Transphasic Torp. Usage?

[Silversmok3]

Without giving too much away,how do you see Starfleet using transphasic torpedos?

Will they be highly regulated so that no captain can use them without regulated cause,or do you envision them being used as any other weapon/defense?

Post up what yall think.For futher info reference ST;Destiny Trilogy and associated threads.

 

[ialfan]

Spoiler: Destiny Trilogy

I don't think they are very effective against non-borg ships so their usefulness might be a bit limited these days.

 

[nx1701g]

I don't see them being added to a standard shipboard weapons inventory.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

A single transphasic torpedeo fired from Voyager could destroy a Borg cube in one shot. I'm thinking Starfleet would consider that overkill and refrain from building and equipping ships with any more now that the Borg threat is ended.

 

[14thDoctor]

I think Starfleet would probably have to make them standard issue, since they shared the technology with the Klingons, and I doubt the Klingons are going to stop using such a potent weapon anytime soon.

 

[Silversmok3]

I think Starfleet would probably have to make them standard issue, since they shared the technology with the Klingons, and I doubt the Klingons are going to stop using such a potent weapon anytime soon.

Indeed.But save for war with the Klingons,Starfleet won't have a day-to-day use for that much firepower.

And a transphasic torpedo can do some serious damage if a bad guy steals a ship or a line officer loses it,hence my idea that Starfleet might regulate its usage.

 

[Christopher]

Personally, I think there should be an interstellar arms treaty banning the use of all weapons technologies with vague technobabble names.

 

[LutherSloan]

We don't yet know if the transphasic torpedo is effective against non-Borg vessels. My guess would be that they are effective.

 

[Marie1]

I can see them being useful for times when its shoot-to-kill, as opposed to shoot-to-disable, and they'd probably take out almost anyone. I'm not 100% certain how wide-spread they'll be post-Destiny, but I gather that non-SF have them. There are other dangers- so if they can take out a Cube in one shot, they'll probably be the last measure in conflict.

 

[Herbert1]

I just think of them as higher explosive yield photon torpedoes, like quantum torpedoes were an improvement over photon torpedoes, that can pierce the shields of starships. Their use isn't banned by treaty and they don't tear subspace like So'na weapons. Their use doesn't cause toxic radiation or other toxic after effects. I seem them being rolled out to the Starfleet.

I believe that hostile powers to the Federation will develop an effective defense against them and their use as "super weapons" will be short lived.

 

[JD]

I was under the ipression that they were only being used against the Borg, so I have a feeling that now they're gone we won't see them very much if at all.

 

[Christopher]

I just think of them as higher explosive yield photon torpedoes, like quantum torpedoes were an improvement over photon torpedoes, that can pierce the shields of starships. Their use isn't banned by treaty and they don't tear subspace like So'na weapons. Their use doesn't cause toxic radiation or other toxic after effects. I seem them being rolled out to the Starfleet.

They can't be just higher-yield bombs, because if they were, then all you'd need is a big enough spread of torpedoes. Besides, the label "transphasic" would have no meaning in that case.

What Dave and I worked out between us in the books is that the torpedoes employ a "subspace compression pulse" that exists in multiple "phases" (hence "transphasic"), like how Geordi and Ro were "out of phase" in "The Next Phase" or how the two differently phased copies of Voyager could coexist in the same space in "Deadlock." So if the Borg shield against one phase, the explosion still gets through in other phases.

So it's really not so much about being more powerful as it is about being more effective at penetrating defenses.

I believe that hostile powers to the Federation will develop an effective defense against them and their use as "super weapons" will be short lived.

Maybe. Indeed, one would think that the "multiphasic shield" seen in "Investigations" and "Descent" would already be on the right track.

 

[Herbert1]

I just think of them as higher explosive yield photon torpedoes, like quantum torpedoes were an improvement over photon torpedoes, that can pierce the shields of starships. Their use isn't banned by treaty and they don't tear subspace like So'na weapons. Their use doesn't cause toxic radiation or other toxic after effects. I seem them being rolled out to the Starfleet.

They can't be just higher-yield bombs, because if they were, then all you'd need is a big enough spread of torpedoes. Besides, the label "transphasic" would have no meaning in that case.

What Dave and I worked out between us in the books is that the torpedoes employ a "subspace compression pulse" that exists in multiple "phases" (hence "transphasic"), like how Geordi and Ro were "out of phase" in "The Next Phase" or how the two differently phased copies of Voyager could coexist in the same space in "Deadlock." So if the Borg shield against one phase, the explosion still gets through in other phases.

So it's really not so much about being more powerful as it is about being more effective at penetrating defenses.

I believe that hostile powers to the Federation will develop an effective defense against them and their use as "super weapons" will be short lived.

Maybe. Indeed, one would think that the "multiphasic shield" seen in "Investigations" and "Descent" would already be on the right track.

I didn't say "just higher-yield bombs" exclusively. I also said "that can pierce shields" in the same sentence which is the primary defensive system in the Star Trek universe and what the torpedo was primarily meant to negate. I presumed that every one knew that the Borg can quickly adapt their shielding and this munition was designed to defeat this shield adaption defense and that everyone saw them used in "End Game."
Thinking more about it, due to their transphasic ability, the munition probably is designed to travel deep inside the target in the vulnerable areas of the ship and then detonate thus negating the defensive capability of "ablative" and other armor systems. But if that was the only advantage, then transporter technology could be used to beam the warheads into the target.

I don't see why there wouldn't be any reason to not deploy transphasic weapons across the star fleet. A defensive system usually develops to counter an offensive technology whether it is used or not during conflict, its just a matter of time and effort.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

While someone may be able to come up with a defence for the transphasic torpedo eventually, I'd rather the writers actually be stuck with it for a while. The Borg could adapt almost instantly to any attack, yet it took them ages, comparatively speaking, to negate the shield penetrating ability of the transphasic torpedoes. So, to me at least, it would feel like the writers were taking an easy out if everyone out of the blue had "multiphasic shielding" (as Christopher suggests) or what-not.

 

[Christopher]

^^But the Borg's inability to adapt came from the limitations of their stochastic approach to problem-solving. A species actually capable of imagination and innovation might be able to solve it faster. (This was something I had some difficulty reconciling in GTTS. If the Borg are so devoid of original thinking, as "Scorpion" suggested, then how are they instantly able to figure out defenses to any attack? I figured they must either draw on knowledge from already-assimilated races if it's something anybody's encountered before, or just use evolutionary algorithms to devise a solution through trial and error.)

 

[Herbert1]

^^But the Borg's inability to adapt came from the limitations of their stochastic approach to problem-solving. A species actually capable of imagination and innovation might be able to solve it faster. (This was something I had some difficulty reconciling in GTTS. If the Borg are so devoid of original thinking, as "Scorpion" suggested, then how are they instantly able to figure out defenses to any attack? I figured they must either draw on knowledge from already-assimilated races if it's something anybody's encountered before, or just use evolutionary algorithms to devise a solution through trial and error.)

I believe that it was a conscious effort by the writers to dumb down the Borg, to slow them down, and make them less capable. I would presume that a collective composed of billions of minds from multiple species would also be capable of imagination and innovation and be capable of solving problems much more quickly than other races. The loss of a few drones is like us losing skin cells in the original conception of the Borg. Can you imagine what a collection of billions of minds could create? There must be a few polymaths and geniuses who have been added to the collective. Their essense should have influenced the collective and it should have evolved and changed over time. It should be aware of other approaches to problem solving besides trial and error. That is why I have issues with the concept of "assimilation" as it is described.

The limitations imposed on the Borg give our heroes a fighting chance to defeat them.

 

[Silversmok3]

I just think of them as higher explosive yield photon torpedoes, like quantum torpedoes were an improvement over photon torpedoes, that can pierce the shields of starships. Their use isn't banned by treaty and they don't tear subspace like So'na weapons. Their use doesn't cause toxic radiation or other toxic after effects. I seem them being rolled out to the Starfleet.

They can't be just higher-yield bombs, because if they were, then all you'd need is a big enough spread of torpedoes. Besides, the label "transphasic" would have no meaning in that case.

What Dave and I worked out between us in the books is that the torpedoes employ a "subspace compression pulse" that exists in multiple "phases" (hence "transphasic"), like how Geordi and Ro were "out of phase" in "The Next Phase" or how the two differently phased copies of Voyager could coexist in the same space in "Deadlock." So if the Borg shield against one phase, the explosion still gets through in other phases.

So it's really not so much about being more powerful as it is about being more effective at penetrating defenses.

I believe that hostile powers to the Federation will develop an effective defense against them and their use as "super weapons" will be short lived.

Maybe. Indeed, one would think that the "multiphasic shield" seen in "Investigations" and "Descent" would already be on the right track.

Since we've established that 'T-Torpedos' phase shift to bypass shields,wouldn't there need to be a corresponding upgrade to sheilds so that they rotate phases to compensate?

The novels are silent as to whether T-Torpedos were a mesured advance or a last-second breakthrough,so the question is whether TT's can be stopped by conventional sheilds or not.

 

[wizkid]

What Dave and I worked out between us in the books is that the torpedoes employ a "subspace compression pulse" that exists in multiple "phases" (hence "transphasic"), like how Geordi and Ro were "out of phase" in "The Next Phase"...

Then how could they walk through walls but not fall through the floor?

Do the transphasic torpedeo's go through floors?

 

[ETBMichael]

I think that Starfleet has already devised a defence against transphasic torpedos, based on the conversation in "Gods of Night" where they talked about adapting the transphasic tech to phasers and shields (which was again brought up in Mere Mortals). Also, I'm sure Hernadez's upgrades to the Aventine's shields in Lost Souls would provide a defence against transphasic torpedoes, making them just as effective as regular photon or quantam torpedos.

 

[Turbo]

The novels are silent as to whether T-Torpedos were a mesured advance or a last-second breakthrough,so the question is whether TT's can be stopped by conventional sheilds or not.

Even if the torpedoes were a measured advance in the alternate timeline, they came from 2403. Since it's only 2381 in this timeline, they're definitely a sudden breakthrough in technology.