Photon torpedo Photon torpedoes were warp - capable tactical matter / antimatter weapon s commonly deployed aboard starship s and starbase s by various organizations . Photon torpedoes , often abbreviated as " photon s " , were called Pu ' DaH dak cha in Klingonese . ( , etc . ; ) History . Klingon s began using photon torpedoes by at least the mid - 22nd century . They used them extensively on board scout s , D5 class battle cruiser s , and Birds - of - Prey . In comparison , during that same period , Earth ' s Starfleet was still employing the spatial torpedo , although they soon upgraded to photonic torpedo es , the precursors to the photon torpedo . ( ) Starfleet vessels , operated by the United Federation of Planets , began using photon torpedoes by at least 2233 . ( ) The 24th century saw the deployment of an improved type of ordnance in the year 2371 : the quantum torpedo . Nonetheless , photons continued to be utilized along with the new quantum torpedoes by such starships as the . ( ; ) Overview . The components of a Federation photon torpedo were contained within an elongated elliptical casing , also known as a photon tube . The weapon was armed with a photon warhead . The warhead had a detonation chamber filled with antimatter . Upon detonation the torpedo created a matter - antimatter explosion and a flood of ion radiation . ( , ; ; ; ) In 2367 , the range of Federation photon torpedoes was slightly below 300 , 000 kilometers . ( ) When launched , Federation photon torpedoes expelled plasma exhaust into the torpedo tube . ( ) Federation photon torpedoes had a subspace detonator . It could be activated remotely to abort a torpedo that had been launched . The detonator destroyed the torpedo before impact . ( ) In 2368 , Federation photon torpedo warhead yields had at least 16 preset levels . An explosion powerful enough to disrupt a soliton wave could be created with five torpedoes set to level 16 . ( ) According to the Kyrian curator , a photon torpedo with a 25 isoton yield could destroy an entire city within seconds . ( ) When fired by a starship without shields at a target in close range , a single photon detonation had a high probability of destroying the firing ship as well . In 2365 , the unshielded was destroyed with a single photon torpedo hit . The stayed at a distance of forty kilometers . ( ; ) In 2367 , if a photon torpedo was fired by a " Galaxy " - class starship with shields , at a target in close range , the torpedo explosion could cripple the firing ship . When shield strength was increased three hundred percent , the ship remained undamaged when a full spread of maximum yield torpedoes was detonated at close range . ( ) Torpedoes used by the Federation in 2365 could burrow through the surface of a planet intact . By 2367 , the shields of a torpedo could protect it for several seconds , during which the torpedo entered a sun and burrowed into its stellar core . The torpedo flight engine used reactants carried on board for power . Klingon and Federation photon torpedoes had a frequency , related to that of its target ' s deflector shield frequency modulation , measured in megahertz . When both were matched torpedoes could penetrate the shields of the target starship . ( ; ; ) Antimatter charge s were a type of low - yield weapon system that could be upgraded into photon torpedoes . In 2365 , Geordi La Forge increased the size of the charges on the Pakled ship " Mondor " and turned the Pakled weapons into photon torpedoes . ( ) With thoron field s and duranium shadow s false sensor readings of photon torpedoes could be created to fool enemy ships . ( ) In 2370 , Quark arranged the sale of two hundred Pygorian photon torpedoes , among other items , to the Maquis through their gun runner Sakonna . ( ) Federation photon torpedo types . starships carried an inventory of Mark VI torpedoes with terminium casings in 2285 , and Mark VII photon torpedoes in 2293 . At least the Mark VII torpedoes could not be programmed to fire themselves without a torpedo launcher . ( ; ; ) In 2370 , " Galaxy " - class ships received a weapons upgrade that increased the explosive yield of photon torpedoes by eleven percent . Later that year , photon warhead s used on Deep Space 9 were labeled as " Pho - torp Mark IV components " . ( ; ) The " Voyager " also carried class - 9 and class - 10 photon torpedoes . Qatai believed that the explosive charge of one class - 9 torpedo could have destroyed the gigantic " telepathic pitcher plant " bioplasmic organism , if it was detonated deep within its digestive tract . ( ) The class - 10 torpedoes could be armed with even more powerful high yield warheads . ( ) The computer screen of the class - 9 torpedo interior was used by the impostors in 2376 , to identify it as a standard issue torpedo of USS " Voyager " , classified as Mark XXV . ( ) In 2258 , the of the alternate reality carried smaller cylindrical photon torpedoes . Six could be simultaneously loaded in to a launcher . ( ) A year later , the " Enterprise " was retrofitted with additional larger torpedo tubes along the secondary hull for prototype advanced long - range torpedo es . These torpedoes were designed to be undetectable to sensors . ( ) Background information . Establishing photon torpedoes . Photon torpedoes were introduced fairly late into the first season of . They made their on - screen debut in the 19th episode of the series , . Before that , when the fired shots that looked like globular bursts , they were identified in dialogue as proximity blast s from the phasers , as in . In fact , the early writer ' s guide , " The Star Trek Guide " , made no mention of the ship having photon torpedo armaments . The sound of the proximity blasts ( and subsequently the photon torpedoes ) firing was that of the " skeleton beam " from the 1953 film . The reference book " The Making of Star Trek " ( p . 194 ) , gave this early description of the photon torpedo : " " . . . photon torpedoes , which are energy pods of matter and anti - matter contained and held temporarily separated in a magno - photon force field . These can be used as torpedoes or depth charges , and can be set with electrochemical , proximity , and a variety of other fuses . Photon torpedoes can be fired directly at a target , laid out as a minefield , or scattered in an attacker ' s path as depth charges . " " However , the earlier episode seemed to contradict the whole notion that there was antimatter in these photon torpedoes . In the story , the " Enterprise " crew attempt to destroy the Dikironium cloud creature by exploding photon torpedoes inside it , when that had no effect , they turn to the most powerful weapon available at that time : an ounce of antimatter to produce a matter - antimatter blast to destroy the creature . The idea that the photon torpedoes themselves had physical missile - like casing was never confirmed on screen during " The Original Series " . The idea of distinct " launchers " ( or " tubes " ) for the torpedoes was first introduced in the second season episode , , as " torpedo number 2 " was fired instead of just a " torpedo bank being discharged " . Even as late as , Andrew Probert did not envision the photon torpedo to be a capsule , as he says in his 2005 Trekplace interview : " " I envisioned them as what we saw during the TV era , they were glowing globs of plasma or some sort of energy . They weren ' t giant capsules . I envision them as big , glowy , dangerous blobs of . . . scariness . " " Photon torpedoes were definitely weapons with physical missile casings by the time of the feature film . Furthermore , the special effect of a torpedo launched with a warhead and one launched as a coffin was completely different in the film . The first on - screen connection between photon torpedoes and antimatter came in , in the second season episode of and it was not established until , in the fourth season episode , that photon torpedoes had in fact deflector shield s of their own . While photon torpedoes made their first appearance in " Arena " , set in the year 2267 , the earliest on - screen use of photon torpedoes by a Starfleet vessel was depicted in the film , , when the defended itself from torpedoes fired by the " Narada " with phasers and a rapid - fire barrage of photon torpedoes , in a scene set in the year 2233 . " Kelvin " s blue bolts were not identified in the dialogue of the film , but were identified in the script as photons . It was also established in the episode of that the photon torpedo was in fact not an original Federation invention , but had in fact been used before by such races as the Klingon s as far back as the 22nd century . " Technical Manuals " . " Mr . Scott ' s Guide to the Enterprise " . While the " Technical Manual " s and " Guide " s themselves are not canon , they are Memory Alpha .