# Star Trek: Why not just beam bombs against an enemy's shields? Ever explained? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034 "2005-11-08T14:18:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/1 "2005-11-08T14:18:10Z")
Was there ever an explanation why they didn’t just use the beaming technology to beam a photon missile against an enemy ship’s shields, instead of shooting it when it might miss? Or perhaps beam a blob of pure antimatter against the shield? Related question: how did they lose the guided missile technology we’ve had for like 50 years or so? Or were the photon missiles guided and I missed that somehow? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/2 "2005-11-08T14:21:57Z")
I’m not a Trek expert or anything, but maybe the range of a photon torpedo is much furthur than the beam-o-tron. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/3 "2005-11-08T14:46:18Z")
They didn’t do it because it would work. Can’t write a suspenseful show when your weapons work in the first five minutes rather than just before the last commercial break. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/4 "2005-11-08T15:01:15Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > They didn’t do it because it would work. Can’t write a suspenseful show when your weapons work in the first five minutes rather than just before the last commercial break. Obviously, that’s the real reason. I’m wondering in they ever wrote a technobabble reason to explain it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/5 "2005-11-08T15:02:48Z")
Ummm…because your can’t beam out through your _own_ shields? And without your own shields, the bad guys can cut you up right quick? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/6 "2005-11-08T15:05:45Z")
So shoot a portable beaming mechanism outside the shield, instead of a photon missile, and have it beam the anti-matter or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/7 "2005-11-08T15:21:19Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > So shoot a portable beaming mechanism outside the shield, instead of a photon missile, and have it beam the anti-matter or whatever. Um, why? They have torpedo launchers don’t they? Since interception and evasion of torpedoes is mostly pot luck, why go out of your way to simply beam them beside a ship. Besides which, it was awkward enough to beam an away team down to a planet from the Enterprise as it briefly slowed from warp. Having two ships tearing about at high warp manouevers would make beaming a bomb anywhere near the other ship nigh on impossible in battle. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/8 "2005-11-08T15:27:07Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Having two ships tearing about at high warp manouevers would make beaming a bomb anywhere near the other ship nigh on impossible in battle. Unless the ships are moving at the same speed. Then one ship could beam a torpedo (or whatever) into/onto/near the other ship. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/9 "2005-11-08T15:29:38Z")
You can’t beam through shields. If you try, they mess up the transporter signal and what you get on the other end is an indiscriminate blob of random mass. An attempt to beam a photon torpedo (or other antimatter-style bomb) through enemy shields would just as likely result in a ball of hydrogen-filled aluminum that would bounce harmlessly off the enemy’s hull. It is possible, though highly unrecommended, to beam through one’s own shields in the most dire of circumstances. It involves cycling one’s transporter signal to transmit through extremely brief “windows” scheduled by Engineering for this purpose. Clearly, though, the enemy is not going to create these windows for you and tell you when they are so that you can give them a present. A board full of geeks and I’m the first Trekkie to respond? Come now. We’re slacking. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/10 "2005-11-08T15:33:52Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Um, why? They have torpedo launchers don’t they? Since interception and evasion of torpedoes is mostly pot luck, why go out of your way to simply beam them beside a ship. > > Besides which, it was awkward enough to beam an away team down to a planet from the Enterprise as it briefly slowed from warp. Having two ships tearing about at high warp manouevers would make beaming a bomb anywhere near the other ship nigh on impossible in battle. Is there some message board law that every response to a Star Trek question must begin with a pretentious Comic Book Guy-like “um”? The reason to do it is that it would prevent it from being pot luck, and put the charge right on the shield. Luck=bad, guaranteeing a hit on the shield=good. And I thought they didn’t fight at warp generally. Is this not the case? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/11 "2005-11-08T15:38:39Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > You can’t beam through shields. If you try, they mess up the transporter signal and what you get on the other end is an indiscriminate blob of random mass. An attempt to beam a photon torpedo (or other antimatter-style bomb) through enemy shields would just as likely result in a ball of hydrogen-filled aluminum that would bounce harmlessly off the enemy’s hull. > > It is possible, though highly unrecommended, to beam through one’s own shields in the most dire of circumstances. It involves cycling one’s transporter signal to transmit through extremely brief “windows” scheduled by Engineering for this purpose. Clearly, though, the enemy is not going to create these windows for you and tell you when they are so that you can give them a present. > > A board full of geeks and I’m the first Trekkie to respond? Come now. We’re slacking. 😉 I was referring not to beaming charges onto the enemy ship itself, but against the ship’s shields. Seems like a better choice than trying to take down the shield by hitting it with photon missiles, since it’s a guaranteed hit instead of something that can be dodged. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/12 "2005-11-08T15:44:35Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Is there some message board law that every response to a Star Trek question must begin with a pretentious Comic Book Guy-like “um”? Uh, no, no law at all 😉 Besides, I only have one Star Trek comic 😛 > [@Revtim](#): > > The reason to do it is that it would prevent it from being pot luck, and put the charge right on the shield. Luck=bad, guaranteeing a hit on the shield=good Still would require a fair bit of skill, most transporting takes place on ships not moving at high speeds away from each other or from a ship to the surface of a planet. > [@Revtim](#): > > And I thought they didn’t fight at warp generally. Is this not the case? Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Big battles are at impulse it would seem but one on one ships prefer to go to warp. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/13 "2005-11-08T15:48:28Z")
They actually do fire out through their shields, and beam through their shields, and do a lot of other things. But, like magic, they only do it when the plot calls for it. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/14 "2005-11-08T15:54:15Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Still would require a fair bit of skill, most transporting takes place on ships not moving at high speeds away from each other or from a ship to the surface of a planet. Not sure why it would take any skill. A computer, either the one in the fired-off beaming mechanism or in the Enterprise, could calculate where the enemy ship will be in a second, and the beaming mechanism sends the charge in front of that position so the enemy runs over it, damaging the shields. We can make those position calculations now, I have no doubt. It’s just seeing where the enemy is, and extrapolating where he’ll be next at the current trajectory. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/15 "2005-11-08T16:04:46Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > We can make those position calculations now, I have no doubt. It’s just seeing where the enemy is, and extrapolating where he’ll be next at the current trajectory. We also have homing torpedos and missiles in this day and age and nuclear weaponry that is somehow many times more powerful than anti-matter warheads 😉 Beaming takes a few seconds too, as evidenced on screen. Its a nice idea but unlikely, even in the Star Trek universe 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/16 "2005-11-08T16:19:45Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Beaming takes a few seconds too, as evidenced on screen. Its a nice idea but unlikely, even in the Star Trek universe 😛 Ah, I forgot how Scotty or whoever has to dick with the sliders on the panel for a few seconds to beam somebody over. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/17 "2005-11-08T17:20:24Z")
Yeah, to recap - Beaming something anywhere during a running firefight is touchy; trying to beam something to somehow be right at the edge of a forcefield around a ship that happened to be bobbing around and fighting you is touchier. Which isn’t to say it can’t be done. Once the shields go down, we often see one ship beam a team to the other, with precision, and without too much trouble. So they do have the accuracy. However. Can the exact “border” of a shield be detected? I’m honestly not sure. And beaming things while one’s own shields are up is tricky. And beaming things tends to be slow. You can download a lot more ordnance through traditional means - plus you get the added oomph of the impact energy from the (sometimes very fast) speed of the torpedo. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/18 "2005-11-08T17:23:50Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > They actually do fire out through their shields, and beam through their shields, and do a lot of other things. But, like magic, they only do it when the plot calls for it. They’ve always been able to fire through their shields. Whenever they fire weapons, they’re firing through the shields, unless the shields have been knocked out. This is explained by giving the weapons the ability to be attuned to the ship’s own shield frequency. For details, see Star Trek : Generations, where Klingons use a spying device to get the Enterprise’s shield frequency, then fire right through its shields. ---
**Author:** ![CartesianDaemon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@CartesianDaemon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CartesianDaemon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/19 "2005-11-08T17:58:51Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > You can’t beam through shields. If you try, they mess up the transporter signal and what you get on the other end is an indiscriminate blob of random mass. An attempt to beam a photon torpedo (or other antimatter-style bomb) through enemy shields would just as likely result in a ball of hydrogen-filled aluminum that would bounce harmlessly off the enemy’s hull. Well, if you could beam antimatter through the shields, you wouldn’t care what shape it was in 😉 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034/20 "2005-11-08T18:40:22Z")
Well, we know the Khitomer Accords, among other things, specifically ban certain types of weapons, particularly subspace weapons, as too unstable and dangerous. Maybe beaming photon torpedoes is similarly banned as too unstable and too darned dirty. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-why-not-just-beam-bombs-against-an-enemys-shields-ever-explained/330034.md?page=2)