The most common defensive weapons carried by Starfleet personnel are the type-1, type-2 and type-3 phasers (Phaser = PHASed Energy Rectification).
The type-1 phaser is currently used as a backup weapon to supplement the type-2 holstered phaser. Three different type-3 rifle phasers are used within Starfleet: an older model shares a number of technological innovations with the type-2; the advanced type-3a compression phaser rifle is only used on some frontline starships; the recent type-3b assault rifle (produced in connection to the equipment requirements of the Sovereign-class starship) incorporates the first true transitional-phase pulse accelerator.
The new type-2 phaser includes an improved sarium-krellide power cell, curved grip, and reinforced prefire chamber, among others. The power cell is hot-swappable in the field and holds a total energy charge of 8.79 x 10^7 megajoules. The power cell is now housed within a 45-degree curved grip for improved targeting and handling. Within the optronics and energy-manipulation section, the lithium-copper prefire chamber has been strengthened with the addition of a wound hafnium tritonid fiber layer, which allows a prefire chamber energy density and plasma pressure 15 percent higher than that of the previous type-2 unit. Control surfaces, response, and operation remain unchanged.
The earlier type-3 rifle phaser remains in Starfleet's fabrication database, though no new production copies have been produced in six years. Minor retrofits include densified sarium-krellide cells, upgraded targeting scanners and isolinear processor, and prefire chamber reinforcement similar to that of the type-2 unit. The latest type-3b rifle unit supports a hot-swappable power cell with a total energy charge of 3.45 x 10^8 megajoules, a field-replaceable deuterium plasma generator, twelve-stage plasma accelerator, and five-stage cascading prefire chamber. At the terminus of the energy flow is the emitter crystal, also a lithium-copper superconductor like the prefire chamber. The plasma accelerator is critical to pumping the prefire chamber to the proper energy level for controllable nuclear disruption forces (NDF). Almost no classical thermal or other unwanted EM effects are present in the discharge beam. The superheated, rarefied plasma is exhausted past the emitter crystal in a focused stream. The plasma helps ensure that the crystal does not cool too quickly during firing.
The type-3b also boasts a new seeker/tracker, possessing both passive and active EM and subspace detectors. Like other phaser types, the tracking processor is coupled by STA to the onboard station safety system to constrain the rifle to setting 3, unless authorized by senior officer command override.
The differences distinguishing the type-3a rifle from the base 3 unit are twin hot-swappable power cells, each holding 3,4 x 10^8 megajoules, and a split emitter resonater designed to tune and focus the outgoing beam.
