Phase cannon

Phase cannons being deployed

Phase cannons firing

Enterprise fires its aft phase cannon.

A phase cannon was a phase-modulated energy weapon, a precursor to the phaser of the 23rd and 24th centuries. Designed as a starship-based version of the hand-held phase pistol, the phase cannon was rated for a maximum power output of 500 gigajoules.

The prototypes of ship-mounted phase cannons were first introduced in the mid-22nd century, designed as the primary defense of NX class starships, serving as a supplement for the lacking spatial torpedoes of the time.

Enterprise was originally designed to carry three phase cannons. However, due to Enterprise's premature launch in 2151, Jupiter Station hadn't the chance to install the cannons, though Enterprise was given one of the prototypes.

On August 30th, 2151, Malcolm Reed and Charles Tucker were given the job of installing the prototype, as well as building two more from scratch. They were able to accomplish the installation -- two forward cannons, one aft -- in 48 hours, a job that would have taken the armory team at Jupiter Station at least a week.

The initial test of Enterprise's phase cannons was conducted on September 1st, on an asteroid. Following the first shot, it was determined that the blast yield of the shot was ten times what was expected and that the cannons had been manipulated by a mysterious alien race. The resulting overload of the phase modulators caused a plasma recoil that blew out relays across decks C and D.

When the alien beings attacked Enterprise, the cannons proved ineffective against the alien vessel's shielding. Reed and Tucker then caused another overload, this time intentionally, while using the gravity plating on C and D decks to absorb the plasma recoil. The resulting overload again increased the canon's blast yield, which disabled the aliens' shields and allowed Enterprise to gain the upper hand. (ENT: "Silent Enemy")

Phase cannons are generally more powerful than spatial torpedoes and are therefore more effective in a firefight. Initially, a ship's phase cannons could not be fired while the vessel was at warp, as doing so would cause the weapon's particle discharge to destabilize the ship's warp field. This would result in serious damage to both of the ship's warp nacelles, and could possibly even destroy them. By 2152, Malcolm Reed had corrected this problem and Enterprise was able to fire its phase cannon at warp while it was pursued by the Suliban fleet. (ENT: "Fallen Hero", "Shockwave, Part II")

Visual inspection of the ship reveals twelve ports from which phase cannons seem to be mounted, with the NX-01 having fired from at least ten of those twelve ports throught the run of the series. The basic configuration by the third season is eight cannons mounted forward on the top/bottom of the saucer and four cannons mounted top/bottom on the souble catamaran hull. Note that this was a major modification of the impromptu original three cannons retrofitted in space by Tucker. (ENT: "E^2")

References

• ENT:
  • "Singularity"
  • "Precious Cargo"
  • "Cease Fire"
  • "Future Tense"
  • "The Crossing"
  • "Judgement"
  • "Horizon"
  • "Cogenitor"
  • "The Expanse"
  • "Anomaly"

Background Information

It is not known what weapon, besides spatial torpedoes, were used aboard Enterprise prior to the installation of the phase cannons. A weapon used by Enterprise during "Broken Bow" appeared to fire a type of plasma burst; there was never any on-screen reference as to what this weapon is called, but it was most likely the same type of plasma weapon used aboard the shuttlepods in "Shadows of P'Jem" (ENT).

Spock's remark in TOS: "Balance of Terror" that the Earth-Romulan War was fought with atomic weapons suggests that the phase cannon and other phase weapons may have utilized a form of atomic energy. This is assuming, of course, that the weapons were used during the war, which is likely. However, because an overload of the phase cannon's phase modulators caused a plasma recoil, it seems likely the weapons are operated on plasma. It is possible that Spock's comment did not mean the war was fought entirely with atomic weapons, although that may have been the primary weapon employed during the conflict.

It is unknown whether the NX-01's weapons fire seen in "E2" were phase cannons or the ship's plasma weapons seen earlier. If they were phase cannons, then several new phase cannons were added previously, likely during the refit prior to the search for the Xindi superweapon.