It has come to our attention that many otherwise
educated beings do not have a proper understanding of the technology used
aboard starships. The following is intended to serve as a primer in one
affected area.
Photon Torpedoes:
***
"It all comes down to placing an ordnance package alongside the other fellow… and making sure it explodes!"
***--VADM Eli T. Reich (20th century Naval commander, Earth.)
The immediate response was to incorporate more stealth features into the missiles, thus decreasing the amount of time the Romulan ship would have to react. UESPA scientists knew this was only a stopgap measure, and that Romulan scientists would work just as feverishly on improving their detection capability. A faster method of delivering a warhead would be required.
UESPA began several research projects, each with the aim of accelerating an explosive payload to near-light velocities, or even warp speeds, if possible. The first project to bear fruit was the accelerator cannon (AC). The AC used a rail-gun to accelerate an explosive warhead to high velocity (about 0.35c). The "missile" had no rocket motor. Instead, it was equipped with ion-jet reaction control thrusters for guidance, resulting in a fairly compact weapon (~3m x 1m x 1m, or about a quarter the length of a standard missile).
With the formation of the United Federation of Planets (UFP), UESPA was absorbed into Starfleet, becoming the core organization of Star Fleet Command. The search for better missile weapons continued. The next step was a highly-classified project which sought to accelerate warheads to warp velocities, code-named "Photon"".
The first attempt at such a device was "Photon Red". This device attempted to use warp induction fields to accelerate a warhead to warp velocity. Test-firings of the Photon Red device showed that it was possible to accelerate an object to near-c velocity without destroying it, but unless the launched object were equipped with its own warp drive, the warp field surrounding it would collapse within a fraction of a second. Although the project was somewhat successful, the power demands of the Photon Red launcher system far exceeded the output of shipboard power generation systems then in service.
Andorean scientists assigned to the project suggested that a Photon device might use a two-stage launching system. The first stage would be similar to an accelerator cannon. The second stage (the last few meters of the launch tube) incorporated a smaller (and far less power-hungry) warp field induction coil. This concept was approved for testing as "Photon Blue".
In testing, Photon Blue achieved similar results to the Photon Red device, but power requirements were barely more than for a standard accelerator cannon. The linear accelerator would accelerate the payload to its maximum velocity (0.35c), whereupon the warp field coils further accelerated the payload to a little over twice that (more if the launching vehicle was traveling at greater than rest velocity). The warp field surrounding the projectile did not have enough energy to break the light barrier. If the launch vessel were traveling at less than lightspeed (c), the photon projectile would only accelerate to some velocity less than c. If the launch vehicle were traveling at warp one or greater, the projectile would accelerate to about 0.35c faster. The warp field decayed rapidly, however, so in reality the projectile would travel at the faster velocity for about ¼ second, then decelerate to less than c. This rendered the Photon Blue ineffective at warp velocity, but since it was significantly faster at sublight speeds, it was gradually phased in as a retrofit to the accelerator cannon.
There was one area where the Photon project had experienced little success – providing the projectile with its own warp engine. Warp drives were not very compact, and the only feasable proposal along these lines involved refitting obsolete vessels with warheads and remote controls and ramming them into enemy vessels (an expensive proposition, to say the least). The breakthrough arrived in the form of Wehenud Trebor, a Tellurite engineer. He was assigned to the Photon project when Tellurite representatives to the Federation threatened to secede unless more Tellurites were permitted to participate in Federation projects.
Wehenud Trebor quickly realized that, since a Photon projectile already had a warp field around it as it left the launcher, the only requirement was a device which would prolong or delay the decay of the pre-existing warp field. Enlisting several of his human colleagues, he formed a team which designed and demonstrated a Photon projectile (code named: Photon Black) with a "sustainer" engine. This sustainer increased the range of the Photon projectile by a factor of ten, to 750,000 km, giving it enough range to strike a target at warp velocity. Due to the requirements of the warp dynamics, the casing was redesigned to be a 2m by 1m by ½m lozenge-shaped device, a configuration which allowed the warp field to be sustained for approximately twice as long as the original cylinder configuration.
Initially, the Photon devices were armed with fusion warheads. Entering service in Starfleet vessels crewed largely by humans, the Photon projectile became known as the Photon "Torpedo", due to the similarity in size, handling, and function to weapons of the same name used by seagoing Earth Navies since the late 19th century. Starfleet deemed the term "Photon Torpedo" official when effective matter/antimatter warheads first entered service in 2215.
The effective range of photon torpedoes has gradually increased to over 3,500,000 km. This and many other improvements have kept this weapon in service for well over 100 years. It is only recently, with the development of the quantum torpedo, that the photon torpedo has been superseded. The photon torpedo is no less effective than quantum warheads, but the quantum torpedo offers safer handling, storage, and prelaunch arming than the photon torpedo.
The photon torpedo will remain in use for years to come, if only because so many have been made and so few used (until recently). As stocks of photon torpedoes are depleted, Starfleet intends to replace them with quantum torpedoes, on a one-for-one basis. Photon torpedo casings will remain in manufacture for some time, yet, for use as probes and unarmed target drones.
Click Here to return to VIVA LAS VEGAS main menu