Few questions about the Light Assault class

[Bogdanov]

I recently started playing PS2 and i really like the mobility of the Light Assaults (LA).
The whole idea of flanking and maneuvering around your enemy is quite fun and challenging.

However i could use some advice from the more experienced veterans about the following to

1. The Rocklet Rifle tool seems very weak...
At first i thought it was a grenade launcher but it sucks against infantry since it has almost no splash and cant kill a basic infantry class in 6 rockets.
Then i thought it was a tank killer... but it needs over 30 rockets to just seriously damage a tank.

Six rockets that deal about 150 damage each IF they all hit (900 dmg, not enough to kill basic infantry).
This is further reduced by whatever protection the target might have.
The rockets have almost no splash so they must score a direct hit (sucks vs infantry).
Firing one by one is very slow and risky since enemies can easily see where you are firing from.
Firing all at once is very inaccurate and often half the rockets will miss even at very close range.
Even with the Typhoon ammo upgrade the rockets just dont do enough to reliably kill.
At best the Locklets ammo can scare away aircraft but that is a really lame and situational tool...

Is there anything the Rocklet Rifle is actually great at?
Compared to the Heavy Assault's bazookas the LAssault's Rocklet Rifle seems garbage in every way.

2. Carbines vs SMGs
As far as i have noticed the SMGs usually have much better stats like magazine size and rate of fire.
But carbines are decently accurate when hip-fired during jetpack flight, and some of them can mount underbarrel shotgun/grenade launcher.
Having an underbarrel shotgun or grenade launcher sounds awesome but i dont know is it practical in combat.
And as far as i can see both SMGs and Carbines are really bad at medium range - Assault Rifles and LMGs do that much better so i avoid mid range as LAssault.
So do you prefer Carbines or SMGs and why (assuming you are not using shotguns).

3. I like the Skirmisher jetpack, its versatility is awesome.
The other two jetpacks seem rather situational and niche in use.
Which ones do you use most often?

4. I am thinking of trying out the Flash Grenades...
Should i go for the standard Flash Grenades or the Quick-Det Flash Grenades?

5. How do you actually hover with Skirmisher jetpacks?
So far i have done it a few times just by lightly tappign the jet pack during flight so i stand in roughly the same spot.
But it seems very clunky and spends the Skirmisher jetpack very quickly.
The Drifter jetpack makes hovering easy but i do not know how to do it with the Skirmisher jetpack.

6. Which side-arm do you prefer?
Personally as Vanu i like the NS-61 Emissary but honestly i would much rather use the unique TR automatic pistol or the NC shotgun pistol if i could.
I thought of using the long range revolvers/crossbow but they just seem too situational and slow to kill at long range, even with a head shot.

Thank you for helping me out