How did Janeway ever get a command?

[Mark]

I had a crazy thought in Voyagers defense.

If tri cobalt devices were the only thing the ship had that could destroy the array, aren't we assuming they COULD be placed on a timer? We really have no idea how they work, so for all we know, they blow several seconds after launch and activation, regardless.

[Mikey]

If it detonates at all, it's got to have some sort of fuse. In the worst case, remove the payload from the weapon and rig it with a timed fuse.

[SolkaTruesilver]

If it detonates at all, it's got to have some sort of fuse. In the worst case, remove the payload from the nuke and rig it with a timed fuse.

I think the modified quote explains why it doesn't necessarely applies to the situation.

Thing is, we don't have any idea how the Tricobalt torpedoe technology works out.

[Captain Seafort]

If it detonates at all, it's got to have some sort of fuse. In the worst case, remove the payload from the nuke and rig it with a timed fuse.

I think the modified quote explains why it doesn't necessarely applies to the situation.

No, it doesn't. In the case of a nuclear weapon, the nuke is the payload.

[Mikey]

How does changing that word express anything at all? The type of payload doesn't matter; the point is that if the weapon somehow couldn't be armed with a timed fuse, then the payload could be removed and fashioned into a time bomb - it matters little if the warhead involved is a nuke, a tricobalt device, or a handful of M80's from a roadside stand.

[Tyyr]

Given the way they can jimmy a torpedo to do almost anything they please it would be odd if they couldn't at least slightly alter the tri-cobalt's arming system.

I say this fully realizing that US warplanes can carry SLAM-ERs which can be flown around like drones after launch as well as totally unguided rockets but given that they are fired from the same launcher I'd sort of expect some commonality.

[Mark]

Given the way they can jimmy a torpedo to do almost anything they please it would be odd if they couldn't at least slightly alter the tri-cobalt's arming system.

Grated, they seem to make torps do damn near anything. But what they used is a "Tri-Cobalt Device". I can only assume they don't call it a Tri-Cobalt Torp for a reason. The only thing we know for SURE they have in common is a TCD can be deployed from a torpedo tube.

I'm not insisting I'm right, but considering that a TCD was used and not standard torps, there must have been a reason. And since we know nothing about those devices, wouldn't it be logical to wonder if an inherent reason a timer wasn't used WAS a short coming in the device?

We certainly didn't see them achieve wide spread use in any series or movie.

[Tyyr]

True, but if that was the case I'd expect a line or two about how they could set a torpedo with a timer.

"Not enough oomph, we need a tri-cobalt."
"They don't have timers, and we don't have enough time to rig one."
"I know."

[Mikey]

Given the way they can jimmy a torpedo to do almost anything they please it would be odd if they couldn't at least slightly alter the tri-cobalt's arming system.

Grated, they seem to make torps do damn near anything. But what they used is a "Tri-Cobalt Device". I can only assume they don't call it a Tri-Cobalt Torp for a reason. The only thing we know for SURE they have in common is a TCD can be deployed from a torpedo tube.

I'm not insisting I'm right, but considering that a TCD was used and not standard torps, there must have been a reason. And since we know nothing about those devices, wouldn't it be logical to wonder if an inherent reason a timer wasn't used WAS a short coming in the device?

We certainly didn't see them achieve wide spread use in any series or movie.

That's what I mean - if for some arcane reason a typical tri-cobalt device can't have a timed fuse, then just take out the tri-cobalt bit and use it as the business end of a time bomb.

[Mark]

IIRC, weren't they a bit pressed for time?

[Captain Seafort]

IIRC, weren't they a bit pressed for time?

Not really. The Pred had been dealt with and they had the other two seriously outgunned.

[Tsukiyumi]

There were "reinforcements" on the way (according to the Kazon, at least), but I don't recall how close they were supposed to be.

[Atekimogus]

Do we have any production notes or background info as to why they fired this "Tri-cobalt-devices"? It wouldn't be canon but I would find it interesting knowing the thought behind naming it differently. Were they planning on introducing a new weapon system for the Intrepids? What was the reasoning behind it?

For all intents and purposes one single photon torpedo would have done the same job. (No big stretch at all imho if we consider that during the first few seasons of TNG a single torpedo was deemed enough to finish of an unshielded E-D or that only the feedback of a torpedo against a cube could be enough to blow her up. Sure, they went from scary balls of certain death to mere missles in time and the E-D swallowed probably a dozen unshielded before succumbing to Trois piloting skills, yet the point remains that it could have just as well only been the next mark of photon torpedoes.)

Incedently it is also what bugs me a bit with quantum torpedoes, only given the visual evidence there is no difference at all. Photons also glowed white during certain eras. As long as they didn't even state in a short comment why they use a new weaponsystem at all, even more so if it behaves exactly as the previous one, I find it rather lame to throw around fancy names with no meaning at all.

[Mikey]

We can only presume that QT's are meant to be some sort of advancement over PT's. I don't think tri-cobalt devices are a new development rather than a specialized tool... weren't they mentioned as early as TOS:"The Corbomite Maneuver?"

[Captain Seafort]

We can only presume that QT's are meant to be some sort of advancement over PT's. I don't think tri-cobalt devices are a new development rather than a specialized tool... weren't they mentioned as early as TOS:"The Corbomite Maneuver?"

It was A Taste of Armageddon. I think it's been speculated that TCDs are high-yield subspace weapons with limited accuracy, and are therefore limited to targets that are either stationary (as with the Array and DS9 in Call to Arms) or moving in a predictable manner (as with the E-nil in AToA and Voyager in Blink of an Eye).

As for QTs, while there doesn't appear to be any noticeable improvement in firepower over PTs, improvements in ECCM, target acquisition and tracking, shield penetration, etc, wouldn't be immediately apparent.