Weapons of Star Trek

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Contents 1 Energy weapons 1.1 Disruptors 1.1.1 Varon-T disruptors 1.2 Lasers 1.3 Phase pistols 1.4 Phase cannons 1.5 Phased polaron cannon 1.6 Phasers 2 Biological weapons 2.1 Thalaron Radiation 2.2 Metreon cascade 2.3 Trilithium resin 2.4 Cobalt diselenide 3 Melee weapons 3.1 KaBar Combat Knife (Starfleet/Federation) 3.2 Bat'leth 3.3 D'k tahg 3.4 Mek'leth 3.5 Lirpa 3.6 Ahn'woon 4 Projectile weapons 4.1 TR-116 Projectile Rifle (Federation) 4.2 Chroniton torpedoes 4.3 Poloron torpedoes 4.4 Gravimetric torpedoes 4.5 Photon torpedoes 4.6 Plasma torpedo 4.7 Quantum torpedoes 4.8 Spatial torpedoes 4.9 Transphasic torpedoes 4.10 Phased plasma torpedoes 4.11 Positron torpedoes 5 Subspace weapons 5.1 Isolytic burst 5.2 Tricobalt devices 6 Other Weapons 6.1 Magnetometric Guided Charges 6.2 Multi Kinetic Neutronic Mines 6.3 Dreadnought 6.4 Series 5 Long Range Tactical Armor Unit 6.5 Modified photon torpedoes 6.6 Omega Molecules 6.7 Q Firearms 6.8 Quantum phaser 7 References 8 External links

The Star Trek fictional universe contains a very large number of weapons.

[edit] Energy weapons

[edit] Disruptors

Disruptors are employed by the Romulan Star Empire, Klingon Empire, Breen, Cardassian Union, and the Orions in their personal and military small arms as well as being mounted as cannon, emitters, turrets, and banks. Only the first three are known to have type-3 disruptors, the most advanced developed so far, by the 24th century.

[edit] Varon-T disruptors

Varon-T disruptors are a rare type of disruptor made illegal in the Federation because of their slow, excruciating method of killing. The weapons tear the body apart from the inside. Kivas Fajo, a Zibalian trader in the TNG episode "The Most Toys", owned four of the five Varon-T disruptors ever manufactured before his collection of rare items was confiscated subsequent to his capture and arrest for kidnapping and theft (among other crimes).^[1]

[edit] Lasers

Lasers are a sidearm in the original Star Trek pilot "The Cage", and laser pistols appear in several Original Series episodes, although later episodes in The Next Generation seemed to indicate that the laser's use as a weapon was outdated. In one instance, the ship-mounted lasers of two spacecraft were incapable of overcoming the navigational shields of the USS Enterprise-D.^[2] The Borg have been known to use cutting lasers to dissect disabled vessels, and the Talarians employ High Energy X-ray lasers.

[edit] Phase pistols

Phase pistols are the 22nd century precursor to phaser technology. However, unlike phasers, they don't have the vaporize setting -- only stun and kill.

[edit] Phase cannons

Phase cannons are 22nd century weapons, several of which first appear mounted to the Enterprise in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Silent Enemy". Phase cannons have a variable yield, with the cannons on the Enterprise being rated for a maximum output of 500 gigajoules.^[3] Phase cannons are generally more powerful than spatial torpedoes.^[4]

[edit] Phased polaron cannon

These are weapons that were encountered throughout the run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, used by an antagonist faction known as the Dominion. The cannon emits a beam of polaron particles, the antimatter counterpart of the muon. Polaron beams were quite effective at tearing through most Alpha Quadrant races' shields. As the series progresses, Federation and Klingon ships made modifications to their shields to prevent polaron weapons from penetrating them. During the episode "Call to Arms", Weyoun, the Vorta advisor in the attack fleet, expresses surprise that the Federation shields can now withstand their weaponry.

[edit] Phasers

Phasers are common directed-energy weapons first seen in the original Star Trek and later seen or referenced in almost all subsequent films and TV spin-offs except for the phase cannons of Enterprise.

Originally (from the production notes to TOS), the Phaser was a PHoton mASER, or PHASER, since at the time of writing the Laser was a relative unknown, and powers were not expected to be very great. Masers, on the other hand, were already very powerful machines which produce very destructive radiation pulses. The term "phaser" has since been revised as a backronym for PHASed Energy Rectification, though from a physics standpoint even this is of equal semantic content - ordinary incoherent light is not 'rectified', or synchronous, whereas Lasing and Masing emissions are rectified, or synchronous.

Phasers appear as both personal hand-held weapons and as starship-mounted weapons. Hand-held phasers are depicted to have a variety of settings, able to "stun", "kill", "heat", "disrupt", and "dematerialize". Capable of being used as welding torches or cutting tools, they can be set to "overload", whereby they build up a force-chamber explosion internally; the resulting blast will destroy most natural objects within a 50-yard radius. This process is marked by a distinctive sound that increases in volume and intensity until it is deactivated or it detonates. Hand phasers can also be set to fire in "Wide Beam" mode, to strike multiple targets at once ^[5]. The weapon can also be useful for wilderness survival in cold weather with its ability to create a sustained heat source by shooting at a large piece of solid material like rock.

The phasers mounted on the USS Enterprise also can fire a stun blast capable of incapacitating groups of people on a planet's surface.^[6] Similar to the hand phaser, ship phasers can also be fired to evenly disintegrate a target object such as meteors and asteroids.

The hand-held phasers include a larger rifle which has similar settings to the smaller phasers. The rifle is more powerful than the smaller phasers; there have been a number of different types of phaser rifles, most notably the phase compression rifle which has appeared in a number of Voyager episodes and in all the recent films from First Contact to Nemesis.

Phasers make a beam of a fictional type of subatomic particles called nadions.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual indicates that the superconducting crystals used in phasers are called fushigi no umi. This was an homage to the 1990 anime series Fushigi no Umi no Nadia, known in North America as Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.

[edit] Biological weapons

[edit] Thalaron Radiation

Thalaron radiation was first used in Star Trek Nemesis by main antagonist Shinzon to assassinate the Romulan senate. Later in the movie, Shinzon attempts to kill the crew of the USS Enterprise-E using a ship-mounted version. Thalaron radiation, even in small amounts, petrifies living tissue almost instantly. Its massive destructive potential leads the Federation to consider it a biogenic weapon.^[7]

[edit] Metreon cascade

The metreon cascade was designed by Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel of the Haakonian Order. Unstable metreon isotopes were used to create a devastating explosion, with radiation effects similar to those of the 20th-century atomic bomb. Those not killed or vaporized in the initial blast suffered terrible radiation poisoning and death in the aftermath. It was used only once, on the Talaxian moon Rinax in 2355.^[8]

[edit] Trilithium resin

A substance lethal to humans, but harmless to Cardassians. A team of terrorists attempted to steal Trilithium resin from the warp core of the Enterprise-D when it was docked at Arkaria station to receive a baryon sweep.^[9] Captain Benjamin Sisko would later use Trilithium resin torpedoes to render Maquis planets uninhabitable to all human life for fifty years by detonating them in the atmosphere.^[10]

[edit] Cobalt diselenide

A biogenic weapon that affects the nervous system. Lethal to Cardassians, but harmless to most other humanoids.^[10]

[edit] Melee weapons

[edit] KaBar Combat Knife (Starfleet/Federation)

This standard-issue combat and survival knife is of standard Earth military design, with little changed from the original namesake used by Earth's United States Marine Corps. This 32.5 cm (approximately 13-inch) knife is found in survival gear and in emergency weapons caches aboard starships, as used by Captain Kathryn Janeway in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Macrocosm".

[edit] Bat'leth

The bat'leth is the Klingon longsword, designed by martial arts enthusiast and Star Trek: The Next Generation effects producer Dan Curry.^[11]

Klingon oral history holds that the first bat'leth was forged around 625 A.D. by Kahless, who dropped a lock of his hair into the lava from the Kri'stak Volcano, then plunged the fiery lock into the lake of Lursor and twisted it to form a blade.^[11] After forging the weapon, he used it to defeat the tyrant Molor, and in doing so united the Klingon Homeworld.^[11] This first bat'leth was known as "The Sword of Kahless" and was stolen by the invading Hur'q; an episode of Deep Space Nine revolves around an effort to recover The Sword of Kahless.^[11] The name bat'leth itself means "Sword of Honor" in Klingon.

[edit] D'k tahg

A d'k tahg is a Klingon dagger. The knife has three blades: a main blade with a cutout in the center, and two smaller blades on either side. In some models, these side blades are spring loaded and can pop out into position and close up for storage. In other models, the blades are fixed. It also features a pommel studded with blunt spikes. The D'k tahg first appeared in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and appeared occasionally throughout the following films and TV series.

[edit] Mek'leth

A mek'leth is the Klingon short sword that appears in several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and in the film Star Trek: First Contact. Designed by Dan Curry, it consists of a short, thick, curved blade with a metal guard extending back parallel with the grip to protect the hand. Worf is the most commonly seen user of the mek'leth, owning one and using it several times, including in melee combat against Borg drones in First Contact.

[edit] Lirpa

A lirpa is a Vulcan weapon consisting of a wooden staff a little over a meter in length, with a semicircular blade at one end and a metal bludgeon on the other. It is similar to the monk's spade. Captain James T. Kirk and Spock used lirpas when they fought for possession of T'Pring during Spock's Pon farr ritual in "Amok Time". Soldiers sent after Jonathan Archer and T'Pol fought with lirpas because Vulcan's "Forge" region makes conventional energy weapons useless.

[edit] Ahn'woon

An ahn'woon is a Vulcan catch-strangle weapon, similar in principle to the Earth Roman Gladiator's weighted net. The multi-strapped weapon (approximately 1.1 meters long) uses weights on the ends of the straps to entangle, stun, or cut the target, and the application of tying action and wrapping can engulf the breathing of the target, asphyxiating the victim.

[edit] Projectile weapons

[edit] TR-116 Projectile Rifle (Federation)

The United Federation of Planets encompasses over 150 planets and hundreds of cultures. Many of them have just progressed beyond projectile weaponry, barring missile/torpedo technology. Among the few projectile weapons still used in hand-to-hand combat or in infantry maneuvers, is the TR-116. Though considered a prototype weapon in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Field of Fire", the weapon was developed in concept to be a backup or fallback weapon for the Phaser Rifle or Hand Phaser. The rifle was essentially a paramagnetic gauss rifle, using a duritanium slug accelerated to a good fraction of sublight speeds (difficult to achieve in atmosphere, without precise forcefield focus and acceleration, due to the air's reistance to projectiles travelling at ultrasonic speeds). The TR-116 bullet can also be used, as portrayed by the prototype, in combination with a micro-transporter device, to provide an ultimate sniper's rifle--the slug can target anything within range of the tiny transporter (especially when scanning tech devices are also used). However this is considered by "fanon," or tech-oriented fans to be the "prototype" nature of the specific weapon used in the Deep Space Nine episode.

[edit] Chroniton torpedoes

Chroniton torpedoes phase in and out of normal time and have been twice seen used by the Krenim. Their temporal nature makes them extremely dangerous and potent.^[12] Their reliability is not absolute, as Seven of Nine and Tuvok find an undetonated chroniton torpedo lodged in Voyager's hull.^[12]

[edit] Poloron torpedoes

Poloron torpedoes can penetrate shields like the dominion weapon. This is used in star trek command 3 as a klingon weapon. it is also used in Star Trek Armada and Star Trek Armada II as a researched item using the klingon race only the Klingon vorcha class ship can fire this handy torpedo.

[edit] Gravimetric torpedoes

Used by the Borg. The weapon emits a complex phase variance of gravitons to create a gravimetric distortion. Strong gravimetric distortions can severely damage or completely destroy a starship.

[edit] Photon torpedoes

A photon torpedo is the sucessor of the spatial torpedo and is a torpedo weapon armed with an antimatter warhead. The Enterprise episode Sleeping Dogs reveals that the Klingons have had photon torpedo technology since as early as 2151. Photon torpedoes first appear on a Starfleet ship in the Original Series episode "Arena" as part of the USS Enterprise's armament. The key ships and installations in subsequent Star Trek spin-offs are also armed with photon torpedoes.

Photon torpedoes appear red,^[13] orange,^[14] yellow, blue, or green^[15] when fired.

Furthermore, smaller Starfleet craft such as shuttlecraft and Runabouts can be armed with "micro-torpedoes", a scaled-down version of photon torpedoes designed for use on craft too small to accommodate the full-sized torpedoes.

The energy output of a photon torpedo, according to the Technical Manuals is a maximum theoritical yield of 25 Isotons and a maximum rated yield of 18.5 Isotons. According to the TNG Technical Manual, photon torpedoes use 1.5kg of matter and 1.5kg of antimatter. The resulting energy output would be 2.7x10¹⁷Joules of energy (by the well-known formula E=mc²). This amount of energy release would be equilvalent to about a 64.44 megaton nuclear explosion.

[edit] Plasma torpedo

Used by the Romulans, Cardassians and (according to Star Fleet Battles and Star Fleet Command), the Gorn. The damage of a plasma torpedo spreads out over several systems at once, but the torpedo loses its effectiveness after only a few minutes of travel. Romulan plasma torpedoes use trilithium isotopes in their warheads.

[edit] Quantum torpedoes

Quantum torpedoes first appear in the Deep Space Nine episode "Defiant" as a weapon aboard the USS Defiant. Additionally, the USS Enterprise-E fires quantum torpedoes in Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek Nemesis. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual states that quantum torpedoes derive their destructive power from zero-point energy.^[16]

Four of the USS Enterprise-E's quantum torpedoes destroyed an unshielded Borg sphere^[14]when targeted properly. Quantum torpedoes are not entirely effective against solid neutronium.^[17] Quantum torpedoes are normally shown in a shade of blue.

[edit] Spatial torpedoes

Spatial torpedoes are 22nd century weapons used by the Enterprise. Spatial torpedoes are the ship's most powerful and primary ship-to-ship weapon prior to the installation of phase cannons.^[3] Spatial torpedoes are themselves superseded by more powerful photonic torpedoes.^[18] Unlike photonic torpedoes or any of the warhead's successors, spatial torpedoes are launched at sub-light velocity and can be used much in the manner of a missile, having the warhead on a fly-by-wire.^[19]

[edit] Transphasic torpedoes

Transphasic torpedoes appear only once, in the Voyager series finale, "Endgame". They are high-yield torpedoes that are designed specifically to fight the Borg. The future Admiral Janeway brought them back in time in a Federation shuttle-craft and had them installed onboard Voyager in 2377. They are among the most powerful weapons used in the Star Trek universe; this is evident from the fact that one torpedo is capable of destroying an entire Borg Cube, a feat normally requiring an almost impossible amount of punishment using standard Federation weapons.

Transphasic torpedoes appear white when fired. Although the warhead is not known many speculate the use of Dark Matter.

[edit] Phased plasma torpedoes

Phased plasma torpedoes are an advanced variation of the quantum torpedo that can phase out of normal space-time to bypass shields, then phase back in to detonate on a ship's hull, thus making shields worthless against them. They only appeared in the PC game Star Trek: Bridge Commander. Shortly after the recovery of the Pegasus device, the phasing properties used in the design were seen as a delivery system for torpedoes. Since Borg ships are almost impossible to destroy by Starfleet's current technology, it made sense to their engineers, if a torpedo could phase itself and enter the body of a Borg cube, it could then materialize and detonate, causing devastating damage. However, reducing the phasing coils used to accomplish an intangible state to torpedo size proved difficult. Also, the antimatter within the warhead had a destabilizing effect on the phasing coil. A new kind of explosive material was needed, and it was found using the principles behind the first observed Romulan plasma weapons. The installation of high-energy plasma infuser would allow a torpedo casing to be filled with a warhead tube charged with high-energy plasma from the ship's warp nacelles. Warp plasma is considered highly unstable and can be easily detonated. Until recently, it was considered an undeliverable medium that could not be controlled. However, filling the detonation tube with warp plasma, and using a nanite controlled trigger for reactant release, now allows vessels to deliver a high-energy plasma warhead payload within a Mark IV torpedo casing.

[edit] Positron torpedoes

The Kessok are a highly intelligent race that allied themselves with the Cardassians in the video game Star Trek: Bridge Commander. They utilize positron torpedoes, powerful, slow moving projectiles able to inflict nearly twice as much damage as quantum torpedoes.

[edit] Subspace weapons

Subspace weapons are a class of directed energy weapons that directly affect subspace. The weapons can produce actual tears in subspace, and are extremely unpredictable. These weapons were banned under the second Khitomer Accords.

[edit] Isolytic burst

Son'a vessels carried and used isolytic burst weapons, a type of subspace weapon. They were seen using this weapon against the Enterprise-E in Star Trek: Insurrection. The Enterprise was only able to escape the weapon's effect by ejecting its warp core and detonating it.

[edit] Tricobalt devices

USS Voyager uses a pair of tricobalt devices to destroy the Caretaker array in the Star Trek: Voyager pilot episode, "Caretaker" and was also used against Voyager in the episode "Blink of an Eye." Tricobalt devices are not a standard armament of Federation vessels and yields are calculated in Tera-Cochranes. The tricobalt warhead is a subspace weapon whose high-yield detonations can tear holes in subspace. These torpedos are only used in the game Star Trek Armada and Star Trek Armada II the vessels known to fire these are The steamrunner class, bird of prey the last ship in the shipyard selection screen, the Romulan Raptor class resembles a bird of prey respectivly and the borg harmonic defender. The working of the weapons is unknown but it theorised the use of Cobalt-60_(isotope). ^[20][21]

[edit] Other Weapons

[edit] Magnetometric Guided Charges

Around Stardate 43995, the Borg used this weapon to drive the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D, from the Paulson Nebula. This shortly leads to the abduction of Captain Jean Luc Picard.

[edit] Multi Kinetic Neutronic Mines

During Season 4, Episode 1 (09/03/1997 Stardate: 51003.7) of Star Trek: Voyager, Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) consults with Borg representative Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) on how to destroy Species 8472. Janeway calls Seven of Nine's "multikinetic neutronic mine, five million isoton yield" a "weapon of mass destruction." Following up on a statement from Tuvok (Tim Russ) that it would affect the entire Solar System destroying innocent worlds, Seven of Nine replies, "It would be efficient." A five-million isoton yield can disperse the nanoprobes across a five-lightyear range.

[edit] Dreadnought

Dreadnought was a Cardassian self-guided missile, containing one thousand kilograms of matter, and another thousand of antimatter. Tuvok describes this as enough to destroy a small moon. Although described as a self-guided missile, in practice Dreadnought functioned much like an autonomous starship. It possessed shields, phasers, a complement of quantum torpedoes, a Thoron shock emitter, a plasma wave weapon, engines capable of reaching at least Warp 9, and a sophisticated computer AI. It appeared in the Voyager episode of the same name, wherein it had been captured by the Maquis it had been originally sent to destroy and reprogrammed to attack its original creators, although unforeseen events led it to target innocents in the Delta Quadrant.

[edit] Series 5 Long Range Tactical Armor Unit

Similar in purpose to the Cardassian Dreadnought, the Tactical Armor Units were self-guided missiles with sophisticated artificial intelligence. They were much smaller than Dreadnought, being only a few feet in length, and while nowhere near as powerful, they were nonetheless classified as weapons of mass destruction, capable of destroying everything in a 200-kilometer radius with a highly focused antimatter explosion. Their coordination and control was done through a "Strategic Command Matrix," analogous to a nuclear control network of the type used by the United States. Each one possessed shielding, warp drive of unclarified speed, and a sentient, genius-level artificial intelligence programmed to do whatever was necessary to reach their targets and detonate. They could detect and prevent tampering, were intelligent enough to find a way past almost any obstacle, and could win engagements even when outnumbered. Created by a Delta Quadrant race called the Druoda, the devices were greatly feared for their endurance and tenacity. ^[22]

[edit] Modified photon torpedoes

In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The Omega Directive", Tuvok and Kim modify a normal photon torpedo with a gravimetric charge, similar to that of Borg technology, and increase its destructive yield to 54 isotons. Kim comments that 50 isotons would have been sufficient to destroy a small planet. Moments later, Janeway instructs them to increase its yield even further, to 80 isotons. It is not specified exactly how they modified the warhead, but it appears to have required nothing more than a few hours' work, with materials readily available on Voyager.

In the series film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Spock and Dr. McCoy modify a photon torpedo to track the plasma emissions from a cloaked Klingon Bird of Prey as it attacks the Enterprise and the Excelsior. The modification is successful; the torpedo strikes the Bird of Prey and disables its cloaking device making it visible and vulnerable to attack.

[edit] Omega Molecules

Omega Molecules were first revealed in VOY: The Omega Directive. Omega Molecules were first discovered (as far as the Federation knows) when a scientist named Ketteract managed to artificially create them. How many he made exactly is not specified. They exploded, destroying the entire facility, and destroying Subspace itself for several light years around, making Warp Drive impossible through that region. A single Omega Molecule has as much power as a Warp Core. Omega Molecules have almost religious significance to the Borg, though even they have never succeeded in creating stable Omega Molecules. The only instance of stable Omega Molecules is seen near the end of VOY: The Omega Directive, just prior to their destruction by a Modified Photon Torpedo. Seven describes viewing the stabilized Omega Molecules as "perfection."

[edit] Q Firearms

Q firearms were used in the Q civil war by the Voyager crew to compensate against the infinite power of the Q in "The Q and the Grey" (VOY). They appeared on screen as ordinary firearms, to fit in with the civil war theme in the Q continuum, but was supposedly only a representation of them comprehensible to non-Q. Their true form may not have even been physical at all. They are arguably the most powerful weapons ever wielded by any humanoid species, as indicated by their ability to injure even Q.

[edit] Quantum phaser

These phasers are slightly more powerful than regular phasers,and known to be as powerful as a photon torpedo. These weapons first appear in the Enterprise series,used by the Xindi. These weapons can destoy an entire ship, or just damage it. People guess these phasers are just a modification of a normal phaser.

When fired, these weapons appear blue,or purple.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Weapons article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki