Quantum Torpedoes

[-Brett-]

dreadnought said:
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 militaries of some nations use Tomahawk missiles. Are we to believe that US Navy ships are shooting axes at their enemies? No. Someone, somewhere, just thought the name sounded cool.

It's likely the same with photon and quantum torpedoes.

 

[Timo]

"This weapon manufactured by the Futon Torpedo company"? "For your torpedo needs, try our new model, a real quantum leap over the competition"? Yes, I think that's prerry much it...

The problem with the subatomic particles is that they are so rare that they might as well be forgotten.

Utter bullshit, of course, and unrelated to quantum torpedoes in any case.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Delta1]

AdmiralGarak said:

Delta1 said:
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.

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.

No, it would make more sense to assign a Starfleet vessel to protect DS9, and load that to the gills with quantum torpedoes. That way DS9 would get its protection, the technology would remain under Starfleet control, and if the station fell the ship could just fly away. Which, of course, is exactly what happened.

 

[Timo]

...Although Starfleet forgot to blow up the station after they left. Which was just plain idiotic, and only necessitated by the format of the show.

However, it very much seems that an armed space station is much more powerful than even a great number of starships - and that in the battles we observed, it was actually the station that protected the ships (read: Defiant), not vice versa. While the Klingons and the Dominion flew around in fleets numbering hundreds of ships, the Federation side fought back with just the station, although the dispatching of 6-9 starships was mentioned as a supposedly tactically significant move.

Apparently, stations are really good at defensive fights, but the addition of a handful of starships helps there, too. In contrast, offensive action can never be taken with just a handful of starships; even 24 is far too few (TNG "Redemption"), and hundreds are needed at a minimum if one wishes to wage war.

That in mind, I'd rather have loaded DS9 up with quantum torpedoes, and then blown up the station (or at least the q-torp launchers) when it seemed the Dominion might overrun it. And the possible technical issues that might hamper installing q-torps on starships would be less of a problem aboard a space station that has plenty of interior room and plenty of extra power.

Timo Saloniemi