Borg Sphere - Specs

Universe :	Prime Timeline
Affiliation :	Borg
Class Name :	Borg Sphere
Type :	Various configurations possible
Unit Run :	Unknown 50,000 built in total. 228 have been lost in all.
Commissioned :	Unknown - likely built as needed
Dimensions :	Diameter : 600 m [1] Decks : 160
Mass :	5,070,000 metric tons
Crew :	11,000 [2]
Armament :	, total output 50,000 TeraWatts 1 x Low power plasma [3] launcher
Defence Systems :	Adaptive shield system, total capacity 675,000 TeraJoules Standard Automatic regeneration matrix Single hull. High level Structural Integrity Field
Warp Speeds (TNG scale / Transwarp) :	Equipped with transwarp drive, top speed unknown [4]
Strength Indices : (Galaxy class = 1,000)	Beam Firepower : 1,000 Torpedo Firepower : 2 Weapon Range and Accuracy : - Shield Strength : 250 Hull Armour : 272,000 Speed : - Combat Manoeuvrability : 1,290
Overall Strength Index :	18,909
Diplomatic Capability :	Generally none - specialized facilities can be constructed if required
Expected Hull Life :	Unknown

Notes

The Borg sphere was first seen in action by the Federation during the Sector 001 battle. The last act of the Borg cube destroyed in that battle was to launch a sphere which generated a temporal vortex, allowing it to travel into the year 2063 in order to prevent the formation of the Federation.

The Sovereign class Enterprise-E followed the sphere through the vortex, and observed it firing some form of low yield weapon on Earth. The Enterprise fired a volley of quantum torpedoes at the ship and succeeded in destroying it, although some Borg drones where able to beam aboard the Enterprise and begin assimilating it. [3] The wreckage of the sphere crashlanded on Earth, where it lay undiscovered in a polar region until 2153, when a survey vessel investigating the site revived one of the Drones. The Drone subsequently assimilated the survey team and attempted to return to Borg space. Fortunately the ship was destroyed by the NX-01 during the journey. [5]

Subsequent to this, USS Voyager has encountered spheres on several occasions. [6] The crew of Voyager stole a transwarp coil from a tactical sphere to assist in their attempt to reach home, [4] and were nearly assimilated by another sphere in 2375. [7] During the ship's trip back to the alpha quadrant through a transwarp conduit, Voyager was captured by a sphere which it subsequently destroyed from within. [8]

The spheres appear to be smaller more numerous vessels than the dreaded Borg cubes. It is possible that they are built in various specialist configurations, but given the nature of the Borg it is more likely that the spheres are able to quickly adapt themselves to whatever mission is to hand. The relatively limited armament and defensive capability of the spheres suggest that at least some are normally configured for more scientific or scouting roles. [3] The data above reflect Starfleet projections of a normal sphere's combat capability, and are highly speculative.

The arrival home of USS Voyager with its ex-Borg crewmember, Seven of Nine, has likely provided a bonanza of information concerning the collective. [6] For the moment Starfleet is not releasing any new information it might have.

Colour key

References

#	Series	Season	Source	Comment
1	ENT	2	Regeneration	Stated in the episode and confirmed with comparison to the 344 metre USS Voyager in 'One'.
2	VOY	7	Unimatrix Zero, Part 2
3			Star Trek : First Contact
4	VOY	5	Dark Frontier, Part 1
5	ENT	2	Regeneration
6			Various Voyager episodes
7	VOY	5	Drone
8	VOY	7	Endgame, Part 2

Comments

My take on the whole sector 001 thing is that the Borg only decided to go into the past in the few seconds before their ship was destroyed - otherwise, why not go into the past before they ever got to federation space and so avoid having the Enterprise-E tag along? So I guess that the sphere seen in the movie must have been some sort of scout/probe type vessel hastily modified at the last moment.

In a subsequent appearance in "Dark Frontier" one of these vessels was labelled as a "tactical sphere"; this episode establishes that Voyager could not realistically hope to engage such a sphere one to one, and that the vessels are equipped with a transwarp drive system.

It's possible that the Borg operate several different types of sphere, much as the Federation operates different types of Starship, but given the nature of the Borg it seems more likely that any given sphere could be modified to fit any role. Given this it's quite possible that two different spheres would have widely different capabilities according to whatever they had assimilated or adapted to recently.

The size of the sphere was originally somewhat guesswork, based on visual comparisons in a couple of episodes. Fortunately the Enterprise episode "Regeneration" gave a figure of 600 metres for the sphere, which amazingly enough was exactly what I had guessed!

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Last updated : 24 Jul 2005

Series :	ENT Season 2
Episode :	Regeneration
Comment :	Stated in the episode and confirmed with comparison to the 344 metre USS Voyager in 'One'.

Series :	VOY Season 7
Episode :	Unimatrix Zero, Part 2

Series :	VOY Season 5
Episode :	Dark Frontier, Part 1

Series :	ENT Season 2
Episode :	Regeneration

Series :	VOY Season
Episode :	Various Voyager episodes