::LCARS Technical Database:: Defensive Technology

[Narsil Brozgal]

Deflector Sheilds-



Deflector shields operate by creating a layer of energetic distortion containing a high concentration of gravitons around the object (ship, city, etc.) to be protected. Shield energies can be emitted from a localized antenna or "dish" (such as a ship's navigational deflector), or from a network of "grid" emitters laid out on the object's surface (such as a ship's hull).

Neither matter nor highly-concentrated energy (ie, weapons fire) can normally penetrate a shield without first matching the exact shield frequency. Warships match their own shield and weapon frequencies so their shielding does not stop them from defending themselves. Continuous or extremely powerful energy discharges, can, however, progressively dissipate the integrity of a shield to the point of failure. Normally transporters are not capable of penetrating shields.Shields can be adjusted to allow certain types of energy through, or to make them more effective at blocking them. In combat against a foe such as the Borg, who use weapons whose "frequencies" can be rapidly adjusted, an effective tactic is to repeatedly and randomly alter the shield's "nutations" to minimize the effectiveness of the weapon's retuned frequencies.

Shields on board a starship have one other weakness that can be exploited by a knowlegeable and highly-skilled opponent. The area directly aft of a ship's impulse engines is weaker than the rest of the shield envelope. This allows the ship's impulse "exhaust" to exit the shield rather than being trapped inside it. A small craft, such as a shuttle or some types of Maquis raider, can use this destabilized area to penetrate the shield. Such a maneuver requires a great deal of delicate piloting, or else the craft attempting it may be damaged.

There are at least two different shield configurations. One type projects an ellipsoid shield bubble around the ship and a relatively large region directly adjacent to the ship. In the other shield configuration, a contour-conforming shield layer is projected a few meters outside the main hull.

Either type may be "extended" to encompass another vessel. Doing so can put a strain on the shielding ship's systems, and renders the shield less effective. Also, vessels can extend their shields around another vessel by matching shield emitter frequencies.It is possible for a starship to have only certain areas of the ship shielded, leaving other areas unprotected. This would be useful in times when power reserves were low, and only certain areas could be shielded. Lowering portions of the shields also allows usage of transporters without completely sacrificing the protection that shields provide.

A shield frequency or shield harmonic refers to the settings that a particular starship has for their deflector shield system, which determines the frequency used by the shield emitters. If enemy forces obtain this frequency, it would allow certain types of adjustable weapons fire to be modified to pass through the shields as if they were not there.The shield functionality can then be regained by remodulating the shields.

Regenerative shields are an advanced shield system used by the Borg and subsequently adopted by other races including the Federation Starfleet, the Cardassian Union and the Remans.

The basic principle of regenerative shielding is to quickly analyze an attacking weapon's frequency and then modulate shield freqency to increase damage mitigation without depleting shield energy.

[Narsil Brozgal]

Cloaking Device-

A cloaking device is a form of stealth technology that uses selective bending of light (and other forms of energy) to render a starship or other object completely invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum and most sensors. It has been encountered in varying forms over the centuries.

Due to the enormous amount of power required to generate a cloaking field, there is by and large not enough power available to also power the weapons and shields. However, there have been several times when advances in cloaking technology have rendered this untrue.

For example, in 2293, the Klingons developed a prototype bird-of-prey capable of firing when cloaked. This ship, commanded by General Chang was used to secretly attack the IKS Kronos One in such a way that it appeared the USS Enterprise-A was responsible, implicating Enterprise commanding officer James T. Kirk in an attempted assassination of Chancellor Gorkon. Fortunately for galactic peace, the Enterprise-A was able to deduce the existence of Chang's ship and devise a way to penetrate its cloak by tracking its plasma exhaust with new sensors for analyzing gaseous anomalies. The prototype ship was destroyed by the Enterprise-A and the Excelsior over Khitomer.

Another advanced cloak was encountered in 2379. The Reman warbird Scimitar employed a new type of cloaking device that allowed the ship to fire weapons and use shields while cloaked. Not only this, but the device didn't give off any tachyon emissions or residual antiprotons, making the Scimitar completely undetectable while cloaked. The effectiveness of this technology was demonstrated at the Battle of the Bassen Rift, where the Scimitar engaged the USS Enterprise-E, the IRW Valdore and another warbird, and was able to destroy one of the warbirds and cripple the other without suffering any significant damage. Only through repeated blind targeting, barrages of phasers and torpedoes, and the use of telepathic triangulation by Commander Deanna Troi was the Enterprise-E able to disable the Scimitar's cloak.

Interphasic Cloak Technology-

The Treaty of Algeron did not stop Starfleet Intelligence from secretly and illegally developing the interphase cloaking device, a device which not only rendered a starship invisible, but also allowed it to pass through solid matter unimpeded. The device was lost in 2358 when the testbed vessel, the USS Pegasus was presumed destroyed by a warp core breach in a mutiny by members of the crew concerned about the legality of the test. In 2370, the Pegasus was found not to have been destroyed and the existence of the illegal device was made public to the Romulans.

[Narsil Brozgal]

Ablative Hull Armoring-



Ablative hull armor is a Starfleet starship defense technology developed sometime between 2378 and 2404.

Though designed specifically to defend against the Borg, it was shown to be highly effective against other types of weapons fire. With armor deployed, Admiral Janeway's shuttlecraft was able to withstand disruptor fire from a 25th century version of a Klingon Negh'Var-type heavy cruiser without any loss in armor integrity.

The armor is deployed via hull-mounted ablative armor generators. Though phasers cannot be utilized while ablative armor is deployed, apertures at torpedo launchers allow for the use of torpedoes.

The armor was first seen used by an alternate timeline version of future Admiral Janeway on her shuttlecraft while escaping the Klingon Korath in 2404. Admiral Janeway then traveled to 2378 and provided the armor technology to the crew of Voyager in order for them to penetrate the defenses of one of only six heavily-defended Borg transwarp hubs.

Furthur advances of the technology toward 2450 allowed for the use of phasers while the armor was in use. Also, the alloys themselves were furthur perfected and a hollow space between two ablative plating layers allowed for contoured sheilds to be projected into the gap. In 2456 the USS Enterprise-G was assulted by almost a dozen renegade Romulan Warbirds... with the use of a Mk.IV Ablative armor system they were able to disable 8 of the ships and destroy the remaining 3 while only suffering minor damage to themselves.