Phaser cannon A phaser cannon was a type of directed energy cannon weapon , a powerful phaser bank , used by at least the , the Terran Rebellion and Species 6339 . It has been utilized as a ground vehicle mounted turret gun and an embedded starship - mounted weapon system . ( ; ; ) Ship - mounted phaser cannon . The starship - mounted Federation cannon was classified as an optronically targeted phaser . ( ) It was presumably first introduced in the starship . ( ) In the mirror universe , the " Defiant " phaser cannons were called multi - targeting phaser banks by the Klingon s . ( ) The four cannons of the " Defiant " - class were usually seen firing phaser bolts simultaneously in short rapid - fire bursts and in only one direction . The cannons could also fire beams . ( ) Against Jem ' Hadar fighter s , the combined firepower of the four phaser cannons of the " Defiant " exceeded the firepower of two wing - mounted disruptor cannon s of a Klingon Bird - of - Prey . Systems . On the " Defiant " - class the plasma conduit was run through the primary phaser coupling to almost double the power of the phaser cannons . On most Federation ships this would have significantly reduced warp drive efficiency . ( ) Phaser safeties were engaged before the weapons array was brought on - line and the phaser cannons charged to full power . ( ) When the cannons were charged , fifteen - percent plasma was bled to the phaser matrix . ( ) There was also a separate phaser generator from the emitters . ( ) There were also phaser reserves that could be emptied , for example to strengthen structural integrity . ( ) There was a thirty - inch long power cell in the phaser array on the " Defiant " - class starships that was easily used up and needed to be replaced . ( ) With extensive modifications , involving shunting the primary phaser relay through the warp drive , and bypassing the plasma emitter from the emitter coupling servos to avert an overload , phaser cannon array could be modified to emit a phaser beam wide enough to encompass an entire comet and vaporize it evenly from a distance of ten kilometers . ( ) In 2373 the throughput reading of the phaser relay on the " Defiant " was 148 . 7 . Lieutenant Commander Worf and Ensign Nog attempted to increase the relay efficiency . This process involved recalibrating the emitter stage after the interface program was initialized and prefire chamber charged . ( ) Other species phaser cannons . Species 6339 utilized phaser cannon technology . One of their vessels , commanded by Ven , encountered by the USS " Voyager " in 2375 , was found to possess 22 phaser cannons on the aft section alone . ( ) Ground vehicle - mounted phaser cannon . Starfleet ground vehicles could be equipped with a personnel - operated phaser cannon . The " Argo " shuttlecraft , attached to the , was equipped with a buggy which was armed with such a device . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The use of the term " phaser cannon " in Memory Alpha comes from the computer screen in . The name was used along with the cut - away graphic , that first appeared in the " " . ( p . 133 ) It is a common interpretation that the Federation phaser cannon was developed by Starfleet specifically as a weapon against Borg ships . According to , the " Defiant " - class was designed only for the one purpose , to fight and defeat the Borg , and it was presumably the first ship type to carry phaser cannons . The script of called the weapon a phaser . There is however no evidence of any rotating barrels or emitters . On screen , in the dialogue , the " Defiant " cannons were always called simply " phaser banks " in such episodes as , etc . or just the " phaser array " in . The four cannon simultaneous phaser volley of fifteen shots ( sixty bolts total ) was called " a standard burst " in " Destiny " . The term " phaser bolt " was used in the scripts of and . Visual effects have shown firing rates from 4 , in , to 12 rounds per second , in such episodes as and . Cannons have also also been seen firing sequentially in pairs ( first lower , then upper , . . . ) when the " Defiant " assaulted the last ships standing in its way in the Dominion fleet in . Although the impostors in displayed phaser cannons as a weapon system on , there is no evidence that phaser cannons actually were part of the armaments of the " Voyager " . The same graphic also appeared on " Voyager " s weapon manifest in the episode , but was presumably intended as a generic weapon graphic . The turret gun of the " Argo " buggy in was identified as a phaser cannon in the script of the film . 24th century phaser rifles have also been shown to have a similar phaser bolt firing capability in , etc . Though not seen on screen , the user end of the phaser cannon contained a tactical LCARS display . This was shown in the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction . According to the apocryphal " Starfleet Operations Manual " , the Tetryon pulse launcher , mentioned but not seen on screen in , was a similar hand - held version of the phaser cannon . In the first draft of the script of , the was also intended to have port and starboard batteries of rapid - fire phasers resembling gatling guns in their effect . They were able to destroy a Borg cube before the Borg ships adapted their shields to the cannons . In the " " , the " Defiant " s phaser cannons are called " pulse phasers " or " pulse phaser cannons . " The weapon combines several new technologies , such as nearly flawless emitter crystals , rapid discharge EPS capacitance banks and high - speed beam - focusing coils . The pulses are structured like a layered onion . As a result , the target contact is more difficult to disperse than a standard phaser beam . On the " Defiant " , the EPS weapon - power conduits have been truncated to provide a near zero lagtime between activation command and beam launch . ( pp . 123 , 132 , 133 ) starships were also armed with two pulse phaser cannons . ( p . 154 ) " " identifies the classification of the cannons as Type XII phasers . In the script of , when Captain is recruiting to join Starfleet , he comments on the cadets who fought with Kirk in the Shipyard Bar , that " " they ' ll run home to momma the minute they ' re looking down the barrel of a Klingon phaser cannon . " " This suggests Klingons were using phaser cannons during the mid - 23rd century of the alternate reality . Apocrypha . According to the Pocket Books novelization " " , by Diane Carey , the phaser cannon is called a triple - redundant interlocking phaser array . According to the novel " A Sea of Troubles " , the " Miranda " - class starship was upgraded with " Defiant " - class type pulse phasers . According to the novel " Gods of Night " , the starships were armed with Mark XII phaser cannons . The , a prototype starship featured in the " " calendar , also features rapid fire pulse phasers in its arsenal , according to its designer Mark Rademaker . The video game manual for " " describes the phaser cannon in great detail : According to the video game " " , the USS " Enterprise " - E was also armed with a backup auxiliary twin pulse phaser cannon that was embedded into the primary hull . The cannon turret was capable of being manually operated by personnel in EVA suits . The video game " " also describes the phaser cannon as a pulse phaser on board " Defiant " - class ships , the " Defiant " - class variant ships , ships , Federation starbases , and pulse phaser turrets . The Klingon scoutships were also armed with this weapon . According to the " Star Trek Online " video game , by the 25th century phaser cannons have become standard armament on many Starfleet ships .