11.8 Quantum Torpedoes

The Camelot carries, as standard, 50 quantum torpedoes. The quantum torpedo consists of a pressure-molded shell of densified tritanium and duranium foam, trapezoidal in cross section and tapered at the forward end for atmospheric applications. A 7-millimeter layer of plasma-bonded terminium ceramic forms and ablative armor skin for the foam hull, over which is bonded a 0.12-millimeter coating of silicon-copper-yttrium as an antiradiation coating. Beyond the necessary cuts and welds for propulsion and warhead hardware installation, minimal penetrations are made by phaser cutters, so that the hull may be rendered as near to EM-silent as is technologically possible. All seals around extended components are treated with a suspension of force-matrix ferrenimide, which establishes a minute amount of duonetic field activity, effectively blocking EM leakage. All active and passive sensor pulses are channeled through machined cavities in the inner hull at approximately twenty-six-centimeter intervals in all three axes.

The heart of the current system is the zero-point field reaction chamber, a teardrop-shaped enclosure fabricated from a single crystal of directionally strengthened rodinium-tritanium. The chamber measures 0.76 meters in diameter by 1.38 meters in length and 2.3 centimeters in average thickness. The assembly is penetrated by a single opening in the tapered end, cut by a nanometer phaser in an inert atmosphere of argon and neon. Two jacketing layers, one of synthetic matter and another of dilithium, control the upper and lower extremes of the energy-field contours. Attached to the taper is a zero-point initiator consisting of an EM rectifier, waveguide bundle, subspace field amplifier and continuum distortion emitter. The emitter creates the actual pinch field from a conical spike 10-16 meters across at the tip.

The zero-point initiator is powered by the detonation of a quantite-fusion explosive with a yield of 25 isotons. The reaction occurs at four times the rate of a standard warhead. The detonation energy is channeled through the initiator within 10-7 seconds and energizes the emitter, which imparts a tension force upon the vacuum domain. As the vacuum membrane expands, over a period of 10-4 seconds, and energy potential equivalent to at least sixty isotons is created. The energy is held by the chamber for 10-8 seconds and is then released by controlled failure of the chamber wall for a total explosive yield of 55.2 isotons. The warp sustainer engine coils, are all constructed from high-pressure cast silicon-copper carbide to maximize field efficiency.

The multimode sustainer engine is not a true warp engine due to its small physical size, one-eighth the minimum M\ARA chamber size. It is actually a tiny m\a fuel cell, which powers the sustainer coils to grab and hold a hand-off field from the launcher tube, to continue at warp if launched during warp flight. The cell, a cylinder 23cm in diameter and 50cm in length, is limited to a narrow warp frequency range and cannot add more than a slight amount of power to the initial grabbed warp field. Other flight modes are triggered according to initial launch conditions. If shot at low impulse, it boosts the speed 75% higher sublight velocity. If launched at high sublight, the sustainer will not cross the warp threshold, but continue the high near-c velocities. The sustainer engine actually draws from the M\A ignition tanks.

Several small meta-fueled thrusters located in the torpedo provide sublight maneuvering. Each RCS engine consists of a Meta reaction chamber, a magnetohydrodynamic energy field trap, and vectored-thrust exhaust nozzles. Meta fuel for each chamber is stored in 2 immediate-use supply tanks. Fuel transfer is managed by three redundant sets of magnetic-peristaltic pumps, pressure regulators and distribution nodes. Ignition energy for the reaction chamber is provided by a step-up plasma compression generator, and supplied power by a single-use sarium krellide battery. The reaction chamber measures .1 meters in diameter and is constructed of hafnium carbide .4 centimeters thick, with a .04 cm inner wall of cortanium tritanide.

A two-stage MHD field trap lies downstream from the fusion chamber. The first stage acts as an energy recovery device and returns some of the undifferentiated plasma to the torpedo's engine power grid. The second stage performs partial throttle operations, in concert with fuel flow regulators, to control exhaust products as they enter the thrust nozzle.

The actual firing operation occurs in the launcher tubes. Each loader can place a torpedo into the launcher for volley firing. In each position, the launcher tube, 25 meters in length, is constructed from machined tritanium and pressure-densified cortanium carbide. It is strung with sequential field induction coils and launch assist gas generators to provide initial power to the sustainer and propel the casing away from the starship. Once fired, the launcher tube is purged of surface residues by flash sterilization, the coil charges are neutralized, and the firing sequencer is reset to await a new load of torpedoes. In the event a set of casings is loaded, and the ship then stands down from Red Alert, the torpedoes are returned to storage and the launcher system is powered down.

All launchers can be loaded with as many as 13 torpedoes at one time for simultaneous launch. In such cases, all torpedo devices are ejected from the tube in a single impulse and remain together for approx. 100 meters. At this point, individual control programs assume flight and targeting control for each torpedo. This is an effective means for simultaneous delivery of torpedoes to multiple targets.