Type-18 shuttlepod

The Type-18 shuttlepod was a small Federation shuttlecraft in operation in the late-24th century.

Specifications
These shuttlepods were assigned to starships as part of their auxiliary craft complement. Capable of accommodating up to two flight crew and four passengers, or cargo, they were used for evacuation, planetary surface operations and ship-to-ship transfers. In their standard configuration, the Type 18 was only equipped with phaser armaments, however, they could be mounted with numerous other small weapons systems should the need arise.

Although the Type 18 shuttlepod was limited to sublight speeds under its own propulsion, if released from its mothership while at warp speed, it was capable of sustaining the superluminal velocity by generating its own subspace field. 

Notable uses
In mid-2371, Benjamin Sisko and Kira Nerys used one of the USS Defiant (NX-74205)'s shuttlepods to generate a subspace field around comet fragments travelling through the Bajoran wormhole to prevent silithium from the comet from reacting with the wormhole.