Armoury

U.S.S. BISMARCK NCC-1108B
ARMORY - DECK 03

A NOTE FROM THE MASTER-AT-ARMS

The USS Bismark is equipped with all standard security equipment found normally on non civillian Federation Starships, but is also supplemented with extra state of the art and specialised equipment to allow the Security personell aboard the vessel to adapt to the varsely differing situations that a frontline Starship such as the U.S.S. Bismark encounters on a regular basis.

Type 3A (Mk II) Phaser Rifles in the Ship's Armoury

Please note that most information contained within these pages is classifeid under the regulations governing 'military secrets' laid out in the "Starfleet Command Standing Orders". All information unless specifically specified is coded at security level 9, and therefore only authorised personell may gain access to the information here in.

- PO3 Azhaar de Monde
Master-at-Arms
U.S.S. BISMARK NCC-1108B

THE PHASER

The Phaser is the standard Federation beam weapon system. This type of weapon came into common use in 2255, replacing the laser weapons then in service. Phaser is an acronym for PHASed Energy Rectification, a term which referred to the original process by which stored or supplied energy was converted to another form for release toward the target without any need for an intermediate energy transformation. Although this term is something of a holdover, it remains true in modern phaser systems.

Phaser energy is released by the rapid nadion effect. Rapid nadions are short lived subatomic particles which can liberate and transfer strong nuclear forces within a class of crystals called fushigi-no-umi.

Phasers have three distinct effects on the target. At low power settings - setting 1 to 3 on a hand phaser - the impact of phaser energy is almost wholly limited to simple electromagnetic and mild thermal effects. These are concentrated on the nervous system of the target, causing pain and/or unconsciousness in most beings. At higher levels the thermal effect becomes prevalent, and the phaser will begin to cause physical damage to the target resulting in moderate or severe injuries. By the time the power level is at setting 7 the energy is distributed equally between thermal and nuclear disruption energy. Disruption effects become widespread, resulting in immediate death to most Humanoid life forms.

At levels higher than 7 the majority of phaser energy is in the form of nuclear disruption. A large portion of the target is simultaneously vaporized and transitioned out of the continuum, a process which is instantly fatal. The higher power settings available with Type 3 phasers (setting 9+) cause severe damage over a wide area. These settings are rarely used because of the relatively high power consumption; a single setting 10 discharge uses more than twenty five times as much energy as a setting 7 discharge, while a setting 16 discharge uses over three hundred and fifteen times as much.

TYPE 1 PHASER

The Type 1 Phaser is a small hand held unit that is approximately the size of a deck of cards. It is capable of firing on a strength of up to setting 8, which causes total vaporization of humanoids, as 50% of the targeted area transitions out of the continuum. All security officers aboard the USS Bismark are issued a Type 1 Phaser as standard equipment, and are expected to cary it at all times whilst off duty (SEE SECURITY DEPARTMENT STANDING ORDERS).

TYPE 2 PHASER

A larger hand unit, the Type 2 Phaser is the standard issue sidearm for security personell on duty aboard most Federation Starships. Early models of the Type 2 Phaser used a type 1 phaser clipped into a pistol grip, but modern weapons seem to have little in common with the smaller model. The modern type 2 phaser can fire up to setting 16, which can cause the destruction of up to 3,900 metric tons of rock per .28 seconds of discharge.

TYPE 3 PHASER

The Type 3 Phaser is a rifle version of the Type 2 Phaser. It uses a nearly identical "business end" as the Type 2 Phaser, and, like the Type 2 Phaser, it is also capable of firing to setting 16. There are a couple of advantages of the Type 2, being mainly a 50% greater energy reserve, a multiple target acquisition system and a gyrostabilizer system, giving the user better balance and controll over the weapon, and therefore increasing accuracy. Recently the standard type 3 phaser rifle has apparently received the same advanced targeting system as the Heavy Phaser Rifle, otherwise known as the Type 3a Phaser Rifle.

COMPRESSION PHASER

When the Dominion threat became urgent in late 2370, Starfleet decided to issue its forces with a new class of heavy rifles to increase the firepower available to them. The Modern Phaser Rifle project would evaluate two competing designs, the Heavy phaser rifle and the Compression phaser rifle. Both would be rushed into service as fast as possible.

The Compression rifle concentrated on simplicity. The LiCu 521 discharge crystal was doped with arsenic atoms and trisilinate molecules in order to restrict the phaser energy discharge. The doping materials diverted a small part of the discharging energy to re-establish the charge barrier between the discharge crystal and the Sarium kelleride power crystal, limiting or compressing the beam to a maximum of 200 picoseconds of firing. This would fire the entire energy discharge in a beam of only 6 centimetres length, greatly increasing the intensity of the energy and so enhancing the effect on the target.

Although it was by far the simpler of the two weapons, great difficulties were encountered during the development of the compression rifle. Most of these centred around thermal damage to the discharge crystal resulting from the very high energy intensities flowing through it. Average firing lifetime of an emitter crystal in the first model developed was only 9.6 nanoseconds - 48 discharges - a far from acceptable figure. Redesign of the shape of the emitter boosted this figure to 28 nanoseconds, still not sufficient for a field weapon. The solution arrived at was to install two high capacity cooling systems, one mounted on either side of the rifle. This boosted the emitter crystals lifetime to 600 nanoseconds, or 3,000 discharges. Starfleet deemed this just about acceptable and rushed the compression rifle into limited service.

TYPE 3A PHASER (Mk. I & Mk. II)


Mark I - Type 3A	Mark II - Type 3A

The Type 3A Phaser, known also as the Pulse Rifle and the Heavy Phaser Rifle, is a much larger, more sophisticated weapon than other Phaser Rifle variants. It is capable of firing phaser energy in either beams or pulses of variable length, therefore giving it better armour penetration abilities or improved multiple foe combat abilities.

When the Starfleet desgin team began work on the Type 3a variant, they decided rather than tamper with the materials that made up the discharge crystal, they built in a small isolinear artificial intelligence unit into the Type 3a which had complete control over energy discharge of the weapon. The desigin team encountered considerable success in it's testing program that was surprisingly free of difficulties. The use of a computer control system also allows the beam characteristics to be modified much more easily than in previous phaser rifles, which is clearly important when dealing with adaptable foes such as the Borg.

The Type 3a also includes a much more effective and elaborate targeting system, a more powerful gyrostabilizer, and a larger energy reserve, giving the Type 3a excellent assult and defense characteristics, making for an allround excellent sidearm. The Type 3a is capable of firing on a maximum of setting of 18. The targeting unit is now being retro-fitted into earlier models of phaser rifle. The first model of heavy phaser rifle (Mk. I - T3a) had a duranium alloy metal stiffening to the barrel, but in service this has proved to be unnecessary and a subsequent model was issued (Mk. II - T3a) without this feature.

The USS Bismark employs both variant types of the Type 3a, but is phasing out most of the Mk. I variants, opting instead toward the lighter Mk. II variant.

TR-116 RIFLE

The TR-116 has been developed by Starfleet for use in areas where normal phasers would be useless - within dampening fields or radiogenic environments, for example. The weapon uses a chemical explosive to fire a Tritanium bullet. It is fitted with a microtransporter; when the bullet was fired the transporter beams it to within less than 10 centimetres of the target. By using an exographic targeting sensor the user is able to scan through many layers of bulkheads, allowing the TR-116 to be fired through walls or flooring.

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