The Breen energy dampening weapon in action on the USS Defiant.
The energy dissipator (also referred to as the energy dampening weapon) was an advanced energy weapon used by Breen forces in the mid-2370s during the Dominion War.
The weapon was first encountered by Federation forces when the Breen entered the Dominion War as allies of the Dominion in 2375, at the Second Battle of Chin'toka. Since allied ships had never encountered the weapon before, it was especially effective against them. The weapon works by draining the energy of targeted ships, disabling their engines, weapons, and shields, thus making them easy targets for conventional weapons. Amongst the vessels lost to the weapon was the USS Defiant. (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil") The Dominion had been in the process of retrofitting all Jem'Hadar vessels with the weapon. (DS9: "Tacking Into the Wind")
Klingon ships can easily be made immune to the weapon by modifing their tritium intermix. This was found by accident after the engineer of a bird-of-prey, the IKS Ki'tang, performed the procedure to correct a containment problem in the starship's warp core.
Unfortunately, Federation and Romulan ships can not be as easily modified. However, this problem was solved when Kira Nerys captured a Jem'Hadar fighter with the weapon installed, allowing Allied engineers to study the dampening weapon in detail. (DS9: "When It Rains...", "Tacking Into the Wind") By the war's end, the Federation Alliance succeeded in developing a countermeasure to the Breen weapon, forcing the Dominion to discontinue its use. (DS9: "Extreme Measures", "The Dogs of War")
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