Type: Torpedo
Associated With: Pulse-Fire Torpedo Launcher
The quantum torpedo consistes of a pressure-molded shell of densified tritanium and duranium foam, trapezoidal in cross section and tapered at the forward end for atmospheric applications. A 7 millimeter layer of plasma-bonded terminium ceramic forms an ablative armour skin for the foam hull, over which is bonded a 0.12 millimeter coating of silicon-copper-yttrium rigid polymer as an antiradiation coating. Beyond the necessary cuts and welds for propulsion and warhead hardware installation, minimal penetrations are made by phaser cutters, so that the hull may be rendered as near to EM-silent as is technologically possible. All seals around extended components are treated with a suspension of forced-matrix ferrenimide, which establishes a minute amount of dounetic field activity, effectively blocking EM leakage. All active and passive sensor pulses are channeled through machined cavities in the inner hull at approximately 26 centimeter intervals in all three axes.
The heart of the current system is the zero-point field reaction chamber, a teardrop-shaped enclosure fabricated from a single crystal of directionally strengthened rodinium-ditellenite. the chamber measures 0.76 meters in diameter by 1.38 meters in length and 2.3 centimeters in average thickness. The assembly is penetrated by a single opening in the tapered end, cut by a nanometer phaser in an inert atmosphere of argon and neon. Two jacketing layers, one of synthetic neutronium and another of dilithium, control the upper and lower extremes of the energy-field contours. Attached to the taper opening is a zero-point initator consisting of an EM rectifier, waveguide bundle, subspace field amplifier and continuum distortion emitter. The emitter creates the actual pinch field from a conical spike 10(-16) meters across at the tip.
The zero-point initiator is powered by the detonation of an uprated photon torpedo warhead with the yield of 21.8 isotons, achieved through increased matter-antimatter surface area contact and introduction of fluoronetic vapor. The M/A reaction occurs at four times the rate of a standard warhead. The detonation energy is channeled through the initator within 10(-7) seconds and energizes the emitter, which imparts a tension force upon the vacuum domain. As the vacuum membrane expandes, over a period of 10(-4) seconds, an energy potential equivalent to at least 50 isotons is created. This energy is held by the chamber for 10(-8) seconds and is then released by the controlled failure of the chamber wall.