Editing Weapons in Star Trek (section)

==Projectile weapons==

===Spatial torpedo===
Also referred to as conventional torpedoes, spatial torpedoes are 22nd century weapons used by ''[[Enterprise (NX-01)|Enterprise]]''. Spatial torpedoes are the ship's most powerful and primary ship-to-ship weapon before the installation of phase cannons.<ref name="Silent Enemy" /> Spatial torpedoes are themselves superseded by more powerful photonic torpedoes.<ref>{{cite episode| episode-link=The Expanse (Star Trek: Enterprise episode)| title=The Expanse| series=Star Trek: Enterprise}}</ref> Unlike photonic torpedoes or any of the warhead's successors, spatial torpedoes are launched at sub-light velocity and can be used much in the manner of a missile, having the warhead on a [[Aircraft flight control system#Fly-by-wire control systems|fly-by-wire]].<ref>{{cite episode|episode-link=Fight or Flight (Star Trek: Enterprise)| title=Fight or Flight| series=Star Trek: Enterprise}}</ref>

===Photon torpedo===
{{original research section|date=March 2018}}
[[File:Star Trek - Photon torpedoes.jpg|thumb|250px|An ''Akira''-class starship fires photon torpedoes.]]
Photon torpedoes are a standard ship-based weapon armed with an [[Antimatter weapon|antimatter warhead]]. They are present in every version of the ''Star Trek'' series and are a standard weapon on almost every Federation ship, though in ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' (''ENT''), the titular ship uses less powerful spatial torpedoes (guided, rocket propelled missiles) until receiving the more powerful "photonic" variant. Photon torpedoes first appear on a [[Starfleet]] ship in the original series' episode "[[Arena (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Arena]]" as part of the USS ''Enterprise''{{'}}s armament. In the ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' episode "[[The Expanse (Star Trek: Enterprise episode)|The Expanse]]", the [[Enterprise (NX-01)|''Enterprise'' (NX-01)]] first receives photonic torpedoes. Smaller Starfleet craft such as shuttlecraft and runabouts can be armed with "micro-torpedoes", a scaled-down version of photon torpedoes designed for use on craft too small to accommodate the full-sized weapon.

When fired, photon torpedoes usually appear as a spiky orb of energy of varying colours, such as red,<ref>{{cite AV media|title=[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country]] |date=1991 |medium=Motion picture}}</ref> orange,<ref>{{cite AV media|title=[[Star Trek: First Contact]] |date=1996 |medium=Motion picture}}</ref> yellow, blue, or green,<ref>{{cite AV media|title=[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]] |date=1979 |medium=Motion picture}}</ref> or in the case of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS''), red bolts. According to the original notes to ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS]]'' and ''The Making of Star Trek'', photon torpedoes are energy shielded to allow armor-penetration. Several{{Specify|date=October 2024|reason=Although the text says "several," only one episode is used as a source}} episodes seem to suggest this (''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|TNG]]'': "[[Suspicions (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Suspicions]]"). The energy output of a photon torpedo, according to the ''Star Trek'' Technical Manuals is a maximum theoretical yield of 25 isotons and a maximum rated yield of 18.5 isotons. According to ''Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual'', photon torpedoes use {{convert|1.5|kg}} of matter and the same amount of antimatter. In the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS]]'' episode, "[[Balance of Terror]]", photon torpedoes had replaced nuclear warheads as the primary wartime weapons on Federation starships.

Torpedoes are often depicted as being easy to modify to suit specific situations. Despite the stated maximum yield, torpedoes can be made far more destructive with relatively little effort. In ''Star Trek: Voyager'', Tuvok and Kim modify a normal photon torpedo with a gravimetric charge, a piece of [[Borg]] technology, to increase its destructive yield to 54 isotons. Kim comments that 50 isotons would be sufficient to destroy a small planet. Janeway later instructs them to increase its yield to 80 isotons. In ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country]]'', Spock and Dr. McCoy modify a photon torpedo to track the plasma emissions from a [[Cloaking device|cloaked]] Klingon [[Klingon starships|bird of prey]] as it attacks the ''Enterprise''-A and the ''Excelsior'', similar to the principal function of a [[Infrared homing|heat-seeking missile]].

Photon torpedo launchers aboard ships are shown to be able to fire probes, which, in-universe, are designed with this functionality in mind. In ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'', a torpedo casing is used as a makeshift coffin for [[burial at sea|burial in space]] and as scientific probes as in the ''TNG'' episode "[[In Theory]]" and in ''[[Star Trek Generations]]''.

===Plasma torpedo===
Plasma torpedoes are used by the Romulans, Cardassians, and (according to ''[[Star Fleet Battles]]'', ''[[Klingon Academy]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Starfleet Command|Starfleet Command]]'') the [[Gorn]]. The damage of a plasma torpedo spreads out over several ship systems at once, but the torpedo loses its effectiveness after only a few minutes of travel. Romulan plasma torpedoes use trilithium isotopes in their warheads.

===Gravimetric torpedoes===
Gravimetric torpedoes are torpedoes used by the Borg. The weapon emits a complex phase variance of [[graviton]]s to create a gravimetric distortion capable of tearing starships apart.

===Quantum torpedo===
Quantum torpedoes first appear in the ''Deep Space Nine'' episode "[[Defiant (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Defiant]]" as a weapon aboard the {{USS|Defiant}}. In the ''DS9'' episode "[[Paradise Lost (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Paradise Lost]]", the USS ''Lakota'' was also stated to be carrying quantum torpedoes, although they were never used.<ref>{{cite episode|episode-link=Paradise Lost (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|title=Paradise Lost|series=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine}}</ref> Additionally, the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)|USS ''Enterprise''-E]] is equipped with quantum torpedoes in ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]''. The Federation are the only known users of quantum torpedoes. The ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual'' states that quantum torpedoes derive their destructive power from [[vacuum energy]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual|last=Zimmerman|first=Herman |author2=Rick Sternbach |author3=Doug Drexler|title-link=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual}}</ref>  Various in-universe sources describe quantum torpedoes as roughly double the destructive power of standard photon torpedoes, putting their yield somewhere in excess of 100 megatons of TNT.

Four of the USS ''Enterprise''-E's quantum torpedoes destroyed an unshielded [[Borg|Borg sphere]]. The launcher appears on the 1701-E in ''Star Trek: Insurrection'' but is never fired. In ''Star Trek: Nemesis'', nine of the ''Enterprise''-E's quantum torpedoes disable the ''Scimitar''{{'}}s cloaking function.

Quantum torpedoes are normally shown in a shade of blue. As of ''Nemesis'' the following ship classes have quantum torpedoes launcher; ''Defiant''–, ''Intrepid''–, ''Luna''–, ''Sovereign''–, ''Vesta''– <!-- Non-cannon? -->, ''Akira''– and ''Achilles''–class. In addition to the uncrewed Cardassian spacecraft ''[[Dreadnought (Star Trek: Voyager)|Dreadnought]]'', these are the only ships known to be equipped with quantum torpedoes. Though Dreadnought only has quantum torpedoes due to the maquis acquiring them illicitly, along with their other military grade weapons. B'elanna Torres installed the quantum torpedoes on Dreadnought to increase its armament from the original complement.

===Polaron torpedo===
Polaron torpedoes, like the Dominion weapon, are capable of penetrating normal shielding with ease. They appear in various ''Star Trek'' games. In ''[[Star Trek: Starfleet Command III|Starfleet Command III]]'', it is one of the Klingon's three heavy weapon options, the others being the photon torpedo and the [[ion cannon]]. It also appears in ''[[Star Trek: Armada]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Armada II]]'', as a researchable weapon for the Klingon Empire exclusive to the ''Vor'cha''-class cruiser which takes out one of the targeted ship's systems at random.

===Transphasic torpedo===
Transphasic torpedoes appear only once, in the ''Voyager'' series finale, "Endgame". They are high-yield torpedoes that are designed specifically to fight the Borg. The future Admiral Janeway brought them back in time in a Federation shuttlecraft and had them installed onboard ''Voyager'' in 2378. They are among the most powerful weapons used in the ''Star Trek'' universe; just one is capable of obliterating an entire Borg cube. They work by delivering destructive subspace compression pulse explosion. Upon detonation the pulse is delivered in asymmetric superposition of multiple phase states. Since the shields can block only one subcomponent of the pulse the remaining majority is delivered to the target. On the top of it every torpedo has different transphasic configuration generated randomly by a dissonant feedback effect to prevent Borg or any other enemy to predict the configuration of the phase states. Although they do not appear in the film ''Nemesis'', according to the non-canon ''Destiny'' book trilogy these are kept by Starfleet as the weapon of last resort to be deployed to starships only when all else had failed against the Borg. Eventually, the situation becomes dire enough that the specifications are released to Federation and Klingon ships; the Borg eventually learn to adapt to them.

===Isokinetic cannon===
The Isokinetic cannon was seen in only one episode of ''Star Trek: Voyager'', "[[Retrospect (Star Trek: Voyager)|Retrospect]]". In the episode, representatives of USS ''Voyager'' meet with a weapons trader and designer known as Kovin. The demonstration of the weapon destroys a target buoy composed of 10&nbsp;m thick solid monotanium with a chromoelectric forcefield in one shot, coring it cleanly through.

===TR-116 projectile rifle===
The TR-116 projectile rifle is a prototype weapon developed by the Federation for situations where conventional energy weapons might be rendered useless by damping fields or other countermeasures. It is introduced in the ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode "[[Field of Fire (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Field of Fire]]", where it is used in conjunction with a micro-transporter and a visual scanner headpiece to create an extremely potent sniper rifle. With the scanner, the shooter can precisely target people hundreds of meters away and through solid matter with no difficulty. Using the transporter attached to the barrel, the slug can then be transported during motion at full velocity, thus traveling through walls and materializing within point-blank range of the target.

===Phased plasma torpedo===
Phased plasma torpedoes can phase out of normal space-time to bypass shields, then phase back in to detonate on a ship's hull, thus making shields worthless against them. They only appear in the PC game ''[[Star Trek: Bridge Commander]]''. Shortly after the recovery of the Pegasus device, the phasing properties used in the design are seen as a delivery system for torpedoes. Reducing the size of the phasing coils used to accomplish an intangible state proves difficult. Further, the antimatter within the warhead has a destabilizing effect on the phasing coil. A new kind of explosive material is needed, and it is found using the principles behind the first observed Romulan plasma weapons. The installation of a high-energy plasma infuser allows a torpedo casing to be filled with a warhead charged with high-energy plasma from the ship's warp nacelles. Warp plasma is highly unstable and can be easily detonated. Using a nanite-controlled trigger for reactant release allows vessels to deliver a high-energy plasma warhead payload within a Mark IV torpedo casing.

===Chroniton torpedo===
Chroniton torpedoes are a unique form of weapon employed by the [[Krenim]]. The weapons phase in and out of normal time, allowing them to pass through ordinary shields and directly damage a vessel's hull.<ref name="Year of Hell">{{cite episode|episode-link=Year of Hell| title=Year of Hell| series=Star Trek: Voyager}}</ref> Though dangerous, their reliability is not absolute, as [[Seven of Nine]] and [[Tuvok]] (as well as [[Kes (Star Trek)|Kes]] in the alternate timeline presented in "[[Before and After (Star Trek: Voyager)|Before and After]]") find an undetonated chroniton torpedo lodged in ''[[USS Voyager (Star Trek)|Voyager]]''{{'}}s hull, which in turn allow the crew to adapt the shields to withstand further attacks.<ref name="Year of Hell" />

===Positron torpedo===
The Kessok are a highly intelligent race that ally themselves with the Cardassians, albeit through deceit, in the video game ''[[Star Trek: Bridge Commander]]''. They utilize positron torpedoes: powerful, slow-moving projectiles able to inflict nearly twice as much damage as quantum torpedoes.