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One of the most distressing features of the
Federations first battle with the Dominion was the ease with which the
Dominion weaponry was able to penetrate Federation shielding. The
Dominion attack ships used a Phased Polaron Beam which passed through
the shields as if they were not even there, no matter frequency
nutation was used.
Dominion ships all appear to use the phased polaron beam as their
primary weaponry, and this gave them a heavy advantage in early
conflicts with Federation forces. The destruction of the USS Odyssey
prompted an intense flurry of activity on many fronts within
Starfleet. Ship production was ramped to a maximum and starship
designs were altered to increase their combat effectiveness, while the
academy training program was speeded up massively to provide crews for
the new ships. By themselves, however, these projects would be of
little use so long as the Dominion was able to defeat Federation ships
so easily.
Perhaps the most important project the Federation embarked on was
that of shield enhancement. Between 2371 and 2373 the Federation put
huge emphasis on the development of new shield technology. The capture
of a Dominion vessel in 2373 gave the Federation an operational
Dominion weapons system. This proved to be a crucial step towards the
development of an effective polaron shield.
The first real test of the system came at the end of 2373, when the
Dominion launched an all out attack on Deep Space Nine. The stations
shields proved to be highly effective, holding off the fleet and
allowing the station to destroy over fifty enemy ships. Federation
ships and stations continued to be resistant to Dominion weaponry for
the remainder of the war.
A Dominion ship fires one of
its Phased Polaron Beam weapons.
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