How does "target shield generators" work?

[Luckyflux]

I've heard this from time to time and seen it on screen, where they shoot at the ship and disable their shields, or propulsion, or even the enemy ships' weapons...

But how does it work? If those systems are protected by the shields themselves, then how can you target it?

It is that maybe the energy burst happens so close to those systems that they become overloaded? Or are the shields weakened by some initial phaser fire, and then the last couple of shots "get through" somehow and detroy the generators? Or is a writers technique to tell the story?

It is just something that has bugged me for awhile.

 

[Ghel]

I assumed that it would happen once the shields were weakened enough for the shot to get through.

Destroying the shield generators would physically destroy the equipment but leave the rest of the ship relatively unharmed, as compared to say, targeting the warp core. . .

 

[captcalhoun]

perhaps the shields are weakest over the generators...?

 

[Skywalker]

And shouldn't the shield generators, and every other major system, be buried so far inside the ship that it would take more than one shot to punch through the shields and the hull to destroy them?

 

[CoveTom]

^ One would think. But then again, one would also think that you'd place your command crew in a similarly fortified location, and not in a dome at the top of the ship which, if shields fail, is an easy target.

 

[STIntergalactic]

I don't want to play mini-Mod here, but I think this may be best suited for Trek Tech.

On topic, though, when do they even start the whole "Target this or that" stuff? It's something I always associate with VOY and then ENT. I could be wrong, but it seems that before VOY, you just fired at the ship itself and not any specific part of it.

 

[C.E. Evans]

To me, I thought it was a case that shield generators give off a specific energy signature that's fairly easy to pinpoint with sensors. If there's a concentration of that signature from one area of the vessel, that's likely where the generators are.

I think if you keep pounding away at a specific area of a ship--even one that is shielded--eventually you'll break through and inflict some serious damage there. It would be the same as targeting a ship's warp nacelle or bridge, IMO. The shields can only dissipate so much phaser or disruptor energy before they're overwhelmed...

 

[erastus25]

SantaKirk said:
I don't want to play mini-Mod here, but I think this may be best suited for Trek Tech.

On topic, though, when do they even start the whole "Target this or that" stuff? It's something I always associate with VOY and then ENT. I could be wrong, but it seems that before VOY, you just fired at the ship itself and not any specific part of it.

I can recall targeting of weapons in early TNG.

 

[Velocity]

SantaKirk said:
I don't want to play mini-Mod here, but I think this may be best suited for Trek Tech.

On topic, though, when do they even start the whole "Target this or that" stuff? It's something I always associate with VOY and then ENT. I could be wrong, but it seems that before VOY, you just fired at the ship itself and not any specific part of it.

It started when political correctness decreed that it was nicer to shoot to disable the ship instead of shooting to blow it and the crew to smithereens.

 

[JD]

I always assumed they only did when the sheilds were either weak or down completely so that the shot could get through. Even if the sheilds are down you would probaly still want to destroy the generator so that they couldn't bring them back up.

What I want to know, is why noone ever targeted a ships bridge? IMO I would think that would be one of the smartest things to do, simply destroy the command center and command crew so that you are "cutting off the beasts head(s)".

 

[HRHTheKING]

One day, they'll target the replicators and sonic showers.

 

[-Brett-]

SantaKirk said:
On topic, though, when do they even start the whole "Target this or that" stuff? It's something I always associate with VOY and then ENT. I could be wrong, but it seems that before VOY, you just fired at the ship itself and not any specific part of it.

It happened on TNG and DS9 as well, but it wasn't done as frequently or with the apparent ease with which they did it on Voyager and Enterprise.

 

[Star Wolf]

Velocity said:

SantaKirk said:
I don't want to play mini-Mod here, but I think this may be best suited for Trek Tech.

On topic, though, when do they even start the whole "Target this or that" stuff? It's something I always associate with VOY and then ENT. I could be wrong, but it seems that before VOY, you just fired at the ship itself and not any specific part of it.

It started when political correctness decreed that it was nicer to shoot to disable the ship instead of shooting to blow it and the crew to smithereens.

Its not political correctness. For most of the episodes are heros were not at war. Good guys don't use overwelming combat power of the worlds most powerful, federation flagship to blow away the fabulous O'conner in his little tramp frieghter. You take out a system and then ask if you want to listen to my British accent now.

 

[Sisu]

Okona. And he was straight for God's sake! How fabulousssssssss is that?

 

[Apogeal Alpha01]

erastus25 said:

SantaKirk said:
I don't want to play mini-Mod here, but I think this may be best suited for Trek Tech.

On topic, though, when do they even start the whole "Target this or that" stuff? It's something I always associate with VOY and then ENT. I could be wrong, but it seems that before VOY, you just fired at the ship itself and not any specific part of it.

I can recall targeting of weapons in early TNG.

Are weapons outside the shield envelope?

 

[archeryguy1701]

My understanding was that the sheilds only reduced the impact of weapons, especially energy weapons. So, even while shields were at full strength, the hull would still take a little bit of damage. As the sheild strength was lowered, the more damage got through. Thus, by targeting the sheild generators, the tiny bits of damage would add up on the generators, which would cause them to decrease in efficiency. That would explain why things are always exploding long before the sheilds fail.

 

[Timo]

Just like most shows feature the targeting of specific parts on the enemy ship, most shows also suggest that the shields can be weakened or collapsed in one location while still holding in another. Sometimes we hear things like "number four shield weakening", sometimes "aft shields at 47%". And sometimes the background graphics back up this dialogue.

So if you "target the engines", you hit the upper aft section of the shields repeatedly so that it collapses and allows your shots to reach the engines. The other shield sectors may remain unharmed, but that doesn't help the poor victim much. If you "target the bridge", you hit the dorsal section. And if you "target the shield generators", you probably hit the section of shielding that is between you and those generators...

But yeah, I agree that a hit on shields is always transmitted to the interior of the ship to some degree. Probably not so that the shot penetrates the shields, but more as a form of feedback through the pathways that allow the internally mounted shield generators to create the external shield. That's a built-in hazard in all shields, but an unavoidable one. Pound at the external shields long enough, and internal power bursts (or even internal kinetic-gravitic effects, if the coupling between the generators and the shields is gravitic as the TNG TM might suggest) will be the messy result, even when there is not so much as slight charring on the target hull.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[J47]

Star Wolf said:

Velocity said:

SantaKirk said:
I don't want to play mini-Mod here, but I think this may be best suited for Trek Tech.

On topic, though, when do they even start the whole "Target this or that" stuff? It's something I always associate with VOY and then ENT. I could be wrong, but it seems that before VOY, you just fired at the ship itself and not any specific part of it.

It started when political correctness decreed that it was nicer to shoot to disable the ship instead of shooting to blow it and the crew to smithereens.

Its not political correctness. For most of the episodes are heros were not at war. Good guys don't use overwelming combat power of the worlds most powerful, federation flagship to blow away the fabulous O'conner in his little tramp frieghter. You take out a system and then ask if you want to listen to my British accent now.

Your description is practically the definition of politically correct. People used to shoot to kill, even on Star Trek.

 

[Timo]

Umm, where?

In terms of face-to-face, Kirk never killed a Klingon in his life until kicking Kruge (the murderer of his son!) in the face in ST3. He never killed a Romulan, period. In terms of ship-to-ship, the only Klingons Kirk ever killed were in the ship that performed a surprise attack in "Errand of Mercy". The Romulans and Orions that died after being fired upon did so via self-destruct, to the cheers of no Starfleet hero.

In the episodes where the villain died, it was a tragedy that unfolded in front of the distressed eyes of our heroes, and was not facilitated let alone committed by them. Not unless the villain was utterly inhuman, like Redjac or the Space Amoeba.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[J47]

Timo said:
Not unless the villain was utterly inhuman, like Redjac or the Space Amoeba.

...but he still shot to kill.