Effective Anti-Borg Weapon

[Gary7]

Study dead borg drones, or the implants they removed from Locutus. Figure out what kind of frequencies the Collective uses for their Hive Mind, and try to develop a jamming device that would at least impede the Hive Mind if not disrupt it entirely and free the assimilated people on Borg ships. Put said Jammer in every deflector dish on every Fleet ship and viola, perfect anti-Borg weapon.

That's a really good idea. They do communicate on a special frequency... find out what it is and then broadcast a jamming signal, saturating their network. Not only do you cut off an attacking cube from the collective, you suddenly create a bunch of isolated Borg who become immediately disoriented by being disconnected from the hive.

 

[Anwar]

It's the Hive Mind itself that keeps the Cubes going and gives them their adaptive shield ability/regenerative power.

Notice how the renegade Borg in "Descent" couldn't adapt or regenerate any damages at all? Without the Hive Mind they somehow can't do any of that anymore.

Even if it doesn't break them free from the Collective, disrupting the Hive Mind should theoretically make them lose their regenerative power and adaptive powers. A few full power phaser shots and the impeded Cube would be history.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

The Jammer

 

[Forbin]

2 words:

Thalaron Radiation.

That could wipe out the entire collective. And I don't think the Borg would have time to adapt to it either, if you fired it at something really important.

You're a TRAITOR for divulging this information, Mr. Borg!

 

[Sisko4Life]

The best anti borg weapon for ground/shipboard combat would combine projectile weaponry with transporter/replicator treknology.

This is a transphasic torpedo. It's supposed to exist in different phases that bypass the Borg's shield grid and transport itself in the Cube before denoating, hence the transphase.

What I don't get is the inconsistency of Borg adaption.

Q,Who - Borg Cube takes 20% from a phaser blast but is absolutely impervious to multiple photon torpedo volleys.

Best of Both Worlds - Borg is impervious to all Federation conventional weapons. Period. Before and after Locutus.

First Contact - Borg Cube fights a running battle with Starfleet for some 3.5 hours. In that time, it hasn't adapted to conventional weapons at all and somehow blows up to concentrated fire on a single spot of the outer hall. Wierd?

I assumed that Borg adaptations are stored in the collective's memory. Either way, these are enormous inconsistencies that are a fundamental problem with designing the Borg as an enemy.

 

[Gary7]

Even if it doesn't break them free from the Collective, disrupting the Hive Mind should theoretically make them lose their regenerative power and adaptive powers. A few full power phaser shots and the impeded Cube would be history.

Assuming that the jamming signal would make it impossible for one Borg to communicate with another, regeneration would definitely be affected. They can't coordinate their efforts to repair anything. In TNG, we see a rather cheesy SFX shot of the cube's exterior hull repairing itself, but we don't know if that's equipment doing it automatically or Borg drones fast at work. In any case, any kind of coordination broken would certainly slow down if not impede any regeneration.


The Baryon sweep is deadly to living organisms. I wonder if a weapon could be constructed to project a baryon beam that could be fired at Borg vessels, killing anything organic that gets caught in the beam.

 

[JarodRussell]

The most effective weapon is probably water. Or Tom Jones songs.

 

[spooky spice]

The Replicators from Stargate?

 

[Captrek]

2 words:

Thalaron Radiation.

Or the original, Genesis.

 

[cwl]

The best anti borg weapon for ground/shipboard combat would combine projectile weaponry with transporter/replicator treknology.

This is a transphasic torpedo. It's supposed to exist in different phases that bypass the Borg's shield grid and transport itself in the Cube before denoating, hence the transphase.

What I don't get is the inconsistency of Borg adaption.

Q,Who - Borg Cube takes 20% from a phaser blast but is absolutely impervious to multiple photon torpedo volleys.

Best of Both Worlds - Borg is impervious to all Federation conventional weapons. Period. Before and after Locutus.

First Contact - Borg Cube fights a running battle with Starfleet for some 3.5 hours. In that time, it hasn't adapted to conventional weapons at all and somehow blows up to concentrated fire on a single spot of the outer hall. Wierd?

I assumed that Borg adaptations are stored in the collective's memory. Either way, these are enormous inconsistencies that are a fundamental problem with designing the Borg as an enemy.

yeah it's strange how drones adapt so easily to enemy weapons but the Borg ships don't adapt to the federation ship weapons.

not everything can be adapted to so easily it would seem.

 

[Captrek]

First Contact - Borg Cube ... somehow blows up to concentrated fire on a single spot of the outer hall.

That annoys me. It’s incredibly lazy writing. Destruction of the Cube was much too easy for the Picard-led fleet, and the writers showed no creativity at all. How overdone is the “Destroy the enemy by concentrating all fire on a particular spot” trope?

When the Borg are introduced in Q Who?, one of their defining characteristics is that they are not easily destroyed by such an attack. It would have been nice if the writers had at least given a nod to that by having Picard identify several targets on the Cube that had to be taken out simultaneously. That kind of attack would also have provided a legitimate reason for the dramatic pause before the command to fire. It’s far from an ingenious bit of script doctoring, but it would have been a little better than what we got.

Another problem with the way it’s presented in the film: it very much creates the impression that the battle was easy, because Picard knew of a vulnerable spot on the Borg Cube, but one has to wonder, why didn’t Picard communicate that information to Starfleet long before the encounter? It’s possible that his choice of target was determined by an assessment of the battle situation and the damage already done to the Cube, but the movie makes no hint at that.

 

[DonIago]

^Picard only knows the information because he overhears the Borg in the middle of the combat. The weak spot would not generally exist, but had been created due to damage the Borg cube sustained during the protracted battle.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

urely this whole adaption thing is a bit 'bogus' im sure that you can't adapt to everything so quickly and the things you can adapt to might be difficult or impractical.

Given all the enhanced Borg physiology and looking at how smart Seven of Nine of is and with their superior technologies, I think they can somehow manage, quite well. Seven of Nine is even smarter than your average Vulcan with lightning fast reflex, typical of Borg.

And Borg adaptation is part of the rules of the game here. Why complain about that and not other bogus technology such as transporters and warp drive?

My solution is "fight fire with fire." The Borg attack via nanoprobes, so build self-assembling nanoprobe weapons that can be piloted remotely, keeping humanoids far away from the battle. The Fed nanoprobe weapons should be able to break apart and re-assemble into anything required, from a starship to a knife.

Unless the Borg have nanoprobes that can infest other nanoprobes (how would they fit inside other nanoprobes?), they've got no advantage and it just comes down to a slugfest. With Fed replicator technology, they can produce an infinite supply of nanoprobe weapons and keep the Borg indefinitely at bay if not go on the offensive.

On second thought, the remote piloting by humanoids would be the weak link in the chain, since those communications can be disrupted. So the Fed nanoprobe weapons should also be able to function independently if communications are interrupted.

Of course that raises the possibility of Fed nanoprobes becoming sentient and getting bright ideas, but that could be an interesting story possibility of its own.

 

[Deimos Anomaly]

SF efforts have been lackluster... The Defiant was supposedly built to take on the Borg, but when it actually happened it got its ass kicked and had to be rescued by the Ent-E.

And it's doubtful if even the sovereign class would have lasted against the cube if not for the fact the fleet had already been wearing it down, and Picard could hear the Borg.

That's why I suggested a dedicated Borg cube killing dreadnought a while back.

 

[Deimos Anomaly]

urely this whole adaption thing is a bit 'bogus' im sure that you can't adapt to everything so quickly and the things you can adapt to might be difficult or impractical.

Given all the enhanced Borg physiology and looking at how smart Seven of Nine of is and with their superior technologies, I think they can somehow manage, quite well. Seven of Nine is even smarter than your average Vulcan with lightning fast reflex, typical of Borg.

And Borg adaptation is part of the rules of the game here. Why complain about that and not other bogus technology such as transporters and warp drive?

My solution is "fight fire with fire." The Borg attack via nanoprobes, so build self-assembling nanoprobe weapons that can be piloted remotely, keeping humanoids far away from the battle. The Fed nanoprobe weapons should be able to break apart and re-assemble into anything required, from a starship to a knife.

Unless the Borg have nanoprobes that can infest other nanoprobes (how would they fit inside other nanoprobes?), they've got no advantage and it just comes down to a slugfest. With Fed replicator technology, they can produce an infinite supply of nanoprobe weapons and keep the Borg indefinitely at bay if not go on the offensive.

On second thought, the remote piloting by humanoids would be the weak link in the chain, since those communications can be disrupted. So the Fed nanoprobe weapons should also be able to function independently if communications are interrupted.

Of course that raises the possibility of Fed nanoprobes becoming sentient and getting bright ideas, but that could be an interesting story possibility of its own.

That's starting to sound like a Culture combat drone you're suggesting there...

 

[Sci]

There is no weapon that can ultimately defeat the Borg. Even if you win the battle, they'll come back with something else later on that will neutralize your weapon, and they'll send as many drones and ships as cannon fodder as they need to to overwhelm your forces. That's just how it works.

As long as the Borg exist, the Federation will never be free.

 

[JarodRussell]

There is no weapon that can ultimately defeat the Borg. Even if you win the battle, they'll come back with something else later on that will neutralize your weapon, and they'll send as many drones and ships as cannon fodder as they need to to overwhelm your forces. That's just how it works.

As long as the Borg exist, the Federation will never be free.

I thought the Borg no longer exist after Destiny.

 

[Sisko4Life]

great book series, hardly cannon. For all we know the Borg don't exist past Endgame because even that was unclear...

 

[Anji]

Sounds to me like their only vulnerable spot is that they are part organic being. If there was a way to introduce an actual virus into their system, along the lines of a Black Plague, we might have a chance. Do we know that they can replicate flesh and blood as fast at they can replicate mechanical parts????

I thought they hit on the REAL solution in "I, Borg". Educate their young not to kill.

 

[Sci]

There is no weapon that can ultimately defeat the Borg. Even if you win the battle, they'll come back with something else later on that will neutralize your weapon, and they'll send as many drones and ships as cannon fodder as they need to to overwhelm your forces. That's just how it works.

As long as the Borg exist, the Federation will never be free.

I thought the Borg no longer exist after Destiny.

They don't. But that's not the point of the discussion. The point is, there's no military strategy or weapon that would ever be effective against the Borg in the long run.