Quantum Torpedoes
- Thread starter Photon
- Start date
Well, never thought I'd be the one doing this, but Quantam torpedos are impossible. That would mean harnessing the subatomic particles in a way that they could be aligned long enough to get a charge, let alone be the basis of a bomb.
The problem with the subatomic particles is that they are so rare that they might as well be forgotten. It's better to keep with the antimatter as the source of a storyline.
It's just physically ijmpssible to collect enough subtomic particles to make an effective bomb. It wouldn't work.
The problem with the subatomic particles is that they are so rare that they might as well be forgotten. It's better to keep with the antimatter as the source of a storyline.
It's just physically ijmpssible to collect enough subtomic particles to make an effective bomb. It wouldn't work.
^If transporters can have Heisenberg compensators, than why not torpedoes too?
There's never been any statement saying that certain craft couldn't use quantum torpedoes. Somebody probably pulled it out of a tech manual or something.
Besides, DS9's torpedoes were capable of destroying large capital ships single-handedly. I doubt they were using the standard photons.
There's never been any statement saying that certain craft couldn't use quantum torpedoes. Somebody probably pulled it out of a tech manual or something.
Besides, DS9's torpedoes were capable of destroying large capital ships single-handedly. I doubt they were using the standard photons.
If I had to make a wild guess, I would say that QTs would not be deployed aboard DS9. It was an alien station, built by a Federation enemy, and always on the verge of being captured or destroyed. Oh, and it had voles. You don't put your fancy-pants new weapons on a sitting target managed by untrustworthy allies that's infested with voles.
Also, whenever we have seen torpedoes that were specifically identified as quantum torpedoes, these have been fired from a special launcher that only spits out projectiles of special color. The Defiant fired whitish q-torps from the forward tubes in several eps, but a reddish torpedo from an aft tube in "Paradise Lost", whereas other episodes referred to the aft tube as firing photon torpedoes specifically. Reddish torps were never fired forward.
Similarly, the E-E fired whitish quantums from the turret beneath the saucer, and reddish-yellowish photons from other turrets, never vice versa.
So it is perfectly possible that it indeed is impossible to fire quantums and photons from the same tube. Or more probably, the launching is not the issue: it's the arming machinery, or the magazine for storing the special warheads, that has to be vastly different for the two types of weapon, and cannot in practice be built so that a single launcher would use both these two types of machinery.
Timo Saloniemi
Similarly, the E-E fired whitish quantums from the turret beneath the saucer, and reddish-yellowish photons from other turrets, never vice versa.
So it is perfectly possible that it indeed is impossible to fire quantums and photons from the same tube. Or more probably, the launching is not the issue: it's the arming machinery, or the magazine for storing the special warheads, that has to be vastly different for the two types of weapon, and cannot in practice be built so that a single launcher would use both these two types of machinery.
Timo Saloniemi
I had always taken the approach that the quantum torpedo had some sort of special subspace or other sort of energy field around it (hence the white) that made it superior to penetrating shields and damaging matter while still using a beefed up matter/anti-matter payload compared to a photon torpedo.
All the more reason to fill the station to the brim with the most powerful and advanced weapons you can build. The risk of losing DS9 far outweighed the risk of the Dominion acquiring quantum torpedoes.
They certainly seemed like a pretty rare technology - probably only used on their most high tech ships. Even on ships which did have them, they seem to be in somewhat short supply - the E-E in Nemesis for example, is only ever noted as having photon torpedoes.
It's possible the technology isn't that viable for large scale mass production just yet. We don't really know what quantum torpedoes are of course, the word 'quantum' just sounds more scientifically advanced than 'photon'.
They may be intended to be zero-point-energy harnessing - the existence in the Trekverse of 'Heisenberg compensators' might allow this. But in reality, this is a dumb idea - zero point energy is tiny amounts, basically just enough to stop a particular particle having actually zero energy. The fashionable science fiction concept at the moment of using the term in relation to advanced power systems is pretty meaningless.
^ True, but in Nemesis Enterprise fires mostly photons during the battle sequences (gold color) and Quantums only when Deanna tells them where to fire.
For the new and improved weapons systems in Nemesis am I the only one that thought the E-E ran out of torpedoes way too early?
For the new and improved weapons systems in Nemesis am I the only one that thought the E-E ran out of torpedoes way too early?
Starfleet Command 3 gave the Klingons a weapon meant to be the counterpart to the QT, the polaron torpedo. It's got a less powerful warhead, but is equipped with a polaron emitter that generates a burst of radiation on a rotating frequency. This allows it to pass through enemy shields on most vessels, although the damage is only slightly above a standard PT. Given how rare the QT is, this weapon is probably equally as rare.
And if memory serves, First Contact was the first time quantum torpedoes were mentioned, and also first time used. In earlier drafts the quantum torpedoes had the kind of fanboyish Borg-killing abilities one associates with transphasic torpedoes from "Endgame".
Maybe they didn't get wide usage because they were defanged and became, in plot terms, photon torpedoes by another name. Or maybe, like the Enterprise herself, they were a toy that only the movies could play with.
Actually they were mentioned in Deep Space Nine once or twice prior to First Contact. I know that they were mentioned at one point in Season 3 specifically. I know they were definately discussed in Season 4 in Paradise Lost because Admiral Leyton orders Lakota to use the QTs against Defiant. First Contact was set during midSeason 5 of DS9.
Though they stole them off of the Dominion. The Dominion Attack Fighters were said to use Polaron Beam Weapons if memory serves in Season 3.
