A 24th century Cardassian disruptor.
A Cardassian disruptor, also known as a Spiral-wave disruptor, is a type of disruptor weapon technology employed by the Cardassian Union.
History and specifics[]
The evolution of Cardassian disruptors tend to differ from the disruptors used by other races and cultures, some Cardassian variants are referred to as spiral-wave disruptors and phase disruptors, the latter of which refers to the seeming incorporation of some facets of phaser technology in their construction.
These weapons are available to the Cardassians as hand-held weapons such as disruptor pistols or disruptor rifles, as well as larger disruptor arrays and disruptor cannons used in starships, vehicles, planetary outposts and space stations. (DS9 reference: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual)
The Galor-class starships spiral-wave disruptor mounts on their hull are pyramidal and conial in shape. On the "head" of the ship, there are two heavy spiral-wave disruptor mounts on both left and right sides, and a small light spiral wave disruptor mounted ontop of the bridge. The navigation dish houses three heavy/mega spiral-wave disruptor arrays and cannons that are capable of firing in both beam and pulse mode. The center battery fires in beam mode and the bottom battery fires pulses. (TNG episode: "Ensign Ro")
- It is unknown what the top battery fires since it was never seen firing on screen.
The wings had 5 smaller pyramidal mounts on each side, totaling 10 medium spiral-wave disruptor batteries. On top of the engineering section of the hull, there are two tiny spiral-wave diruptor mini guns and two slightly larger light spiral-wave disruptors defending the housing for the warp core. On the bottom of the hull, just before the "tail" section, there are two heavy spiral-wave disruptor mounts depicted on schematic pictures of the vessel — one on the port side and one on the starboard side. On the tail, there are two heavy spiral-wave disruptors, one dorsal, on top of the "fork", and one ventral. This adds up to a total of 25 spiral-wave disruptor weapon systems on board the Galor. (TNG episode: "Preemptive Strike"; VOY episode: "Caretaker"; DS9 episode: "What You Leave Behind")
- The "fork" possibly houses a "mega" spiral-wave disruptor that is discharged from the dish within the fork, and then directed by the prongs near the end of the fork — no references available to support this theory. It is assumed from on screen captures that the light spiral-wave disruptors and the mini guns are for close proximity, anti-fighter, and possibly anti-torpedo defense purposes only.
In 2369, during the withdrawal from the Occupation of Bajor, a Cardassian gul (see unnamed Cardassians) was frustrated because his hand disruptor would be useless to excavate a temporal device found embedded in the wall of a uridium mining operation. He later used the disruptor to collapse the cavern it was in, hoping that Cardassians could someday return to claim the device. (DS9 comic: "No Time Like the Present")
Iliana Ghemor's mercenaries obtained several spiral-wave disruptors following the Dominion War. A Besinian freighter was equipped with the weapons. (DS9 - Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel: Bajor: Fragments and Omens)
Appendices[]
External link[]
- Cardassian disruptor article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.