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Deck 16F Fighter Training and tactics

In 2366, the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D was on a mission to Orelious IX, to cart the battle that the Menthars and Promellians had fought to their mutual extinction 1,000 years ago.  On arrival, the Enterprise encountered another ship, the Promellian battle cruiser Cleponji, and became enmeshed in the same booby trap that stranded the ancient vessel.

The Enterprise found itself surrounded by a field of hundreds of thousands of aceton assimilators that were concealed within the asteroids.  These were primitive generators designed for the purpose of draining power from a remote source, such as an invading ship, and then converting the energy into lethal radiation.

Captain Picard and his crew were unable to pull the Enterprise free as the aceton assimilators drained the ship's propulsion power, and used it to generate increasingly dangerous amounts of radiation which the deteriorating Enterprise's  shields were struggling to compensate against.

A thorough examination of the final logs of Galek Sar, the Promellian captain, offered little clue as to how the extricate themselves from the predicament.

Eventually a plan was devised whereby the Enterprise's phasers were fired at suspected weak areas of the field, but this only served to drain the ship's power further, and increased the radiation bombardment.

The next plan was to use the impulse engines for a quick blast to beat the ship's inertia, then shut everything down except minimal life support and use the thrusters to maneuver out of the asteroid field.

Geordi LaForge initially suggested turning over navigational control of the ship to the computer because it could make adjustments faster than a human, but after running computer simulations he realized that it wasn't fast enough to compensate for all the variables involved.  He therefore decided that their chances of success should be better if the operated everything manually.

The more experienced Picard took the helm controls from Ensign Wesley Crusher, and the crew were warned to brace for any sudden movement as the inertial dampeners were on manual.  Picard then fired the impulse engines enough to move the Enterprise forward.

Thruster power

Picard selected his course carefully through the asteroid field using the ship's thrusters, but the gravitational attraction of the various asteroids reduced the speed of the Enterprise's velocity by eight percent; Data calculated that the Enterprise no longer possessed sufficient momentum to clear the debris field, so Picard fired the port thruster, taking a heading at the largest asteroid.

Slingshot

The gravity of this asteroid drew the Enterprise closer and closer, and in so doing increased the velocity of the ship.  In order to prevent the Enterprise from colliding with the asteroid Picard fired the starboard thruster, which caused the ship to whip around it.  He then sent the Enterprise on a new heading to a location situated outside the debris field.

Once safely clear, Picard ordered the destruction of the Promellian vessel.  Riker called for a full spread of photon torpedoes to be fired and destroyed the entire asteroid field.  It was thanks to Picard's experience as a captain, and his ability to exert good judgment in a crisis, that the crew of the Enterprise was saved from a life threatening situation.

Maquis Play Dead

When the U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656 entered a war zone between the Numiri and the Baneans in 2371, it attempted to avoid becoming involved as it did not wish to appear partial to either side of the conflict.

Unprovoked attack

Voyager's neutral position was nearly compromised when it became the target of an unprovoked act of aggression by the Numiri.  However, rather than destroy the vastly inferior vessels, Commander Chakotay advised employing the 'play dead' maneuver.  This tactic is used to lure enemy vessels into close range where they can either be disabled more easily or destroyed.  It is not exclusively a Maquis tactic, although it was widely used by them.

Commander Chakotay told Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres to blow out the dorsal phase emitter, and then vent a pair of L-N-Two exhaust conduits along the dorsal emitters.  This had the effect of making it seem as if Voyager had been seriously damaged by the Numiri vessels.

The final element of this maneuver was to take all engines offline, making it appear that Voyager was helpless.  From the Numiri's perspective it appeared that Voyager was in serious trouble by the nitrogen emissions billowing from it.

Numiri outwitted

Falling for a ruse that had also tricked many Starfleet vessels, the two enemy warships began to close in on Voyager.  Chakotay, however, anticipated this response, and immediately ordered Voyager's phasers to lock on to the two Numiri warship' navigational deflectors.

When the Numiri vessels closed to with 1,500 kilometers of 'sitting duck,' they engaged their tractor beams.  Chakotay used this opportunity to fire Voyager's phasers, and he instructed Torres to engage the impulse engines.

In a single motion, Voyager's phasers blasted the two Numiri vessels, destroying their navigational deflectors and disabling them while using full impulse power to secure its escape.

In this way, Chakotay managed to extricate Voyager from a hostile threat without taking lives or adversely affecting the balance of power between the two warring factions in the sector.

Picard Maneuver

The Picard Maneuver is named after Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who devised it while he was in command of the U.S.S. Stargazer NCC-2893.

It was while crossing the Zeta Maxia star system in 2355 that the Stargazer was attacked without warning by a Ferengi Marauder vessel.  In this combat situation Picard was present with a number of options; he could have launched a frontal attack, but this was risky since his ship was already badly damaged by his adversary's powerful plasma weapons.  The alternative was to retreat, but Picard realized that the increased maneuverability afforded Constellation-class ships by their additional warp nacelles gave him a tactical advantage.  The Stargazer's sensor scans also revealed a chink in the enemy's armor; the Ferengi Marauder appeared no to have the ability to detect objects moving at faster-than-light speeds.

Multiplying ships

The Stargazer was positioned about nine million kilometers from the attacking vessel, and since light travels at roughly 300,000 kilometers per second, Picard calculated that it would take at least 30 seconds for the light generated by his ship to traverse the distance between them; the image seen aboard the Ferengi vessel was therefore always 30 seconds old.  The Stargazer engaged its warp drive and accelerated faster than light, but because of the enemy's sensor deficiency they would not be able to see the Federation ship's moving for another 30 seconds.  After 15 seconds the Stargazer had moved within firing range, and because of its proximity to the Ferengi Marauder the light from its current position reached the enemy while the light from its old position was still en route, and so to the Ferengi, it appeared to be in two places at once.  In effect, the enemy vessel saw a second Stargazer appear, while the first seemed to remain in its original position.

The Ferengi Marauder never witnessed the warp jump of the Stargazer vessel as, less than 20 seconds into the maneuver, it was destroyed from point blank range by the Federation vessel.  This tactic was so effective that it became required reading for students at Starfleet Academy.

Riker Maneuver

Commander William Riker found himself in a difficult position in 2375 during a hostile encounter with superior Son'a forces in the hazardous Briar Patch.  

Riker was in command of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E after Captain Picard had remained behind of the Ba'ku world to help its population resist forced relocation.  Riker was on his way to inform the Federation Council of the threat posed to the Ba'ku when he was intercepted by two Son'a ships.  The Son'a fired on the Enterprise, and also created a subspace team in the surrounding space using isolytic weaponry that had been banned under the Second Khitomer Accord.

The only way the Enterprise could be saved was by ejecting the warp core, which was attracting the subspace tear like a magnet.  Riker was left stranded in the Briar Patch with only impulse engines and failing shields.

No more running

Fortunately, Riker noticed highly volatile pockets of metreon gas near the ship, and ordered that the Bussard ramscoop be deployed to collect it with the intention of "[shoving] it down the Son'a's throats."

Riker placed the ship on manual control and navigated the ship via a joystick.  He ordered that the metreon gas be vented towards the Son'a and when the Son'a fired it ignited the gas, catching the Son'a ships in the explosion.  Riker's impressive display of tactical awareness led Geordi La Forge to label his actions as the 'Riker Maneuver.'

Tuvok's Antimatter Manuever

In 2372, Tuvok used an antimatter maneuver against the Vidiians when he was acting captain of the U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656.

For nearly three months, Tuvok had overcome the difficulties of commanding an emotional crew, who were understandably troubled after they had been forced to abandon Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay on an unexplored planet, where the two senior officers had been infected by an incurable viral toxin.

Meeting the enemy

Acting against Janeway's last direct orders, Tuvok was finally persuaded by the crew to request medical assistance from the Vidiians, a species that has superior medical technology which they developed in an effort to cure a disease known as the phage that attacks their genetic codes and cellular structures.

Voyager's previous encounter with the Vidiians were anything but friendly.  During one of these encounters Neelix's lungs were forcibly removed by an advanced Vidiian transplantation technique, so Tuvok's initial reluctance to negotiate with the Vidiians was understandable.  However, the crew had helped save the life of the Vidiian Denara Pel, who believed she had persuaded her people to help them.

Under attack

However, when Voyager arrived at the rendezvous point, it was caught in a Vidiian ambush.  Tuvok responded to the threat will all Voyager's weaponry, but it soon became clear that the Starfleet vessel was not powerful enough to repel the threat.

With the shields gradually failing under the Vidiian bombardment, Tuvok's logical Vulcan mind and his advanced Starfleet tactical training proved their value when he devised an alternate battle plan.

Tuvok's tactics required split-second timing if they were to be successful.  He ordered engineering to create and then deploy a container of antimatter in the path of the pursuing Vidiian vessels.  Once the container had reached a sufficient distance from Voyager, but was still in proximity to the Vidiian ships, Tuvok ordered Ensign Kim to fire upon it with a photon torpedo.

The resulting explosion generated a far greater explosive yield than a standard torpedo.  At the exact moment the antimatter was detonated, Paris was ordered to bring the ship to full impulse so that it avoided the full brunt of the explosion.

Out of danger

The massive shockwave generated by the antimatter explosion disabled the Vidiian vessels.  Voyager avoided major damage by anticipating the explosion and riding the shockwave, leaving Tuvok and his crew free to jump to warp and leave their ambushers far behind.

Wargame Exercises

In response to the threat posed by the Borg, Starfleet initiated a series of training exercises in 2365 to test the command abilities and combat acumen of its officers.

As part of the battle simulations, Captain Picard remained in charge of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, while Commander Riker was given command of the U.S.S. Hathaway NCC-2593, a crumbling 80-year-old starcruiser powered only by impulse Avidyne engines.

Tactical strategies

Riker was given just 48 hours to make the Hathaway battle-ready.  With the help of 40 Enterprise crew members, including Geordi La Forge, Worf, and the teenaged Wesley Crusher, Riker began making his preparations.

Despite the Enterprise's significant advantage over the Hathaway Picard refused to underestimate his opponent's capabilities, and this was confirmed by Data, who concluded, after having researched Riker's combat tactics, that the first officer only employed traditional strategies 21 percent of the time.

For the purposes of the exercise all weapons were offline and the battle was to be fought with special light beams that sensors translated into simulated damage.

Initially, Riker countered Picard's traditional opening Kumeh maneuver by sending false information to the Enterprise's sensors.  On the Enterprise's main viewer, Picard saw a decloaking Romulan warship swooping in with deadly intent.  This distraction gave the lumbering Hathaway a chance to register a series of hits on the Enterprise before Picard realized he'd been tricked.

Faked destruction

Wesley had sneaked a small amount of antimatter aboard the Hathaway, and this gave the ship the ability to reach warp one for less that two seconds.  Riker planned to surprise the Enterprise with this capability at the most expedient moment.

Unfortunately, the games were interrupted by an attacking Ferengi ship intent on capturing the Hathaway to make a profit.  Both Starfleet vessels still had their phaser systems offline, leaving them at the mercy of the scavenging Ferengi.

In order to avoid capture, the Enterprise fired two functioning torpedoes at the Hathaway just as the old ship made a warp jump sidestep.  The Ferengi saw the explosion and were fooled into thinking that the Enterprise had chosen to destroy the Hathaway rather than see it captured.  The Hathaway followed up by sending false readings to the Ferengi craft.  When sensors appeared to reveal several Starfleet craft heading their way, the Ferengi quickly fled.