Would ion cannons affect ST ships?

kinkade0001 · **Joined:** 2004-09-11 09:58pm **Posts:** 42

Quote:

During the Dominion war Breen Energy disruptors were able to disable Federation ships, but not Klingon ships; the technology was dissimilar enough that the disruptor had no effect. Later in the war the Federation was able to modify the deflectors to prevent the Energy drain.

Not knowing how it was accomplished makes it kinda moot.

My point was that there was enough difference between two alpha quadrant systems to prevent the disruptor from working, imagine how much more difference there is between the SW systems and the Federation systems.

Duotronic (dual optronic computers) are immune to EM interference just like all optical data transition technologies (Fiber optics)

Isolder74 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-10-10 07:55pm

I'm not so sure about that.

of course the core might be safe but the interface itself might go down. Of course this does not mean that things like Phaser Banks and other systems would stay functional.

It is easy to surmise that the cannon would have similar effects to Star Trek ships as an Ion storm only more concentrated.

kinkade0001 · **Joined:** 2004-09-11 09:58pm **Posts:** 42

Isolder74 wrote:

I'm not so sure about that.

of course the core might be safe but the interface itself might go down. Of course this does not mean that things like Phaser Banks and other systems would stay functional.

It is easy to surmise that the cannon would have similar effects to Star Trek ships as an Ion storm only more concentrated.

First of all...what are the effects of an Ion Cannon on an ISD?
1: does it totally kill the ship's power?
2: does it work through shields?
3: does it work all the time?
4: aside from the ISD that was shot by a planetary Ion Cannon is ESB do we have any instances of an ISD getting shot by a Ship based Ion Cannon?

I think we need to establish just what exactly the Ion Cannon does to it's target, and how effective it is before we can attempt to guess what it might do to a Federation vessel

Isolder74 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-10-11 12:31am

kinkade0001 wrote:

Isolder74 wrote:

I'm not so sure about that.

of course the core might be safe but the interface itself might go down. Of course this does not mean that things like Phaser Banks and other systems would stay functional.

It is easy to surmise that the cannon would have similar effects to Star Trek ships as an Ion storm only more concentrated.

First of all...what are the effects of an Ion Cannon on an ISD?
1: does it totally kill the ship's power?
2: does it work through shields?
3: does it work all the time?
4: aside from the ISD that was shot by a planetary Ion Cannon is ESB do we have any instances of an ISD getting shot by a Ship based Ion Cannon?

I think we need to establish just what exactly the Ion Cannon does to it's target, and how effective it is before we can attempt to guess what it might do to a Federation vessel

1: It appears to do so yet leave lifesupport intact.
2: Yes
3: If you hit the target, yes.
4: only other istances are in the Eu where Dalla shoot a nearby Ship using an Ion cannon. she hit a ISD(I think) unsheilded and it killed the commander

kinkade0001 · **Joined:** 2004-09-11 09:58pm **Posts:** 42

Quote:

1: It appears to do so yet leave lifesupport intact.
2: Yes
3: If you hit the target, yes.
4: only other istances are in the Eu where Dalla shoot a nearby Ship using an Ion cannon. she hit a ISD(I think) unsheilded and it killed the commander

Quote:

Thankx!!

This brings up the question "why would anyone bother with TL if you can just Ion cannon an enemy ship and diable it?"

do Ion cannons work on the Vong?

Soontir C'boath · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-10-11 11:20pm

kinkade0001 wrote:

This brings up the question "why would anyone bother with TL if you can just Ion cannon an enemy ship and diable it?"

It would need to be a powerful shot such as from a planetary defender. An on-board Star Destroyer's ion cannons do not have the power as the planetary ion cannon and TLs is better to dish out an attack against the shields which the ICs are not.

Soontir C'boath · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-10-11 11:22pm

Add: Also during war, you do not want an enemy ship to survive unless they have VIP on it. Usually they don't and it is better to blast them to oblivion then allow them to repair their ship back to operational status and fight again.

Isolder74 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-10-12 12:56am

Soontir C'boath wrote:

Add: Also during war, you do not want an enemy ship to survive unless they have VIP on it. Usually they don't and it is better to blast them to oblivion then allow them to repair their ship back to operational status and fight again.

Unless of course you are planning to capture the ship in question. Otherwise your point makes perfect sense.

Trekdestroyer · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-11-06 01:17am

First of all, I am surprised by some of the theories that have been proposed here. I would never have imagined the st ship blowing up due to an ion cannon shot. I had guessed that the shields may be taken down, leaving the turbolasers to finish the job. Perhaps I am giving them too much credit saying that. :oops:

Kerneth · **Joined:** 2003-01-17 12:03am **Posts:** 523

Trekdestroyer wrote:

First of all, I am surprised by some of the theories that have been proposed here. I would never have imagined the st ship blowing up due to an ion cannon shot. I had guessed that the shields may be taken down, leaving the turbolasers to finish the job. Perhaps I am giving them too much credit saying that. :oops:

The problem, as has likely been stated, is that Starfleet vessels rely on a "structural integrity field", and use predominantly "active" safeties on their warp cores--recall that on numerous occasions, the a power loss and the possible failure of the warp field containment threatened to destroy the Enterprise-D. The failure of the former system, the structural integrity field, could cause the ship to basically fall apart at the seams, while the loss of containment with the warp core--and resulting intermix of matter/antimatter--also threatens to destroy the ship outright. The massive disruptive effects of an ion cannon could disable one or both of these systems.

DarkSilver · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-11-06 11:05pm

Kerneth wrote:

Trekdestroyer wrote:

First of all, I am surprised by some of the theories that have been proposed here. I would never have imagined the st ship blowing up due to an ion cannon shot. I had guessed that the shields may be taken down, leaving the turbolasers to finish the job. Perhaps I am giving them too much credit saying that. :oops:

The problem, as has likely been stated, is that Starfleet vessels rely on a "structural integrity field", and use predominantly "active" safeties on their warp cores--recall that on numerous occasions, the a power loss and the possible failure of the warp field containment threatened to destroy the Enterprise-D. The failure of the former system, the structural integrity field, could cause the ship to basically fall apart at the seams, while the loss of containment with the warp core--and resulting intermix of matter/antimatter--also threatens to destroy the ship outright. The massive disruptive effects of an ion cannon could disable one or both of these systems.

Federation Energy Distribution Networks are based on a Charged Plasma system for power distribution. While it proves to be unstable in a few cases (exploding bridge consoles in most ST bridges [which still makes no real sense...and why do they get back tousing those consoles almost right after the explosion anyway?] though this problem seems to have been fixed in some cases, I don't recall seeing any of the E-E's bridge consoles explode during Nemesis though I may be very well wrong)

The main question I would have, is how would a Ion Cannon's primary electrical discharging effect work on Charged Plasma, instead of the "common" Electrical systems of the SW ships?

(Note: the "Brute Force" power of the Ion Cannon's are obvious, and I'm not even getting into that part concerning the cbeams.)

The Original Nex · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-11-06 11:13pm

Quote:

do Ion cannons work on the Vong?

You bet. Sends 'em into all sorts of spasms as it messes with the the nervous system.

The Dark · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-11-07 04:20am

Isolder74 wrote:

kinkade0001 wrote:

First of all...what are the effects of an Ion Cannon on an ISD?
1: does it totally kill the ship's power?
2: does it work through shields?
3: does it work all the time?
4: aside from the ISD that was shot by a planetary Ion Cannon is ESB do we have any instances of an ISD getting shot by a Ship based Ion Cannon?

I think we need to establish just what exactly the Ion Cannon does to it's target, and how effective it is before we can attempt to guess what it might do to a Federation vessel

1: It appears to do so yet leave lifesupport intact.
2: Yes
3: If you hit the target, yes.
4: only other istances are in the Eu where Dalla shoot a nearby Ship using an Ion cannon. she hit a ISD(I think) unsheilded and it killed the commander

It also occurs in Solo Command and (IIRC) The Bacta War. I don't remember the results, though, as I haven't read the books in a couple years.

Mad · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-11-07 12:06pm

In The Bacta War, the ion cannons did not work through the shields. The sheilds were able to hold back the turbolaser and/or ion cannon fire until they collapsed, then the impacts hit the ship. In the case off ion cannon fire, the ship's systems were then disabled. And, yes, ion cannon fire alone can batter down shields.

No telling if life support was affected or not, since the ships regained power after a bit of time, probably before the available air was used up. Of course, I suppose there may also be low-power backup systems designed to activate if main power is disabled due to ion cannon attacks, though that's speculation.

If you fire a strong enough ion cannon at a small enough ship, you can physically damage or destroy it. A planetary ion cannon vaped transports in the Rogue Squadron book.

The results of ion cannon fire to an X-wing was described in Rogue Squadron, as well. An ISD's ion cannon hit Corran's X-wing, which fried circuitry and would've killed his droid had the droid not shut down prior. This suggests that ion cannon fire results in a kind of power surge in the systems that are hit.

In Wraith Squadron, a bomb that has ion-cannon like effects fused circuitry as well.

In either Iron Fist or Solo Command, near-misses from Executor-class starships Iron Fist and Razor's Kiss directed at fighters caused pilot's hairs to stand on end. So maybe some effects can penetrate the shields, but not nearly as much as a direct hit to the hull would cause.

The Dark · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-11-09 12:34am

Mad wrote:

The results of ion cannon fire to an X-wing was described in Rogue Squadron, as well. An ISD's ion cannon hit Corran's X-wing, which fried circuitry and would've killed his droid had the droid not shut down prior. This suggests that ion cannon fire results in a kind of power surge in the systems that are hit.

I thought that was a near miss, rather than a direct hit. But as I said, I haven't read the books in quite some time (and thanks for the Bacta War note, I couldn't remember that battle well at all).

Mad · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2004-11-09 01:02am

The Dark wrote:

I thought that was a near miss, rather than a direct hit. But as I said, I haven't read the books in quite some time (and thanks for the Bacta War note, I couldn't remember that battle well at all).

Well, it was a hit. The "ion blast partially caught the starboard stabilizer foils." A previous hit "battered down the X-wing's shields" first, though.

ANTIcarrot. · **Joined:** 2004-11-24 07:59am **Posts:** 8

Hmm. Let's see...

ST ships (with their super powerful engines) blow up if their power fails, but SW ships (with their ludicrously powerful engines) simply float in space if power fails?

If ion-cannons disabled *all* containment systems, then they would probably cause turbolaser capacitors to discharge violently. This didn't seem to occur in Hoth orbit.

Similar word use does not imply that the two phenomena are related. They might not be, and it's possible a Federation Starship wouldn't be touched by a ion cannon, in the same way they brush off EMPs from nukes.

ANTIcarrot.

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Would ion cannons affect ST ships?

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