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STARFLEET
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Phaser rifles
 Earlier version of the type-3 phaser rifle, predecessor of those used by Voyager's crew. Source: Encyclopaedia. A larger image is shown labelled 2) on this drawing. |
The earlier version of the type-3 phaser rifle shown is the predecessor to that used by Voyager's crew. It has power levels similar to the type-2 personal phaser but the power reserve is nearly 50% greater, and by 2372 [DS9: Return to Grace] it features a fully autonomous recharge, multiple target acquisition, and is gyrostabilised. It remains in Starfleet's fabrication database, though no new production copies have been produced for several years. Minor retrofits were made to certain deployed units, such as those on Deep Space 9 by 2373 seen, for example in [DS9: To The Death]. |
The power levels of the type-3 phaser rifle are the same as the type-2 personal phaser, namely 16 settings, with 9 to 16 all involving high proportions of nucleur disruption energy. The upgrade, namely the compression rifle used by Voyager's crew in 2371, is known as the type 3-a, and features a double-handed grip.
Click to enlarge image.
Phaser type-3a, compression phaser rifle. First version of the compression rifle used by Voyager's crew.
full-size picture 68Kb, 1342x404 pixels
compression phaser rifle, type-3a
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The changes from type-3a to type-3b is that it features a spill light rather than a sight and has a power indicator to let the user know how much energy is left. It fires a yellow beam. The type-3b is seen in use on Voyager starting in 2373 onwards; it is as seen in [Star Trek: First Contact]. That film shows Starfleet personnel in the year 2373 (and in the past, in 2063). The type-3b phaser is still known as a 'compression phaser rifle' or 'phaser rifle' or 'compression rifle', but also becomes known in one canon source as 'assault rifle'. Presumably the designations "3a" and "3b" came into existence with the development of the upgrade. The type-3b compression phaser rifle is enabled by pressing the appropriate control on the control panel. This activates a red light which indicates that power is on. Pressing another control arms the weapon (in the screenshot below left, Seven and Tuvok are loading nanoprobe charges), indicated by the activation of the spill light which equates to the sight, as well as simultaneously helpfully illuminating a potential target. In [Prey], Seven states: "Level 5 should be sufficient to stun the creature." meaning a member of Species 8472. |
 the red light is the power on indicator [Prey] |
 looking directly into the spill light [Prey] |
| No explanation is given as to how Voyager's crew come to be using an upgrade that was implemented in their absence and that therefore they cannot know about. I conjecture that when the upgrade was being developed for some reason Starfleet inserted its specifications (by 2371, specifically by stardate 48315.6 the date of [#1 and #2 Caretaker]) into its database so that Voyager's crew are able to access them and complete the work themselves. The logical time to introduce them would be after Voyager's Doctor visits the Alpha Quadrant in [#82 Message in a Bottle], stardate unknown, when his debriefing/briefing by Starfleet would logically include a specifications upgrade of handweapons such as the compression phaser rifle to the type-3b (although the security team that boards USS Prometheus are carrying the type-3a). My alternative theory is that reference to the type-3b was in the 29th century Federation's database, part of which Voyager obtained via Starling's office computer in [#50 and #51 Future's End], and that, like the Doctor's mobile emitter, that information was retained and developed. |  They carry the earlier version of the phaser rifle whereas I would have thought that Starfleet would issue the most up-to-date for an expected encounter with hostile Romulans. [Message in a Bottle]. |
[Star Trek: First Contact]: phaser rifles (behind-the-scenes shot).
Source: Making of ST:FC
Behind-the-scenes: it is a production convention in Star Trek that when anything new appears which is major e.g. uniforms, equipment or technology, and thus likely to appear in a tv series too, the film gets to showcase it first, with the tv episode or its contents if necessary being rearranged to suit. Examples: the type-3b phaser and the environmental suits first seen in [Star Trek: First Contact], both later seen in [Star Trek: Voyager], and the white Starfleet dress uniforms first seen in [Star Trek: Insurrection] and later seen in [DS9: Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges]. The chronology of design is evident from phaser rifle design sketches in a Anders' book.
 The type-3b compression rifle a.k.a. assault rifle a.k.a. phaser rifle - in use on Voyager starting in 2373 [Prey] - stardate 51652.3 |
The upgrade features of the type-3a to the type-3b include densified sarium-krellide cells, upgraded targeting scanners and isolinear processor, and pre-fire chamber reinforcement similar to that of the type-2 unit (the upgrade features of which are described above). The latest type-3b rifle unit supports a hot-swappable power cell with a total energy charge of 3.45 x 108 megajoules, a field-replaceable deuterium plasma generator, twelve-stage plasma accelerator, and five-stage cascading pre-fire chamber. At the terminus of the energy flow is the emitter crystal, also a lithium-copper superconductor like the pre-fire chamber. The plasma accelerator is critical to pumping the prefire chamber to the proper energy level for controllable nuclear disruption forces (NDF). Almost no classical thermal or other unwanted EM (electro-magnetic) effects are present in the discharge beam. The superheated, rarefied plasma is exhausted past the emitter crystal in a focused stream. The plasma helps ensure that the crystal does not cool too quickly during firing. The type-3b also boasts a new seeker/tracker, possessing both passive and active EM and subspace detectors. Like other phaser types, the tracking processor is coupled by STA (subspace transceiver assembly) STA NOTE to the onboard station safety system to constrain the rifle to setting 3, unless authorised by senior officer command override. In particular, the type-3b incorporates the first true transitional phase pulse accelerator. |
Type-3b phaser rifle in service configuration.
This is the second version of the compression rifle used by Voyager's crew (starting in 2373).
Single target acquisition
The default setting is for a phaser beam fired in a fairly narrow burst in single target acquisition mode. The screenshot shows the effect of a phaser beam set on stun (fired by Chakotay) upon a target (Tom Paris).
 [#150 Repression] |
 [#150 Repression] |
On an earlier page is the labelled exterior of the type-2 phaser, as used by Voyager's crew in 2371 (it became Starfleet issue in 2266, in [TNG] season three): see it again.
On an earlier page is the labelled exterior of the upgraded type-2 phaser, as used by Voyager's crew 2372 onwards: see it again e.g. to see the location of the beam intensity and beam width controls.
6 pictures below: in [#120 Equinox, Part One], outside the quarters in which the disgraced USS Equinox crewmembers are detained, the second security guard hears a thump (the first security guard falling to the floor) and opens the door to the prisoners' quarters but is phasered (by a Type-2 phaser, not by a phaser rifle) and falls to the ground stunned; the Equinox crew then escape
| Multiple target acquisition
Phasers can be fired on wide beam, in multiple acquisition or wide dispersal mode, to give a broad spread of fire. There are several beam widths (just as there are a number of beam intensities, detailed in Phaser Power Settings). For example, if stranded in an arctic environment, THE STARFLEET SURVIVAL GUIDE: subsection 1.08 details how to melt snow and boil it for drinking purposes. The highest phaser beam width in those instructions is beam width 7 (at beam intensity 3): "Reset the phaser to beam intensity 3, beam width 7, and place the emitter crystal into the water approximately one centimeter below the surface. A single 15- second discharge should be sufficient to raise the temperature of 12 liters of water to the boiling point. |  Tuvok fires his phaser on wide dispersal mode at several USS Voyager crewmembers, stunning them all simultaneously [#13 Cathexis] |
Self-destruct
| The self-destruct features adds to the phaser's already formidable repertoire. A hand-phaser can be set to self-destruct (either on immediate initiation or by a controlled time-delay) which renders them into explosive devices that can be either thrown grenade-style (a dangerous tactic even for the operator) or left stationary as depicted in [DS9: Empok Nor].
The self-destruct facility depends on generating what is normally considered as the undesirable activity of basic physics, namely phaser overload. The accepted methods employed for energy storage, flow, control, and discharge allow for an amplified rebounding to occur from the storage cell to the pre-fire chamber, and simultaneously back to the storage cell. While the total energy within the system remains the same, the flow pressure is elevated during the rebound, to the point where the storage cell cannot reabsorb the energy fast enough. The barrier field will be reinforced during this build-up, effectively preventing normal discharge through the emitter. Conductive acoustic effects manifest themselves during overload, ranging from 6 kHz to over 20 kHz within thirty seconds. Explosive destruction of the phaser will occur when the energy level exceeds the pre-fire chamber's density and structural limits. The safety interlock will prevent overload under most operating conditions, though the design specifications could not cope with some forms of tampering. This can become a priority security matter should a standard-issue phaser fall into the hands of threat forces. |
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