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11.0 Tactical Systems
The primary weapon employed by Federation ships during sub-light operation is the phaser (Phased Energy Rectification) and was introduced circa 2267 to replace the pure electromagnetic laser and particle beam weapons. Phasers work by manipulation of nadions, short-lived particles possessing properties including liberation and transfer of the strong nuclear force. There appears to be two types of modern (Type XV) a larger and shorter form, the larger being obvious around the saucer of ship, and the smaller being found lining the underside of the nacelles. A typical large phaser array consists of two hundred emitter segments in a dense linear line. This line of phaser arrays forms a shallowly raised curve, but the raised region is just a part of a much larger complex system of components submerged in the space frame.
The USS Camelot is equipped with a type 15 emitter, with each segment able to direct 250 Mega Watt emissions. The emitter is constructed of a series of trifaceted crystals that discharges the beam. Each emitter has dimensions of 3.25 meters * 2.45 meters * 1.25 meters per segment and a chemical composition of >:Co:C60:Fe:W:>:O2:H>. Given that in the long arrays there are two hundred emitters at maximum output the phasers can output is around (250 * 200 =1020). This means a maximum output of 50 gigawatts per beam, and there are 6 type XV arrays located on the Camelot. As a tactical system phasers are limited in range to approximately 300,000 kilometer range but their real weakness in tactical value is that their effectiveness approaches negligible as impulse speeds increase and are next to useless at warp. Though there is work on improving effectiveness at warp in most cases torpedoes are preferred. Most Federation ships employ a beam phaser from the arrays, but most ships can vary between beam and pulse. The pulse phaser has been upgraded recently and implemented in the Defiant class ships. Pulse fire from the Defiant has capability to store charge for 2.3 nanoseconds and release it as a layered pulse. This method of pulse fire has been found to be far harder for shields to disperse. The Camelot is able to do something similar due to the upgraded array; the targanide crystal enables them to hold a pulse for 1.2 nanoseconds, achieving a layered pulse effect not unlike the Defiant`s, though not quite as effective.
Nadions are subatomic particles that have the ability to liberate and transfer the strong nuclear forces as well as disrupt electromagnetic bonds. The strong interaction is the force within a nucleus of an atom that binds the nucleons together. Given that there is an inherent repulsion in an atom's nucleus whereby the coupling of the positive charged protons will cause the matter to explosively decouple a method was required to hold them together. It is now understood that the force that binds the nucleus is from the interaction of a set of particles known as quarks.
Quarks come in one of six "flavors" of which all baryons such as the proton or pi meson are constructed. Each flavor has one of three colors; all matter is made of white quark combinations, that is the cancellation of all primary colors, red, green and blue. For each quark, there is a corresponding anti-quark. Quarks interact with each other primarily through the strong force via gluons. Since the rapid nadion effect affects the strong nuclear force it alters the damage a phaser can do to an object. That is, the energy released might not be the significant factor in damage to a matter-based target(this is irrelevant for shields, as they are not held together by the strong nuclear force). The graphs and charts below show among other things how much the nadion effect changes with phaser intensity. Given that we know a relative value for the energy used by the phaser at each level, we can correlate this with the nadion effect and see how much the decorrelation of the strong nuclear force effects matter.
| Size
(Radius) |
Mass |
Kinetic Energy (megatonnes) |
Crater |
Excavated |
|
|
Volume kgm^3 |
Mass kg |
Crater Diameter |
Approximate Energy (megatonnes) |
Energy (joules) |
| 4000 |
8.04E+14 |
100000 |
160000 |
6.434E+18 |
|
|
10 |
60000 |
1.285048807 |
4.24413E-11 |
126381.3 |
| 3500 |
5.39E+14 |
66992.1875 |
140000 |
4.3103E+18 |
|
|
50 |
300000 |
2.19740255 |
2.12207E-10 |
631906.6 |
| 3000 |
3.39E+14 |
42187.5 |
120000 |
2.7143E+18 |
|
|
90 |
540000 |
2.673009235 |
3.81972E-10 |
1137432 |
| 2500 |
1.96E+14 |
24414.0625 |
100000 |
1.5708E+18 |
|
|
160 |
960000 |
3.238120084 |
6.79061E-10 |
2022101 |
| 2000 |
1.01E+14 |
12500 |
80000 |
8.0425E+17 |
|
|
370 |
2220000 |
4.282067715 |
1.57033E-09 |
4676109 |
| 1500 |
4.24E+13 |
5273.4375 |
60000 |
3.3929E+17 |
|
|
650 |
3900000 |
5.166828839 |
2.75869E-09 |
8214786 |
| 1000 |
1.26E+13 |
1562.5 |
40000 |
1.0053E+17 |
| 500 |
1.57E+12 |
195.3125 |
20000 |
1.2566E+16 |
| 400 |
8.04E+11 |
100 |
16000 |
6.434E+15 |
| 300 |
3.39E+11 |
42.1875 |
12000 |
2.7143E+15 |
| 200 |
1.01E+11 |
12.5 |
8000 |
8.0425E+14 |
| 100 |
1.26E+10 |
1.5625 |
4000 |
1.0053E+14 |
| 50 |
1.57E+09 |
0.1953125 |
2000 |
1.2566E+13 |
| 10 |
12566371 |
0.0015625 |
400 |
1.0053E+11 |
| 5 |
1570796 |
0.000195313 |
200 |
1.2566E+10 |
| 1 |
12566.37 |
1.5625E-06 |
40 |
100530965 |
The absolute energy emitted by a phaser at various energy settings is given below. This gives an appreciation for the impact of nadions in decoupling matter.
| Phaser
Setting |
SEM:NDF ratio |
Damage Index |
Discharge Energy |
Structural Damage |
Energy (joules) |
| 1 |
0 |
0 |
15.75 |
0 |
unknown |
| 2 |
0 |
0 |
45.3 |
0 |
unknown |
| 3 |
0 |
1 |
160.65 |
0 |
unknown |
| 4 |
0 |
3.5 |
515.75 |
0 |
unknown |
| 5 |
0.004 |
7 |
857.5 |
0 |
unknown |
| 6 |
0.011111111 |
15 |
2700 |
0 |
unknown |
| 7 |
1 |
50 |
4900 |
0 |
unknown |
| 8 |
3 |
120 |
15000 |
0 |
unknown |
| 9 |
7 |
300 |
65000 |
0 |
unknown |
| 10 |
9 |
450 |
125000 |
0 |
unknown |
| 11 |
11 |
670 |
300000 |
10 |
126381.3175 |
| 12 |
14 |
940 |
540000 |
50 |
631906.5874 |
| 13 |
18 |
1100 |
720000 |
90 |
1137431.857 |
| 14 |
20 |
1430 |
930000 |
160 |
2022101.08 |
| 15 |
25 |
1850 |
1170000 |
370 |
4676108.747 |
| 16 |
40 |
2450 |
1550000 |
650 |
8214785.636 |
The preliminary extrapolated numbers are below. The energy should be accurate for all double figure but clearly breaks down for lower levels.
| Phaser
Setting |
Discharge Energy |
Actual Energy Discharge |
SEM:NDF ratio |
Energy Imparted by EM alone |
| 1 |
15.75 |
1.11603E-06 |
0 |
1.11603E-06
joules |
| 2 |
45.3 |
1.64285E-05 |
0 |
1.64285E-05
joules |
| 3 |
160.65 |
0.000412163 |
0 |
0.000412163
joules |
| 4 |
515.75 |
0.008026276 |
0 |
0.008026276
joules |
| 5 |
857.5 |
0.029278409 |
0.004 |
0.029161762
joules |
| 6 |
2700 |
0.54267081 |
0.011111111 |
0.536707394
joules |
| 7 |
4900 |
2.47396825 |
1 |
1.236984125
joules |
| 8 |
15000 |
42.68156153 |
3 |
10.67039038
joules |
| 9 |
65000 |
1783.491112 |
7 |
222.936389
joules |
| 10 |
125000 |
9422.896873 |
9 |
942.2896873
joules |
| 11 |
300000 |
87500.82623 |
11 |
7291.735519
joules |
| 12 |
540000 |
390668.4286 |
14 |
26044.56191
joules |
| 13 |
720000 |
812530.8696 |
18 |
42764.78261
joules |
| 14 |
930000 |
1558738.798 |
20 |
74225.65707
joules |
| 15 |
1170000 |
2796192.787 |
25 |
107545.8764
joules |
| 16 |
1550000 |
5721229.084 |
40 |
139542.1728
joules |
It should be possible to calculate the exact discharges using the following equations.
Let:
The discharge energy index = D
Energy at target = E
SEM:NDF ration =S
The Phaser Setting = P
Therefore
D = f (P)
E = f (D)
S = f (P)
Approximate relationships
D = 0.4641*e^(0.9803*P)
E = 1*10^-9 * D^2.5455
S = 0.2444 P^2 - 1.966 P +3.1145
As installed in the Camelot-class, the main ship's phasers are rated as Type-XV, the most powerful emitters available for starship use. Individual emitter segments are capable of directing 35 MW. By comparison, the small personal phasers issued to Starfleet crewmembers, at least on this ship, are type two and type three, the latter limited to .3 MW. Certain large dedicated planetary defense emitters are designated as Type XV+, as their energy output is beyond starship levels. The Camelot class supports six phaser arrays in two sizes, located on both dorsal and ventral surfaces, as well as four arrays for lateral coverage.
A typical large phaser array consists of a varying number of emitter segments in a dense linear arrangement for optimal control of firing order, thermal effects, field halos and target impact. Groups of emitters are supplied by redundant sets of energy feeds from the primary trunks of the EPS, and are similarly interconnected by fire control, thermal management and sensor lines. The visible hull surface of a phaser is typically a long shallow raised strip, normally black.
In cross section, the phaser array takes on a thickened Y shape, capped with a trapezoidal mass of the actual emitter crystal and phaser-transparent hull antierosion coatings. The base of an array segment sits within a structural honeycomb channel of carbotanium and supplied with constant LN2 cooling. 1200 link struts to the vehicle frame thermally isolate the complete channel.
The first stage of the array segment is the EPS submaster flow regulator, the principle mechanism controlling phaser power levels for firing. The flow regulator leads into the plasma distribution manifold, which branches into 200 supply conduits to an equal of prefire chambers. The final stage of the system is the phaser emitter crystal.
-Activation Sequence
Upon receiving the command to fire, the EPS submaster flow regulator manages the energetic plasma powering the phaser array through a series of physical irises and magnetic switching gates. Iris response is 0.001 seconds and is used for gross adjustments in plasma distribution; magnetic gate response is .00003 seconds and is employed for rapid fine-tuning of plasma routing within small sections of an array. Normal control of all irises and gates is affected through the autonomic side of the phaser function command processor. The regulator is manufactured from combined-crystal sonodanite, solenogyn and rhodium tritanide, lined with a 1.7cm layer of paranygen animide to provide surface protection.
Energy is conveyed from each flow regulator to the PDM, a secondary computer-controlled valving device at the head end of each prefire chamber. The manifold is a single crystal, boronite, and is machined by precision phaser cutters. The prefire chamber is a sphere of targanide crystal reinforced with wound hafnium tritanide, which is gamma-welded. It is within the prefire chamber that energy from the plasma undergoes the handoff and initial EM spectrum shift associated with the rapid nadion effect. The energy is confined for between .05 and 1.2 ns by a collapsible charge barrier before passing to the targanide emitter for discharge. The action of raising and collapsing the charge barrier forms the required pulse for the RNE. The power level commanded by the system or voluntarily set by the tac officer determines the relative proportion of protonic charge that will be created and pulse frequency in the final emitter stage.
-Beam Emission
The trifaceted crystal that constitutes the final discharge stage is formed from targanide. The crystal lattice formula used in the forced-matrix process is >:Co:C60:Fe:W:>:O2:H>. The collimated energy beam exits one or more of the facets, depending on which prefire chambers are being pumped with plasma. The segment firing order, as controlled by the phaser function command processor, together with facet discharge direction, determines the final beam vector.
Energy from all discharged segments passes directionally over neighboring segments due to force coupling, converging on the release point, where the beam will emerge and travel at c to the target. Narrow beams are created by rapid segment order firing; wider fan or cone beams from slower firing rates.
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