has it ever been explained where the deflector dish is on klingon ships?
JAMES
JAMES
deflector dish on klingon ships
- Thread starter knowthyself
- Start date
In the earliest pre-TMP fan blueprints of the old Klingon battle cruiser (by Micheal McMaster?) what's nowadays assumed to be the photon torpedo launcher was labelled the deflector dish.
My personal (extremely non-canon) opinion is that the navigational deflectors are actually built into the nacelles, sharing a power source with the warp drive itself, and that the big dish present on some starships is actually part of the bussard ramscoop, funneling incoming matter into the engineering section to be processed for fuel (thus it also doubles as a sensor dish since it can tell by the mass and density of the objects caught in its attraction beam).
So the Klingon deflector system would be in the nacelles while their ramscoops are the big hydrogen vents in the "wings." This would also explain the Cardassian designs and the shuttlecraft; anything that has a nacelle has a deflector, but not necessarily a ramscoop.
So the Klingon deflector system would be in the nacelles while their ramscoops are the big hydrogen vents in the "wings." This would also explain the Cardassian designs and the shuttlecraft; anything that has a nacelle has a deflector, but not necessarily a ramscoop.
My view on the "Navigational Deflector" issue is that they tend to appear more on Federation starships than other kinds of starships because Federation starships tend to have vastly more kinds of sensors than other powers, in line with their primary mission of exploration, not defence. When the Enterprise or Voyager is at warp, they're still monitoring local stellar phenomena, nearby solar systems, subspace, etc.
On the 'Explorers', designers centralise their primary sensor array so it can punch through the navigational deflector, hence the dish, but ships of the line belonging to the Klingons or Romulans or Ferengi just switch them off, or don't have them in the first place, leaving exploration to a dedicated "science corps" full of meek but able-minded geeks, not warriors.
Hence, these kinds of ships don't need a dish, because nothing needs to punch through in any great detail, just look out for asteroids, and get by with a decentalised field grid type system. Once you drop out of warp, you can use your sensors as normal, but there's no reason to stick them all in the same place on your hull like Starfleet does.
This also might explain the Reliant problem - it's not a ship of exploration, it doesn't carry a decent sensor array like the Constitution class, so can get away with a non-centralised navigational deflector system more typical of non-Federation ships. We've heard ships of the Miranda class (and variants) used as patrol ships, cargo haulers, in combat, and some specialised science roles, but never in the generalised exploration role that the Constitution/Galaxy class fulfils.
They just don't have the sensors for it!
Later, by the 24thC, the Federation has developed so much of this "navigational deflector" idea that it makes more sense for all starships to be designed a similar way, even the war-orientated Defiant. Non-dish systems are kept for smaller craft, like warp-capable shuttles.
On the 'Explorers', designers centralise their primary sensor array so it can punch through the navigational deflector, hence the dish, but ships of the line belonging to the Klingons or Romulans or Ferengi just switch them off, or don't have them in the first place, leaving exploration to a dedicated "science corps" full of meek but able-minded geeks, not warriors.
Hence, these kinds of ships don't need a dish, because nothing needs to punch through in any great detail, just look out for asteroids, and get by with a decentalised field grid type system. Once you drop out of warp, you can use your sensors as normal, but there's no reason to stick them all in the same place on your hull like Starfleet does.
This also might explain the Reliant problem - it's not a ship of exploration, it doesn't carry a decent sensor array like the Constitution class, so can get away with a non-centralised navigational deflector system more typical of non-Federation ships. We've heard ships of the Miranda class (and variants) used as patrol ships, cargo haulers, in combat, and some specialised science roles, but never in the generalised exploration role that the Constitution/Galaxy class fulfils.
They just don't have the sensors for it!
Later, by the 24thC, the Federation has developed so much of this "navigational deflector" idea that it makes more sense for all starships to be designed a similar way, even the war-orientated Defiant. Non-dish systems are kept for smaller craft, like warp-capable shuttles.
Agreed... Federation designs are inherently different because they are geared more to exploration, but can also match other vessels in weapons/defenses.
However, other races such as the Cardassians have apparently prominent deflector dishes that also serve as their main weapon.
We've seen deflector dishes on Federation ships being used as weapons as well (in a rarer capacity agreed, but still).
Plus, the Defiant has an airlock hatch in the same area where the main deflector dish is...
I don't see why it wouldn't be possible for Klingons to have a torpedo tube there.
However, other races such as the Cardassians have apparently prominent deflector dishes that also serve as their main weapon.
We've seen deflector dishes on Federation ships being used as weapons as well (in a rarer capacity agreed, but still).
Plus, the Defiant has an airlock hatch in the same area where the main deflector dish is...
I don't see why it wouldn't be possible for Klingons to have a torpedo tube there.
Thats a good question i`v been watching star trek for years and i never noticed,i mean the klingon bird of prey has a front cannon port but i noticed theres a orange/red ring round the cannon port maybe that could be it or maybe they just have sensors
The Cardassian Galor also fires its main weapon from the middle of the supposed navigational deflector dish.
http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/1x01/emissary339.jpg
And one might argue the Klingon Vor'Cha does the same.
http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s4/4x26/redemptionpartone216.jpg
Which makes sense, I guess. If the dish is there to project a FTL field in front of the ship, giving a boost to a tractor/pressor beam so that the beam can push debris aside even when the ship is moving at high warp, then the device could give a similar push to a destructive beam. Lesser guns could fire from other emplacements in different directions, but this one main gun would have superior FTL capabilities. And it might well be hooked on to a power lead of superior strength as well, considering how Fed starship deflectors appear to be really high-power devices.
Timo Saloniemi
http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/1x01/emissary339.jpg
And one might argue the Klingon Vor'Cha does the same.
http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s4/4x26/redemptionpartone216.jpg
Which makes sense, I guess. If the dish is there to project a FTL field in front of the ship, giving a boost to a tractor/pressor beam so that the beam can push debris aside even when the ship is moving at high warp, then the device could give a similar push to a destructive beam. Lesser guns could fire from other emplacements in different directions, but this one main gun would have superior FTL capabilities. And it might well be hooked on to a power lead of superior strength as well, considering how Fed starship deflectors appear to be really high-power devices.
Timo Saloniemi
^ It's possible the annular deflector beam IS the energy pulse. I've always thought disruptors were just the weaponized version of deflectors and/or tractor beams: instead of just gently attracting or repelling small objects, they grab a PIECE of the object and accelerate it forward at some fantastic speed or attract/repel it a thousand times a second until it shakes itself apart.
If I'm not mistaken, the yellow rectangle on the bottom of the disruptor pod is the Vor'cha's deflector emitter. Can't dig them out right now, but IIRC it is labeled as such on the ERTL model kit's instructions.
Klingons don't need no stinkin' Deflector Dishes - they swat the rocks out of the way using their bat'leths...
lol i agree with you on that
That's what I thought they were too..
