Ferengi EMP Weakening/Depleting Weapon

[Platonian]

I had a couple of questions regarding the Ferengi EMP Weakening/Depleting Weapon.

According to Memory Alpha:

(T)he D'Kora-class was equipped with a form of energy weapon emitted from the aft of the ship, detectable by a marked power surge prior to discharge. The resulting electromagnetic pulse was capable of weakening the deflector shield power of a Galaxy-class starship, as well as the capability of depleting the fusion generator and batteries by as much as thirty percent in a single discharge….

The script described the weapon as…“an electric-wave arc [that] ripples out and back from the trailing sides.” Aside from the script, the only other clues describing this weapon include a notation in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, which described it as a “powerful plasma energy burst,” and the various Star Trek writer's guides, which state a similar description, describing “a very powerful energy/wave weapon.”

Memory Beta adds:

Some versions (of the D'Kora-class) were known to use a disabling weapon that was similar to the one the Breen used.

This reference to the Breen caught my attention. I, of course, went to our own DITL entry first, supplemented by Memory Alpha’s entry, “Energy dissipator”.

First, the entry reminded me that the Tholians had such a weapon as early as the 22nd century. Continuing with notes on the Breen weapon:

The weapon works by draining the energy of targeted ships, disabling their engines, weapons, and shields, thus making them easy targets for conventional weapons.

Memory Beta added:

The Breen energy dampening weapon was based on a forgotten Tholian type of technology.

Of course, this is not canon, but is interesting nonetheless.

While not attested in canon, it is plausible to assume that the Breen energy dissipater had its origins, to some extent, in the Tholian energy dissipater.

Where did the Ferengi get their “disabling weapon”? While they could, of course, have developed it themselves, it would seem much more likely that they acquired the technology. The Memory Alpha entry on the Breen notes:

The Breen also manufactured a portable hand-held cannon, the CRM 114. It was designed to target moving objects and surface emplacements. It was among the weapons dealt by the Ferengi arms dealer Gaila in the mid-2370s.

Memory Beta notes:

The Breen also had early contact with the Ferengi, and were responsible for selling that race modern warp drive technology...The two races became regular trading partners....

If we assume a trading relationship between the Breen and Ferengi, including trade in defense systems, it would be reasonable to assume that the Ferengi acquired their “disabling weapon,” or some earlier version, from the Breen, who clearly had this or a very similar technology. (I found no reference to a Ferengi – Tholian trade relationship, so that avenue for transmission seems unlikely.) That being the case, why didn’t the Federation, Klingons and Romulans approach the Ferengi about their “disabling weapon” when the Breen energy dampening weapon was first encountered? (Easier than approaching the Tholians, I should think!) If the Ferengi weapon evolved from the Breen weapon, it would seem the ideal model to study in an attempt to find a countermeasure to the Breen weapon.

Even if the Ferengi and Breen weapons weren’t directly related to each other, they were generically similar. Studying the Ferengi weapon should have given the Federation, Klingons and Romulans a little better idea as to how the Breen weapon worked. This would seem to be a much more “pro active” and reasonable approach than waiting for a solution to be delivered by a deus ex machina, as it was.

It’s hard to imagine the Ferengi not allowing the Federation, Klingons and Romulans to study their “disabling weapon.” Knowing the Ferengi, they probably would have sold the entire technology suite, for the right price.

Was their some good reason the writers didn’t follow this much more reasonable storyline? Did they just forget about the Ferengi “disabling weapon”?

[Graham Kennedy]

Hmm, I never took the weapon to be an "energy depleting" one as such. The dialogue is :

"Another power surge, sir."
"They are firing on us."
"Damage report?"
"Shields holding."
"Mostly electromagnetic. Fusion generator down by 30 percent."
"Our impulse engines are surging."
"They're firing again!"
"Deflector-shield power weakening. Phasers ready. Photon torpedoes ready. Do we return their fire, sir?"

The only reference to power reduction is that their fusion generator was down 30%, and I took that to just be battle damage.

[Platonian]

Hmm, I never took the weapon to be an "energy depleting" one as such. The dialogue is :

"Another power surge, sir."
"They are firing on us."
"Damage report?"
"Shields holding."
"Mostly electromagnetic. Fusion generator down by 30 percent."
"Our impulse engines are surging."
"They're firing again!"
"Deflector-shield power weakening. Phasers ready. Photon torpedoes ready. Do we return their fire, sir?"

The only reference to power reduction is that their fusion generator was down 30%, and I took that to just be battle damage.

Thanks for your thoughts, Graham.

To make things even murkier, here's another note in Memory Alpha, "D'kora Armament":

An interesting note regards comments made about the weapons of the Ferengi Marauder found in both official and unofficial source material, and I was glad to see that it wasn't made here. The Star Trek Encyclopedias, and the first year Next Generation source book for the old Fasa role playing game interestingly enough, both reference the Marauder's ability to fire a plasma pulse capable of disabling a Galaxy class starship. The reference suggests that whoever made the comment watched the first half of "The Last Outpost" but didn't watch long enough to find out that it was the T'kon outpost that was responsible, and not the Ferengi.

[Graham Kennedy]

Yeah, I mean outside of that initial discharge the Enterprise was immobilised without power, but it turned out that the Ferengi were as well. That was nothing to do with their weapons at all.

Throw in the fact that we've seen D'Koras in action since then, against the Enterprise, and not once has there been mention of power loss or energy drain as a result of their weapons. Seems to me like it's not a factor.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Yeah. I always wondered where that whole 'disable a Galaxy-class' thing came from, since we've seen no evidence of that.

[Platonian]

It would seem, then, reasonable to conclude that Memory Alpha's assertion

The resulting electromagnetic pulse was capable of weakening the deflector shield power of a Galaxy-class starship, as well as the capability of depleting the fusion generator and batteries by as much as thirty percent in a single discharge….

can't be supported by the information available.

All we really know about the Ferengi energy weapon, as Memory Alpha noted, is:

The script described the weapon as…“an electric-wave arc [that] ripples out and back from the trailing sides.” Aside from the script, the only other clues describing this weapon include a notation in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, which described it as a “powerful plasma energy burst,” and the various Star Trek writer's guides, which state a similar description, describing “a very powerful energy/wave weapon.”

While this weapon could have some kind of energy depleting capability -- perhaps not as its primary function, but as a side effect; or perhaps its effect upon systems only gives the appearance of energy depletion -- there simply isn't enough information available to make a full assessment. Further, even if it does have such capability, it isn't sufficient to make it a useful combat weapon against front-line equipment fielded by potential adversaries. This might explain why use of this weapon has been noted only rarely.

Perhaps this weapon falls into the broad category of "a good idea that didn't quite work." In that respect, it might be like the Romulan plasma torpedo, a weapon that has limited or very specific uses:

Today the plasma torpedo is still in service with the Romulan Warbird as a heavy weapon for use against fixed installations.

although the Ferengi energy weapon seems to have less utility than the Romulan plasma torpedo.

Even the Breen energy dampener, a much more capable weapon, was defeated in a reasonable course of time. It is, then, unclear how useful a detailed analysis of the Ferengi energy weapon would have been to defeating the Breen energy dampener, even assuming a common ancestry for the two weapons.

OK, I'll write up my final report on this subject.

Thanks for your help!