| Universe : |
Prime Timeline |
| Affiliation : |
Borg |
| Class Name : |
Borg Cube |
| Type : |
General purpose assimilation and combat platform |
| Unit Run : |
Unknown; numbers estimated to be in the millions. [1] 20,000 built in total. 1,580 have been lost in all. |
| Commissioned : |
Unknown; in service since at least 2365 [2] |
| Dimensions : |
Length : 3,036 m [3]
Beam : 3,036 m [4]
Height : 3,036 m [4]
Decks : Approx 700 |
| Mass : |
90,000,000 metric tons |
| Crew : |
5,000 [4], basic crew but some examples have carried 179,000 drones [4] |
| Armament : |
, total output 7,500,000 TeraWatts
|
| Defence Systems : |
Adaptive shield system, total capacity 5,850,900 TeraJoules
Standard Automatic regeneration matrix [5] Single hull.
High level Structural Integrity Field |
Warp Speeds
(TNG scale / Transwarp) : |
Normal Cruise : 9.6 [6] (TNG Scale)
Maximum : 9.98 [6] (TNG Scale)
Max Transwarp Speed : 9.99946 [7] (TNG Scale equivalent factor)
Transwarp speeds uncertain, but believed to be at least 20 times faster than maximum speed of Galaxy class starship. [7] |
Strength Indices :
(Galaxy class = 1,000) |
Beam Firepower : 150,000
Torpedo Firepower : -
Weapon Range and Accuracy : -
Shield Strength : 2,167
Hull Armour : 272,000
Speed : 20,882
Combat Manoeuvrability : - |
| Overall Strength Index : |
61,412 |
| Diplomatic Capability : |
Generally none - specialized facilities can be constructed if required |
| Expected Hull Life : |
Unknown |
Notes
Since their very first journey into the alpha quadrant in 2364, the Borg have been an implacable threat to every species that they have encountered. [8] That first contact resulted in the destruction of two Federation Starbases and an unknown number of Romulan installations on the edge of the Neutral Zone. [9] A further contact in 2365, initiated by the Q entity, led to an unprovoked attack on the Enterprise-D by the Borg which resulted in the death of eighteen crew members and near destruction of the ship. [2] The next Borg attack on the Federation destroyed the New Providence colony and the Starship Lalo. Subsequently the battle of Wolf 359 resulted in thirty nine Starfleet vessels being destroyed with eleven thousand people killed or assimilated. [10]Subsequent encounters have been even more destructive. [11] Borg vessels generally fall into one of several types. Most are cubical, [8] with all onboard systems distributed evenly throughout the ship. [6] The entire vessel is protected by an adaptive shield system that is highly flexible and powerful; once the shields have adapted to a weapon no known force is capable of overcoming them. [6] Starfleet has attempted to shortcut this problem by designing weapons which re-tune after each discharge and these have met with some success, but even so the distribution of systems makes the vessels extremely damage resistant. [10] A Borg cube can function even if 80% of it is destroyed completely [6];
in the Typhon sector battle an entire fleet plus heavy reinforcements succeeded in inflicting damage only to the outer hull of the Borg cube despite continuous heavy attacks over a prolonged period. [11] Even if the vessels main functions fail due to extensive damage, the nanotechnology-based repair systems can continue to rebuild from a severely damaged hulk. [2] Should members of the crew escape, a single Borg is capable of establishing a collective and spreading outwards from there. [12] Borg offensive weaponry is as potent as their defensive capacity. Their standard tactic is to use a high energy tractor beam or specialist warp capable energy weapon to drain the shields and disrupt the warp field of a target vessel, then to cut it up into sections with a laser cutting beam. These sections are then taken inside the Borg vessel, where the technology is analysed and then broken down and used in the Borg ship. [2] If the vessel is thought to present a direct threat to the collective then the cutting beam or plasma weapons are used to destroy it once the shields are down. [13] Starfleet continues to field new technologies and more powerful Starships in order to overcome threats such as the Borg. [14] But given their nature it is unlikely that they can be defeated by the Federation in any military sense. Establishing some form of Diplomatic settlement also seems unlikely, but in the final analysis this may be the only realistic option.
Recent progress has been made in disrupting the operation of the collective by Captain Janeway on the USS Voyager, who managed to spark off a rebellion amongst the Borg. [15]
Colour key
References
Comments
We know a surprising amount about Borg cubes, given how infrequently we've seen them. The sizes come from the Voyager episode "Dark Frontier", in which the Hansens declare the cube they find to be 28 cubic kilometres in size, i.e. 3,036 metres on a side. Figures for the number of drones on board a cube also come direct from episodes; in "Collective" Seven of Nine says that a cube is normally run by 5,000 drones, while in "Dark Frontier" the cube the Hansens find has 129,000 lifeforms on board and later picks up another 50,000.
The warp cruise speed comes from Best of Both Worlds, where a cube proved to be at least equal to the Enterprise-D. The speed for transwarp conduits comes from "Descent" and "Endgame". The defence systems and armament have all been seen in different episodes. The rest is speculation, with the strength indicies based on what we've seen Borg cubes do to Federation fleets when they've met them.
