force-air-force-space-command.html
BUT, a "Space Command" or 'Space Force" does a whole lot more than send astronauts to the ISS or even the moon.
It's electioneering..the USAF, along with other service members in their staff, already has a 'Space Force'..'Space Command'..the 'new service' gig is just an expensive, election driven, exercise.
https://www.space.com/41452-space-force-air-force-space-command.html
BUT, a "Space Command" or 'Space Force" does a whole lot more than send astronauts to the ISS or even the moon.
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Armed_Chicagoan
New member
The weapons will be satellites that protect our satellites from enemy satellite killers as well as satellites that destroy enemy satellites.
And it's about time, other countries have been testing satellite killers for decades now. Getting GPS and communication satellites blasted out of orbit in a war would be no joke.
And it's about time, other countries have been testing satellite killers for decades now. Getting GPS and communication satellites blasted out of orbit in a war would be no joke.
Kevin Rohrer
New member
Suggestions:
*BFG9000 (name the game w/o peaking)
*Phaser
*Any hand-held laser in the gigawatt range
*gom jabbar (name the book w/o peaking)
*BFG9000 (name the game w/o peaking)
*Phaser
*Any hand-held laser in the gigawatt range
*gom jabbar (name the book w/o peaking)
I don't know the BFG9000 (or many video games)
I do know that the Gom Jabbar (high handed enemy) was a poisoned needle used by the Bene Gesserit in Frank Herbert's "Dune", and I've known it since I read the book back in the 70s.
there was no peeking involved.
What will the Space Force individual weapons be? In the far future, who can say? In the near future, until we actually get people living in space, the weapons will be appropriate standard issue from the "parent" service (US Air Force).
Once we get living in space ships and habitats, the smart move would be something like a taser, (wireless charged dart??) that could incapacitate a human while posing little or no risk of puncturing the habitat.
while there might be an actual gun or two at each facility or onboard each ship, (and under lock & key control of the facility Admin) you won't see crew wearing pistols or armed to "repel boarders" with conventional firearms. Aside from the risk of letting the air out of your own ship, and the drawback of recoil in microgravity, its simply a cost/benefit analysis. Literally (at this time and for the forseeable future) the cost of lifting the mass of a conventional firearm out of Earth's gravity well far "outweighs" the benefits.
Now, when we get to exploring other planets, there will be SOME firearms involved, but very few, until it is known there is a threat, beyond the one we bring with us. I would fully expect that there will be a gun (or two) that go to Mars when people do, "just in case". But there won't be more than that, unless/until there is some known threat.
If we carry our Earthly political squabbles beyond Earth, then its possible each camp will arm as there is a potential enemy. But there won't be Starship Troopers, unless there are "bugs" to fight.
I do know that the Gom Jabbar (high handed enemy) was a poisoned needle used by the Bene Gesserit in Frank Herbert's "Dune", and I've known it since I read the book back in the 70s.
there was no peeking involved.
What will the Space Force individual weapons be? In the far future, who can say? In the near future, until we actually get people living in space, the weapons will be appropriate standard issue from the "parent" service (US Air Force).
Once we get living in space ships and habitats, the smart move would be something like a taser, (wireless charged dart??) that could incapacitate a human while posing little or no risk of puncturing the habitat.
while there might be an actual gun or two at each facility or onboard each ship, (and under lock & key control of the facility Admin) you won't see crew wearing pistols or armed to "repel boarders" with conventional firearms. Aside from the risk of letting the air out of your own ship, and the drawback of recoil in microgravity, its simply a cost/benefit analysis. Literally (at this time and for the forseeable future) the cost of lifting the mass of a conventional firearm out of Earth's gravity well far "outweighs" the benefits.
Now, when we get to exploring other planets, there will be SOME firearms involved, but very few, until it is known there is a threat, beyond the one we bring with us. I would fully expect that there will be a gun (or two) that go to Mars when people do, "just in case". But there won't be more than that, unless/until there is some known threat.
If we carry our Earthly political squabbles beyond Earth, then its possible each camp will arm as there is a potential enemy. But there won't be Starship Troopers, unless there are "bugs" to fight.
I can’t see where a terrestrial style firearm would even be convenient on a space ship or space station. Besides the issues of a projectile puncturing important stuff, you’d also have the smoke particles, lubricant mist and metal shavings now in your life support system... not to mention the fluids and debris from your enemy. I don’t see any kind of projectile being used in confined spaces. Probably will still use projectiles in conflicts involving crafts engaging each other.
My best guess would be weapons designed to disrupt electrical circuits.
My best guess would be weapons designed to disrupt electrical circuits.
It has little to do with the Space Force, but since the question is about small arms in space, there are at least two handguns on the ISS, of Russian origin but available to all occupants, and most if not all US space missions have been accompanied by weapons typically selected for their multipurpose utility rather than their effectiveness in a traditional battlefield.
For extended missions like Mars expeditions which can be expected to extend well beyond a year, I am sure there will be firearms included -- not for little green men, but to maintain law and order just as would be done on a naval vessel. I don't see many reasons why they wouldn't be conventional.
The Space Force and its Air Force predecessor have more to do with non-human assets in space than they do with astronauts or manned missions. There is nothing farcical about the US Air Force's mission in space that has been ongoing since the close of WW2.
For extended missions like Mars expeditions which can be expected to extend well beyond a year, I am sure there will be firearms included -- not for little green men, but to maintain law and order just as would be done on a naval vessel. I don't see many reasons why they wouldn't be conventional.
The Space Force and its Air Force predecessor have more to do with non-human assets in space than they do with astronauts or manned missions. There is nothing farcical about the US Air Force's mission in space that has been ongoing since the close of WW2.
armoredman
New member
M41A Pulse Rifle, standard 10mm caseless with over and under 30mm grenade launcher.
Gom jabbar from Dune , and others by Frank Herbert and son.
And the shields that stopped fast moving objects, i.e. bullets and such, but interacted poorly with lasers (as in very loud kaboom). And let's not forget the "family atomics" waiting in the wings!
The bigger picture...
The concept of the Space Force has been around for decades now. Donald Trump did not create it or envision it, and the country has been too busy fighting wars over the last 40 years to give it the funding it needs, otherwise it would have happened a long time ago. US Space Command has been filling a partial role but the creation of the Space Force is an order-of-magnitude greater scope.
The US gov't has been falling behind in space for well over 20 years. The loss of the Space Shuttle capability was only one factor in losing our organic ability to put men into space. The prediction has always been that private/commercial solutions would solve this problem, and they're just now coming online and will complement our military capabilities.
The Space Force is now equal to the Air Force within the Department of the Air Force in the same scheme as the Marine Corps is equal to the Navy within the Department of the Navy. It's a big deal. You perform a disservice to the military in general by not recognizing that in time, the Space Force will be the most critical of all our military services.
When the President announced the creation of the Space Force last year, the leadership bulk of every single one of our near-peer competitors collectively crapped themselves... and here's why...
The future of manned air/space warfare is dead. The F-35 will almost certainly be the last manned fighter aircraft produced by the US. Everything to come online after it will be unmanned. At the speeds that near-future weapons will operate, a human will be too slow and rendered obsolete. We are on the cusp of fully-autonomous combat aircraft right now... and if that doesn't scare you, go binge-watch all the Terminator movies.
The future of space combat in whatever form it arrives will take place at velocities measured in miles per second or the speed of light. Hypersonics, directed energy, and cyber-warfare are the battlegrounds of the next 50+ years. Humans are just too slow when the shooting starts and the country that build the fastest computers will likely win.
So, you wanna know what the "individual weapon" of the Space Force is... it's the keyboard.
The concept of the Space Force has been around for decades now. Donald Trump did not create it or envision it, and the country has been too busy fighting wars over the last 40 years to give it the funding it needs, otherwise it would have happened a long time ago. US Space Command has been filling a partial role but the creation of the Space Force is an order-of-magnitude greater scope.
The US gov't has been falling behind in space for well over 20 years. The loss of the Space Shuttle capability was only one factor in losing our organic ability to put men into space. The prediction has always been that private/commercial solutions would solve this problem, and they're just now coming online and will complement our military capabilities.
The Space Force is now equal to the Air Force within the Department of the Air Force in the same scheme as the Marine Corps is equal to the Navy within the Department of the Navy. It's a big deal. You perform a disservice to the military in general by not recognizing that in time, the Space Force will be the most critical of all our military services.
When the President announced the creation of the Space Force last year, the leadership bulk of every single one of our near-peer competitors collectively crapped themselves... and here's why...
The future of manned air/space warfare is dead. The F-35 will almost certainly be the last manned fighter aircraft produced by the US. Everything to come online after it will be unmanned. At the speeds that near-future weapons will operate, a human will be too slow and rendered obsolete. We are on the cusp of fully-autonomous combat aircraft right now... and if that doesn't scare you, go binge-watch all the Terminator movies.
The future of space combat in whatever form it arrives will take place at velocities measured in miles per second or the speed of light. Hypersonics, directed energy, and cyber-warfare are the battlegrounds of the next 50+ years. Humans are just too slow when the shooting starts and the country that build the fastest computers will likely win.
So, you wanna know what the "individual weapon" of the Space Force is... it's the keyboard.