Examples of Personal Sidearms carried by SHIELD Personnel

Personal Sidearms

Unlike their colleagues in other SG teams, SHIELD operatives are required to carry a sidearm at all times, regardless of location or duties.

In addition to the standard issue 9mm Berretta M93 issued to all SGC officers, team members of Officer grade can opt to carry an additional 'personal' weapon of their choice. Since these weapons are not classed as general issue all maintainance costs must be met by the weapon's owner. Although most officers prefer to carry conventional firearms - with heavy calibre automatics being the main choice - General Fury continues to carry a version of the Stane-designed 'Needle Gun' which was has been his personal weapon of choice since the late 1960's.

'Field' Weapons

While on active duty, SHIELD teams are issued with the SGC's standard Heckler & Koch MP-5 as their basic weapon. However, depending on the nature of the mission, they may find themselves able to call on a larger selection of weapons. Heavy calibre machine guns, sniper's rifles and area supression weapons are all stored within the armouries at SHIELD Central and aboard the Helicarrier for use as circumstances demand and the R&D Division is constantly investigating new weapons with a view to incorporating them into the Shield arsenal. Recently, it has become common practice for SHIELD to make a number of it's more unusual weapons available to other SG teams and many of these arms are currently being evaluated for inclusion in the SGC armoury.

SHIELD Field Weapons

SHIELD R&D-Produced Weapons

'Exotics'

Most SGC members are familar with the Goa'uld Zat'n'ktel and Staff Weapons, but in addition SHIELD operatives are trained in the use of a number of specialised weapons created or modified by the Research and Development (Ordnance) Division. General Fury's 'Needler' is the most widely recognised example of their work, but several other key personnel carry similar sidearms - Major General Mnemosyne, Head of the ESPer Division and Captain Noble both carry custom laser pistols which are products of the ordnance labs and all members of the executive staff are issued with plasma blasters for field assignments.

However, use of exotics is not limited purely to the commanding officers, combat units entering situations of extreme danger or where greater stealth is required, may be issued with the current version of the SHIELD laser rifle. This almost-silent weapon is accurate to several hundred metres and is comparable in power to the Gao'uld 'staff weapon', although the conventional grips and sighting systems allow for far greater accuracy than the enemy equivalent.

Despite initial reluctance by the regular Air Force personnel to accept the new directed-energy weapons being developed by the R&D Division, the increasing need for superiority over an enemy which can field vast numbers of combatants is slowly overcoming their reliance on conventional weapons and a small number of the first production run have already found their way into the field kit of certain Marine, Covert Operations and Recon Units.