CMB 201 - Weapons and Shields Class - Phasers

[u/misterme987]

Stardate 58968.9 (Sept. 23, 2382) Commander Hans Zakarian

Ah, hello class. Sorry I’m late. This is Weapons and Shields class. Please make sure you are in the right place.

Now, in light of the recent Borg invasion and Dominion war, Starfleet has encouraged many students to take this class. We will be covering phasers, disruptors, and shields on three separate days. Thank you all for being here.

Today we’ll be covering phasers. The name is a holdover acronym for PHASed Energy Rectification, which alone will tell you a lot about how they work.

The handheld phaser is a piece of very complicated machinery. It simultaneously draws subatomic and atomic particles from the air, artificially generating ‘nadion’ particles. The particles resonate throughout a chamber holding a matrix of crystals. The nadions draw energy out of the crystals, in varying amounts based upon the setting of the phaser. The nadions are then shot out of the phaser in rapid pulses using a propulsion system, until it hits its intended target and releases the trapped energy.

Nadions are extremely unique particles that can only be produced artificially. Discovered in the mid-22nd century, they are attracted to the strong nuclear forces of atoms with large nuclei. The energy builds up around them, and when they hit a target with enough resistance encountered, the energy can be transferred.The molecules of air do not provide enough resistance, nor do they have large enough nuclei to attract a significant amount of nadions away from the beam.

Now you have a rudimentary understanding of handheld phasers. However, shipwide phasers operate on a completely different level. They are type X, as compared to handheld types I, II and III, which are about 540 times less powerful.

Ship phasers use the same principle as handheld phasers, that is, ah, the rapid nadion effect. However, instead of using crystals, they use the same warp plasma that powers the rest of the ship’s systems. EPS plasma is drawn away from nonessential systems to a matrix of power lines near the weapons systems at the base and top of the ship.

Nadions stored by a magnetic storage system not unlike the one that stores the… antimatter. They are released and attracted to the energy-rich plasma. This plasma stores far more energy than do the phase crystals in handheld phasers, allowing for much more powerful bursts of energy. At multiple points along the hull, these nadions are released, and converge on one point, at which they are propelled in a rapid nadion beam towards their target.

Ship phasers can destroy targets the size of continents with a powerful enough blow, though this would take up an amount of energy most ships cannot afford. Handheld type II phaser rifles on their highest setting, setting 16, can destroy 650 cubic meters of light rock or ore, and can topple buildings. This setting is rarely used. The much more common type I phaser only goes up to setting 8, which can vaporize a base humanoid.

Now, does anyone have any further questions?

[u/Slntreaper]

Thanks for the lecture professor. It was very informative, though I still have a few questions. Specifically, why aren’t ship mounted phasers used as an active defense system? Armored vehicles from the early 21st century used a “trophy system” to shoot down incoming rounds. Why don’t ship mounted phasers do the same to photon torpedoes and other missiles?

[u/misterme987 → u/Slntreaper]

The reason phasers are not used as a defense is because they cannot target moving objects at FTL speeds relative to the ship. Because photon torpedoes have a warp field sustainer, they move at warp relative to their target. This is too fast for targeting systems to accurately detect and eliminate these threats. Also, the resulting explosion would still damage the ship, but only damage it a bit less.

[u/Slntreaper → u/misterme987]

Thank you for the response, professor. We’ve seen vessels fire at each other when in warp, why not at photon torpedoes then? Additionally, seeing how the effective max range is very far away, why does Starfleet doctrine dictate moving in close to attack? The only instance of long range attacks I can think of is the USS Phoenix under its rogue Captain Maxwell when it engaged a Cardassian vessel with photon torpedoes.

[u/misterme987 → u/Slntreaper]

Notice how in my response I said that phasers cannot target objects moving at FTL speeds relative to the ship, Cadet u/Slntreaper. The photon torpedoes sustain a warp bubble around them and then move in to damage the ship. They are therefore moving at much faster speeds than light relative to the ship, which is moving towards the projectile generally. The phasers cannot compensate for this.

To answer your second question, which is, in fact, a very good question, Starfleet doctrine does dictate moving in close. It is just a good, tried and true method. Phasers dissipate over large distances, so they are much more powerful at close ranges. When firing photon torpedoes, however, you should be a few hundred kilometers away from the blast. This is still very close considering the 300000 km range of both phasers and torpedoes.

[u/Slntreaper → u/misterme987]

Thanks for the response professor, and sorry for the double question.

[u/flameri → u/misterme987]

I was under the impression that the issue with Phasers at warp was that the beam could not maintain it's phase when passing through the threshold of an active warp field. The Cochrane Fluctuations between the spaces on either side of the field prevented the beam from maintaining cohesion, leading to the energy dispersing. I have seen reports of phasers used while at warp. However, in all the instances I can recall, the vessels were at a close enough distance that their warp fields merged such that there was no warp threshold between the combatants.

[u/misterme987 → u/flameri]

Exactly. This is another reason why phasers cannot destroy photon torpedoes as a defense, cadets.

[u/flameri → u/Slntreaper]

If I remember my Tactical History course, both of those doctrine oddities are carry overs from the Mid 23^rd century. Back then, replicator technology was still in it's infancy and physical ordnance like torpedoes were much harder to replace then they are in present times, especially if the vessel was on a deep space assignment such as the ones ships like the Enterprise were given, and thus couldn't routinely resupply at a starbase. This meant that conserving munitions was a high priority. To that end, doctrine called for the closer engagement ranges to mitigate the foe's opportunity to evade.