Editing Defiant Class (section)

==PHASER ARRAY==

A total of four pulse Phaser cannon assemblies are located in forward-facing locations onboard Defiant-class vessels.  The cannons are located above and below the nacelle root attachments on the main body on both port and starboard sides of the ship. Due to the ship’s extreme maneuverability, yard engineers deemed it unnecessary to mount aft-facing cannons. Computer simulations also indicated an unacceptable loss in Phaser power performance due to increased strains on the power systems from the proposed aft-mounted cannons.

Pulse Phaser cannons store up their charge between 1.7 and 2.1 nanoseconds, resulting in an energy pulse more powerful then standard Type-X Phaser emitters.  Rapid fire of multiple bursts is accomplished through a direct EPS shunt from the warp reactor. If situations warrant, power can be routed from the impulse engines through a secondary plasma tap. For maximum effectiveness, all four cannons fire several bursts at the same time, resulting in a large amount of energy impacting a relatively small location. This tactic has been proven to pierce the shields of threat vessels without having to collapse the entire grid.  Maximum energy output of a pulse Phaser cannon is classified at this time.
The Maximum affective range of pulse Phaser Cannons is 150,000 kilometers.